SOCI 2003B: Sociological Methods Colleen Anne Dell, Ph.D. Carleton University, Department of Sociology & Anthropology Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse October 5, 2006 Research Design & Proposal and Report Writing

OUTLINE 1. Choosing a Research Problem 2. Purposes of Research 3. What/Who You Are Researching: The Unit of Analysis A. Getting Started – The Literature Review B. Units of Analysis - Common Errors 4. The Time Dimension of Research: The Question of When 5. The Research Proposal 6. The Research Report A. Characteristics of Poor Report Writing B. 3 Basic Considerations in Report Writing C. Organization of the Report

WORKSHOP: Distribute Research Project Assignment Guest Speaker: Jane Fry – Accessing the Carleton University Data Centre, 4:30, Room 235, MacOdrum Library

1. Choosing a Research Problem

2. Purpose of Research 1. Exploratory 2. Descriptive 3. Explanatory 4. Application

3.What/Who are You Researching: UNITS OF ANALYSIS A. Getting Started – The Literature Review

B. Units of Analysis “Those units or things we examine in order to create summary descriptions of all such units and to explain differences among them”. 1. INDIVIDUAL 2. GROUPS 3. FORMAL POLICITCAL/SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS 4. SOCIAL ARTIFACTS

What is the unit of analysis in the following research projects? (Individual; group; organization; social artifact) 1. Women watch TV more than men because they are likely to work fewer hours outside the home than men. 2. Of the 130 incorporated US cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1960, 126 had at least two short-term nonproprietary general hospitals accredited by the American Hospital Association. 3. Though 667,000 out of 2 million farmers in the US are women, women historically have not been viewed as farmers, but rather, as the farmer’s wife.

4. Some analysis during the 1960s predicted that the rise of economic ambition and political militancy among the residents would foster discontent with the other main churches. 5. This paper examines variations in job title structure across work roles. Analyzing 1, 367 job titles in the US, we investigated how and why lines of work vary by State.

Common Errors 1. ECOLOGICAL FALACY 2. INDIVIDUALISTIC FALACY 3. REDUCTOINISM

4. THE TIME DIMENSION OF RESEARCH: THE QUESTION OF WHEN 1. Cross sectional 2. Longitudinal (A) Trend studies (B) Cohort studies (C) Panel studies 3. Retrospective

5. THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL Elements of a Research Proposal 1. Problem or objective 2. Literature review 3. Subjects for study 4. Measurement 5. Data collection methods 6. Analysis 7. Schedule 8. Budget

6. THE RESEARCH REPORT 1. You are communicating data and ideas to an audience. This must be done clearly so the audience can evaluate for themselves. Informed reader. 2. View your report as a contribution to social scientific knowledge. 3. Your report should serve the function of stimulating and directing further inquiry. “However well designed and executed a research project is, its final impact will depend, above all, on the quality of the written report”.

a)Characteristics of Poor Report Writing Content Organization/structure Spelling, etc.

b)3 Basic Considerations in Report Writing 1. The audience 2. The language/style “People are judged on the basis of who they appear to be in their writing, and if what they write is pompous or fuzzy or disorganized, they will be perceived as all those things” William Zinsser 3. Types of reports

c) Organization of the report “Tell them what you are going to tell them; tell them; and them tell them what you told them”

1. Title Page 2. Acknowledgements 3. Summary 4. Table of contents 5. Introduction: Statement of problem to be investigated 6. Process of Discovery a. Inception of the research b. Researcher’s initial conceptual baggage 7. Theoretical framework 8. Review of the literature 9. Research Question (Identify the research interest)

10. Methodology: Research Design and Data Gathering “The worth of all scientific findings are dependent on the manner in which the data were collected and analyzed” 11. Methodology: Analysis and Interpretation 12. Summary and conclusions 13. Dissemination 14. Researcher’s Reflection 15. Appendix 16. Bibliography 17. Conceptual baggage file