Senior Research Project

Introduction:

Through this assignment, you will gain hands-on experience with the research and writing process. Instead of learning facts from lecture or a textbook, this project will give you the experience of actually conducting social research. Furthermore, you will be given the opportunity to conceptualize and analyze a research project from beginning to end. The goal of this project is not only to increase your understanding of the research process but to also provide you with a solid example of your written work that can be used when applying to graduate school programs.

Note: Any failure to follow the instructions below will result in a lower grade in this course.

Instructions:

  1. The paper must be typed, using standard double-spacing, 1” standard margins on BOTH sides and top and bottom, and 12 pt font of Times New Roman or similar font style. A minimum length for the paper is 30 pages (40 pages max.), exclusive of the cover page and bibliography.
  2. A title/cover page is REQUIRED for this paper. The relevant information should include the title of the paper, your name, course number and title, and date. Furthermore, all pages must be numbered.
  3. EXCESSIVE typographical, grammatical, and/or spelling errors will result in a lower grade for this assignment. Furthermore, this assignment must be in American Sociological Association format (ASA). The style guide can be purchased at the BYUI bookstore for your reading pleasure.
  4. Plagiarism must be avoided! Proper citation of your sources in ASA format will help deter the temptation to plagiarize the work of others. If plagiarism is discovered, the student may fail the course.
  5. Your paper must also include a bibliography in ASA format which lists all of the sources you have analyzed and included in your research project. Failure to follow ASA format will result in a loss of points on this project. Note: the cover page and bibliography are not included in the thirty pages of text that are required. Be sure to type thirty full pages that present your group’s research.

Structure of the Paper:

Tips:

  1. Don’t use "I" when writing your group research paper. Researchers seldom, if ever use "I" in research writing. Use instead: the researcher(s).
  2. Do not include the title of the article in the body of your literature review. Cite the researcher (e.g. Meeker (2004) discovered ….) not the title of the article.
  3. Each of the following sections should be bold and centered in the same order without the numbers (of course) in your paper.

Outline:

  1. Introduction (3-4 pages approx.)
  2. This section of your paper should grab the readers’interest. What is the topic of your research? Why is this an important topic in which to do research? What events got the researcher interested in the topic? Make the reader want to continue reading your work.
  3. Literature Review (10-11 pages approx.)
  4. This section consists of the research articles that you have analyzed for your project. Use the researchers’ names instead of the title of the articles. When possible, talk about the findings of similar articles in the same section of your literature review to show that you can analyze the findings of multiple articles in an efficient manner.
  5. Methodology (5-6 pages approx.)
  6. This section should follow the outline below with subheadings on the left margin and bolded (minus the roman numerals).
  7. Variables
  8. Describe your dependent variable and your independent variables. Be sure to identify the multiple variables that comprise your dependent variable and include the appropriate table discussed in class. Include the questions asked and the responses available to participants who responded to the questions you are using for your dependent/independent variables.
  9. Hypotheses
  10. Simply list (1. 2. 3.) your three (minimum) hypotheses in a clear manner so the reader can determine the direction of the relationship that you are suggesting.
  11. Study participants
  12. What were the characteristics of your sample? This will be descriptive statistics that describe the characteristics of your sample.
  13. Sample Selection
  14. How was your sample selected?
  15. Describe how the GSS goes about getting their representative sample of the US population for their surveys.
  16. Survey Instrument
  17. How many questions did your survey consist of? What types of questions? What topics did they deal with?
  18. Describe the characteristics of the GSS survey.
  19. Survey Administration
  20. How was the GSS conducted?
  21. Mention that you’ll be conducting secondary analysis on info gathered from the GSS.
  22. Data Analysis (5-6 pages approx.)
  23. In this section of your research you will describe the findings for each of your three hypotheses.
  24. In each paragraph you will report the proper statistics that explain the outcome of your multiple regression analysis. Be sure to include the appropriate graphs that will be discussed in class.
  25. This section involves reporting of the data. Refrain from interpreting this information until the discussion section.
  26. Discussion (5-6 pages approx.)
  27. This section should follow the outline below with subheadings on the left margin and bolded
  28. Hypotheses
  29. Analyze the findings from each of your hypotheses. Determine whether it was or was not supported according to your multiple regression analysis.
  30. Limitations
  31. What were the limitations of your study? (e.g. sample size, sample selection, wording problems etc.)
  32. Be sure to mention the inherent shortcomings of multiple regression analysis (quantitative analysis) .
  33. Future Research
  34. What should researchers investigate in future studies? What research should be done to better understand your topic or area of interest?

GOOD LUCK! Remember to keep in mind the reader (me in this case) when you are writing. Personally, I don’t enjoy a lot of technical jargon. Thoroughly discuss your work in your own words using ASA format when needed and enjoy the experience.

Schedule and Deadlines

September 7th Choose a topic and present it in class (informal)

September 14th Intro 1stDraft

September 21st Be in the process of compiling your literature review

September 28th Literature Review 1stdraft, Intro 2 draft

October 5th Introduction 3rd draft

October 12th Literature Review 2nd draft

October 19th Methods 1st draft

October 26th Lit. Review 3rd draft

November 2nd Methods 2nd draft

November 9th Data Analysis 1st draft

November 16th Methods 3rd draft

November 23rd NO CLASS – HAPPY TURKEYDAY

November 30th Discussion 1st draft, Data Analysis 2nd draft

December 7th Discussion 2nd draft, Data Analysis 3rd draft

December 14th Discussion 3rd draft

December 16th FINAL PAPER DUE!