What scholarly research article are you analyzing for Report #2?
Which questions in the report instructions are easiest for you to answer?
Which question in the instructions are most difficult to answer?
Which of the underlined concepts in the report do you need help with understanding or identifying in the article?
scholarly research
hypothesis
research question
independent variable
dependent variable
methods of data collection
survey
historical methods
existing data
content analysis
participant observation
qualitative and quantitative data
micro and macro levels
sample
generalizable
ethics
verstehen
positivist
empirical evidence
objective analysis
· Examine this sample article to see the various parts of a social research article. Identify similar parts in the article that you chose.
· Read these parts of the article: title, introduction, title of each section, methods, conclusion or findings.
· Review Chapter 2 in the textbook – Methods.
· Listen to the instructor’s feedback about your replies to discussions or read it in the grade list. The feedback is designed to help you understand how to improve your thinking and/or writing for this report.
· It would be good to answer each question with a separate paragraph.
· The answer to each question should include the following:
. the underlined concepts from the questions
. a sentence that answers the question directly
. a sentence that describes evidence, quotes from a source or explains as requested
1. What is the title of the scholarly research article which you will be analyzing in section B?
2. What is the main point or argument of this article? Quote a statement that includes this point.
3. What are the social issues or problems that the article discusses?
4. Explain how you know this is a scientific research article and not a personal opinion or viewpoint? Use 2 or more of these concepts to explain:
· verstehen
· positivist research
· empirical evidence
· objective analysis
Instructions: Analyze the scholarly research article by responding to all of the questions. Include the underlined concepts in your responses.
1. What is the hypothesis or research question the author is studying? Quote a sentence that discusses the hypothesis or research question.
2. What are the variables in the hypothesis or research question? Be specific and identify the independent and dependent variables.
3. What are the findings or results of the study? Does the evidence support the hypothesis? Explain how.
4. Which type of data did the researcher use more: quantitative or qualitative, or both? Quote a statement from the article that discusses the data.
5. What methods of data collection did the author use to gather empirical evidence? Quote a statement from the article that identifies these methods. Choose 1 or 2 from the list below.
· Survey – questionnaire or interview
· Existing data – census or collections by other organizations
· Historical data – letters, diaries, reports, news items, documents written more than 20 years ago
· Content analysis – literature, social media stories, recorded conversations, movies, TV shows, songs, etc.
· Participant observation or field research – join people in their everyday activities, observe and take notes
6. What is the sample population size? How many individuals participated in the study? Or, how many groups did the researcher observe?
7. Was the research conducted on the micro or macro level of society? Give details from the study which demonstrate the level.
8. Are the results of the research article generalizable to a population beyond the study? Remember that a microlevel study is not large enough or random enough to be generalizable.
What additional ideas or data would be helpful for you to understand this issue more fully? Use your imagination and consider these things:
o What information do you need about the ways in which this issue affects people differently according to their gender, class, race, etc.?
. What information do you need about the micro or macro levels of this issue?
.What information do you need about the causes of the issue?
. What information do you need about ways to ameliorate the issue (i. e. make things better)?
