Listen
SCS 200 Project One Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
Professionals in the social sciences investigate human behavior and society for the purpose of understanding why people act the way they do. This investigation can help address a wide variety of social issues, such as the role of social media in the Arab Spring protests, the impact of social skills on future success, racial factors in police violence, and how partitioned grocery carts can help shoppers purchase healthier foods. Social scientists can help address issues such as these through research and investigation.
The summative assessment for this course has two parts. In Project One, you will conduct a research investigation that examines an issue in the social sciences. You will identify appropriate resources for investigating the issue you select, use these resources to apply social science principles to the issue, and develop a question related to the issue. In addition, you will identify an audience who would be interested in the selected issue. In Project Two, you will develop a presentation for the audience you identified in Project One. In your presentation, you will explain how social scientific thinking has affected you and discuss the impact of the issue on your audience, supporting your claims with evidence.
Project One addresses the following course outcomes:
Illustrate the impact of social scientific thinking on personal and professional experiences
Select appropriate and relevant social science resources in investigating contemporary issues in the social sciences
Communicate effectively to specific audiences in examining fundamental aspects of human behavior
Apply essential principles of the social sciences in addressing critical questions related to human behavior
Prompt
In Project One, you will select a contemporary issue in the social sciences to investigate. You may select an issue discussed in the course, or you may select your own with instructor approval. You could consider using your question from SCS 100 if it is something you would like to investigate further for this assessment. After selecting an issue, you will conduct a research investigation, identifying appropriate resources for researching the issue, applying social science principles to your issue, and developing a question related to the issue. You will submit your research investigation as a written report.
Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
Introduction: In this section, you will discuss your social science issue and select resources that you can use to research the issue. Specifically, you should do the following:
Describe the issue in the social sciences that you have selected to investigate. Why is this issue significant?
Describe at least three social science resources that you could use to investigate the issue you selected. Your sources must be relevant to your issue and must be of an academic nature appropriate for the issue. In your description, consider questions such as these: What are the similarities and differences in the content of your sources? What makes them appropriate and relevant for investigating your issue? What was your thought process when you were searching for sources? How did you make choices?
Body: In this section, you will use the social science resources that you selected to investigate your issue, focusing on an appropriate audience and the social science principles related to the issue. Be sure to cite your sources. Based on your research, address the following:
Identify the social science principles that apply to your issue. In other words, which principles of social science apply to the issue you selected?
Explain how the principles you identified apply to your issue. In other words, how are the social science principles you identified relevant to your issue?
Identify an audience that would be interested in your issue. For example, who would benefit most from hearing your message? Or who could best help in addressing the issue?
Describe how and why you can tailor your message to your audience, providing specific examples. For example, will your audience understand social scientific terminology and principles, or will you need to explain these? How will you communicate effectively with your audience?
Conclusion: In this section, you will conclude your research investigation by discussing future directions for research. Specifically, you should do the following:
Based on your investigation, develop a research question related to the issue you selected. In other words, what would you like to know more about?
Explain how a social scientist would go about investigating the research question you developed. In other words, what would the next steps be if a social scientist were to continue researching your question?
Provide a reference list that includes all of the social science resources you used to investigate your issue and question. Ensure that your list is formatted according to current APA guidelines (or another format with instructor permission).
What to Submit
Your research investigation should be submitted as a 3- to 5-page Microsoft Word document and should use double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. Any citations should be formatted according to APA style.
Project One Rubric
Criteria Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not Evident Value
Introduction: Issue Meets “Proficient” criteria, and description is exceptionally clear and contextualized (100%) Describes selected issue in social sciences and its significance (85%) Describes selected issue in social sciences and its significance, but with gaps in detail or clarity (55%) Does not describe selected issue in social sciences or its significance (0%) 10.5
Introduction: Social Science Resources Meets “Proficient” criteria, and description of resources demonstrates strong understanding of information needed to investigate issues in the social sciences (100%) Describes at least three relevant and appropriate social science resources that could be used to investigate selected issue (85%) Describes at least three social science resources that could be used to investigate selected issue, but with gaps in appropriateness, relevance, or detail (55%) Does not describe at least three social science resources that could be used to investigate selected issue (0%) 10.5
Body: Identify Principles Meets “Proficient” criteria, and response demonstrates insight into essential social science principles (100%) Identifies social science principles that apply to issue, citing sources (85%) Identifies social science principles that apply to issue, but with gaps in accuracy or citation (55%) Does not identify social science principles that apply to issue (0%) 10.5
Body: Explain Principles Meets “Proficient” criteria, and response demonstrates insight into essential social science principles (100%) Explains how identified principles apply to issue, citing sources (85%) Explains how identified principles apply to issue, but with gaps in detail, clarity, or citation (55%) Does not explain how identified principles apply to issue (0%) 10.5
Body: Audience Meets “Proficient” criteria, and identification of audience demonstrates insight into issue (100%) Identifies an audience that would be interested in issue, citing sources (85%) Identifies an audience, but audience is not appropriate for issue or there are gaps in citation (55%) Does not identify an audience (0%) 10.5
Body: Message Meets “Proficient” criteria, and response demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how to effectively communicate with specific audience (100%) Describes how and why message can be tailored to audience, providing specific examples and citing sources (85%) Describes how and why message can be tailored to audience, but with gaps in examples or citation (55%) Does not describe how and why message can be tailored to audience (0%) 10.5
Conclusion: Research Question Meets “Proficient” criteria, and response demonstrates understanding of social scientific thinking (100%) Develops research question related to selected issue, based on investigation (85%) Develops research question related to selected issue, but question is not based on investigation (55%) Does not develop research question related to selected issue (0%) 10.5
Conclusion: Social Scientist Meets “Proficient” criteria, and response demonstrates understanding of social scientific thinking (100%) Explains how a social scientist would go about investigating research question (85%) Explains how a social scientist would go about investigating research question, but with gaps in clarity, detail, or logic (55%) Does not explain how a social scientist would go about investigating research question (0%) 10.5
Reference List N/A Provides reference list that includes all social science resources used to investigate issue and question, ensuring that list is formatted according to current APA guidelines (100%) Provides reference list that includes all social science resources used to investigate issue and question, but list has gaps in adherence to current APA formatting guidelines (55%) Does not provide reference list that includes all social science resources used to investigate issue and question (0%) 10.5
Articulation of Response Submission is free of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, and organization and is presented in a professional and easy to read format (100%) Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization (85%) Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas (55%) Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas (0%) 5.5
Total: 100%
