SOC 3900 ~ Quantitative Research Methods and Writing, sociology homework help

SOC 3900 ~ Quantitative Research Methods and Writing

Step 1: Reviewing the literature

You are required to review scientific literature on your research topic. In a formal research project, the sources are many, so you will be limited in the number of sources that you should use in order to finish your research proposal in one semesters time. You need a minimum of 10 sources, and no more than 15.  You will limit them by source type as follows:

  Primary research papers (peer reviewed): 5-10

 

  Review papers or chapters in edited scholarly books: 0-2

  Textbooks: 0-1

  Web sources: 0-2 (web sites does not include PDF files of published papers)

So, you must include at least 5 primary research papers (a paper delineating an original research project) and no more than 2 web sources or 1 textbook. You should have 10 sources and no less!

Since you are restricted in the number of resources that you can use, you should choose pertinent articles and sources carefully. You want to be sure to cover all of the important areas within your research topic. A literature review is “the process of searching for, reading, summarizing, and synthesizing existing work on a topic or the resulting written summary of a search” (Adler and Clark, p. 85). You will be required to organize and synthesize the works in a logical and clear manner. You will basically be answering the question, “What is known about my research question?” Use note cards, or clustering, or outlining when reading your sources so that you can better organize and synthesize the material.

GETTING STARTED IN REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE—TIPS

1. Understand your topic

You will need to have a comprehensive understanding of the topic at hand. Be sure that you know the basic issues as well as the underlying principles of your topic BEFORE you review specific literature.

1. Modifying your topic

You may find in your initial search that you need to broaden or narrow the scope of your topic.

Step 2: Literature Review Report

Your introduction and literature review will be about 30-40% of the final proposal.  It will summarize, explain, and synthesize the previous literature in the research topic. The synthesis will include specifically how the literature pertains to your original observation and question. This section should contain a critical analysis of the literature and studies reviewed. However, be sure that your analysis is focused very directly on the connections between the literature and the question.

In your synthesis you must cite your sources in the same formal way in which they are cited in a scientific paper. Use the either APA or ASA style manuals.

SOC 3900 ~ Quantitative Research Methods and Writing

Research Proposal Guidelines

This assignment involves creating a research proposal based on  your selected topic.  Proposals should be at least 10 pages long, follow professional association guidelines for publication, cite at least 10 professional sources, and include:

I.  Introduction (condensed literature review and aim of the study) – 15 points

II.  Methods (participants, measures, and procedure) – 15 points

III.  Proposed Data Analyses (and expected results) – 10 points

IV.  References – 5 points

V.  Appendices (copies of measures, consent forms, debriefing scripts) – 5 points

BELOW IS THE TOPIC AND QUESTIONS THAT SHOULD BE ANSWERED?

A topic I choose to write about would be whether men are more effective politicians than women. My motives for this topic would be the election we have coming up, and my political sociology class. 

1.)Were men more effective in 2015? Or women?

2)Why men/women were as effective as they were?

3.)How do we know if men/women are most effective?

4.)What does studies show about male/female politician?

THE PAPER SHOULD BE TEN PAGES LONG. IF YOU LIKE YOU CAN CHANGE THE TOPIC?