Social Research Project

DUE DATE______

Social Research Project: 25% of your grade

For this assignment you will research a topic of your choice that relates to sociology and write a report of what you learned. You may choose your own topic as long as it relates to sociology (study of groups of people). Think of topics discussed in class if you need help getting started. Pairs MUST work together to submit ONE paper, but each student must write their own annotated bibliographies and reflection. These two things will be graded separately.

After you pick a topic, start by doing research on the Internet and in the school, public or university library. Honors must have at least five references and must have at least two scholarly journals. College Prep must have three different references each-regardless of working in pairs. Please use the following format for your report: Double Space, separate into each step of the project YOU NEED TO GET EACH STEP SIGNED OFF BEFORE YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP

I. Define the problem (5pts) (short paragraph) In this first part, please describe what topic you chose to research. Then please describe or explain why you selected this topic. CONSIDER: LEVEL OF APPROPRIATENESS. IF YOU INTEND TO DO ALL YOUR RESEARCH IN THE LIBRARY, CONSIDER SOME TOPICS THAT MAY BE FILTERED. IF THEY ARE, YOU MUST DO YOUR RESEARCH INDEPENDENTLY/AT HOME. TOPICS YOU MAY NOT DO: SEX, DRUGS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT WOULD BE POTETIALLY OFFENSIVE OR INAPPROPRATE. Ex: In our study we chose to research whether or not students with siblings watch more TV than only children. We chose this topic because we both have 3 siblings, and as children, never watched TV. We were wondering whether or not this affects your social skills and relationships as well.

II. Annotated Bibliography CP (30 points+5 points for correct citations) (1/2 pg each source) Hint: Use Easybib.com Find at least 3 articles related to your topic/subject matter. For each source, you need a bibliographical reference along with a summary of what the article states or findings in the articles AND how it relates to your topic. Each summary should be a two paragraphs. You should be using this information to help you formulate your hypothesis and survey. Ex: Brothers, Dr. Sam. “Sibling relationships and affective behavior.” Child Psychology Vol. II, 2005. Stella Student According to Dr. Brothers, children learn behavior and cooperation through their relationships with siblings. Blah Blah Blah -1 paragraph This applies to the study of siblings and television watching practice because Blah Blah Blah Blah -1 paragraph o If doing in partners, you need a total of 6 entries, 3 different sources per person. At the start of each entry, write the name of the person who wrote it. o Use Easybib.com o YOU MAY NOT MOVE ON TO THE STEP UNTL YOU COMPLETE

II. Literature Review 100 points (Honors) This is background information relevant to your topic. You need at least 5 sources and you paper must be approximately 5-6 pages typed (give or take). See Lit Review Handout  You must have a works cited (15 points) and in text citations (minimum of 2 per article-10 points)

III. Hypothesis (15 points) (each hypothesis should be one paragraph) What do you expect to find given the information/literature available on your topic. Give a rationale. You need 3 hypothesis with rationale Ex: Students that are only children will watch at least 4 hours more a week TV than those with at least one sibling. We believe that students with more than 3 siblings will also watch 4 hours more TV a week than those with less than 3 siblings. We believe this will be the case due to Dr. Brother’s research on sibling relationships. He found that teenagers with siblings tend to have stronger relationships and we are predicting this means they will watch less TV since they are more involved.

IV. Methodology (20 points explanation collection procedure) (1 pg) This is basically a description of the research process.  You may use bullets, but please use complete sentences.  How did you determine what questions to ask? What were some problems you encountered as you wrote the survey? How did you resolve them?  How did you determine your sample and what type of sample did you have? You need at least 100 surveys and/or 4 classes. Describe how you chose to select the classes/people you surveyed. You should make an effort to get a random sample.  Did you encounter any problems when you were administering the survey? Were there questions students asked you that you didn’t think of when writing the survey?  How might the way you chose to get your sample of students affect the outcome of your survey? For example: you only survey 4th block classes so you may have fewer seniors, or you only survey AP classes which are more prone to higher academic achievement.  Be sure that if you did not conduct a random sample, you explain why you did not and how that might skew the results of your findings.  ATTACH A COPY OF YOUR SURVEY V. Results (20 points-explanation 10 points visuals) (each result should be ½ pg min-total @2pgs) Explain the results you determined after counting/calculating your results. Here you need to address each of the hypotheses you studied. This is not your opinion, but strictly explain the facts you found in the surveys.  You must include charts, graphs, and/or tables to clarify your data.  You need at least three charts/graphs, one for each hypotheses.  You may do a chart, a pie graph or a bar graph You need to put the graphs in BOTH your paper AND your POWER POINT  You need a minimum of one paragraph written explanation for each hypothesis

Watched less than 4 Watched between 4- Watched more than hours of TV a week 8 hours of TV a 8 hours of TV a week week Only child (no 1 2 22 siblings) 1-2 siblings 1 54 5 3 or more siblings 8 6 1 We found that our hypothesis number one was valid. After dividing the surveys up by the number of siblings, we found that the proportionally, the more siblings an individual has, the less television they watch. 88% of only children watched more than 8 hours of television a week. 90% of students with 1 or 2 siblings watched television between 4 and 8 hours a week, and 53% of students with 3 or more siblings watched less than 4 hours of television a week. Overall, 62% of students watch between 4 and 8 hours a week. Since we found that students with more than 3 siblings watched less than 4 hours a week, and students with between 1-2 siblings watched between 4-8 hours a week, both of our assumptions were correct.

VI Conclusion (10CP/15H points) (1/2 pg min) THIS IS YOUR ANALYSIS: WHY DID YOU GET YOUR RESULTS? What are the implications of your results? Tie what you found back to your literature review/summaries. Do your results match the literature? How does this influence how you look at research in general, or items you may read in magazines or hear on TV? This is where you interject your opinion as to why the results came out the way they did.

Ex: We believe that the number siblings one has is a predictor of the amount of television they watch because only children are alone more and use television for entertainment. We believe that having more siblings gives students others of their own general age group to associate with. If the siblings are significantly younger we guess that the older children may be babysitting their siblings and may use television to entertain the younger siblings, but this also means the older siblings would not be actually watching television. These results are supported by the research because we found results that were similar to what Dr. Brothers found. In retrospect, we wish we would have asked the ages of siblings so we could determine whether this influenced the amount of television watched as well. VII Reflection (each student needs their own) 10 points It should be minimum ½ pg Each individual needs to type one page double spaced on what you learned through conducting this research. What was easy? What was difficult? DO NOT repeat what you found. Instead, what did you learn about survey research in general through completing the project. Stella Student By doing this survey project, I learned blah blah blah 1-2 paragraphs VIII Turnitin.com receipt

Formatting: 5 points for correct formatting, spelling and grammar. Divide paper into sections and underline the heading for each. For example: I. Define the Problem II. Annnotated Bibliography III Hypothesis a. b. c. (for the three hypothesis) etc.

Presentation 20 pts/25 pts honors You must prepare a power point that covers each of the sections of your paper. DO NOT CUT AND PASTE. DO NOT PUT LOTS OF TEXT. Bullet the key points then talk about it. Power point is 10 points speech is 10. Honors- 15 pts for power point- Format of power point: Topic of Study Hypothesis 1 Graph Hypothesis 1 Results/Conclusion Hypothesis 1 Hypothesis 2 Graph Hypothesis 2 Results/ Conclusion Hypothesis 2 Hypothesis 3 Graph Hypothesis 3 Results/Conclusion Hypothesis 3 Methodology- What problems did you encounter? What would you do differently next time? TEACHER SIGN OFF SHEET FOR SURVEYS

Surveyor Name(s)______

______Block-surveyed ______Date surveyed

Teachers: I appreciate your assistance in allowing students to surveys your classes. All surveys are optional and anonymous. Students have been instructions to make prior arrangements, to administer the survey when feasible, to give and collect surveys in a timely fashion.

Teachers: Please write Yes or No

______I have had this(these) student(s) in class ______Arrangements to survey my class were made at least 1 day in advance ______Students informed me of the purpose of the survey ______Students showed up per arrangements with you (students were prepared) ______Students made sure any questions to surveys were answered (either in person, or clarified to you so you could answer questions)

______Teacher’s Signature

TEACHER SIGN OFF SHEET FOR SURVEYS

______Teacher’s Signature TEACHER SIGN OFF SHEET FOR SURVEYS

______Teacher’s Signature

TEACHER SIGN OFF SHEET FOR SURVEYS

______Teacher’s Signature Sociology Research Project Grade Sheet-CP DO NOT LOSE THIS. YOU MUST ATTACH IT TO YOUR PROJECT- EACH PERSON NEEDS THEIR OWN GRADE SHEET. YOU MUST GET EACH STEP SIGNED OFF BEFORE YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP

Name______

Teacher Initials  ______/5 points Define the Problem

 ______/30 points Annotated Bibliography- 2 paragraphs each *each student needs 3 sources so pairs need 6 sources

 ______/5 points for correct citations-see MLA handout

 ______/15 points Hypothesis

 ______/20 points Methodology

 ______/20 points Research Explanation-look results of 3 hypotheses

 ______/10 points Research visual (graphs, tables, pie chart, etc.)

 ______/10 points Conclusion-your opinion on why you got your results

 ______/10 points Reflection- what you learned *each student needs one  ______/5 Format/Grammar

 ______/Turnitin.com receipt (or ZERO on entire project)

 ______/10 Power Point Presentation (visual must include graphs)

 ______/10 Power Point Presentation (speech)

Total______/150

Sociology Research Project Grade Sheet-Honors DO NOT LOSE THIS. YOU MUST ATTACH IT TO YOUR PROJECT EACH PERSON NEEDS THEIR OWN GRADESHEET YOU MUST GET EACH STEP SIGNED OFF BEFORE YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT STEP

Name______

Teacher Initial  ______/5 points Define the Problem

 ______/100 points Literature Review

 ______/10 points for correct citations-minimum 2 per source

 ______/15 points Hypothesis

 ______/20 points Methodology

 ______/20 points Research Explanation-look results of 3 hypotheses

 ______/10 points Research visual (graphs, tables, pie chart, etc.)

 ______/15 points Conclusion-your opinion on why you got your results

 ______/10 points Reflection- what you learned *each student needs one  ______/5 Format/Grammar

 ______/15 Works Cited

 ______/Turnitin.com receipt or ZERO on entire project

 ______/15 Power Point Presentation (visual must include graphs)

 ______/10 Power Point Presentation (speech)

Total______/250