1. Academic Independent Study (1)

2. Today… What is the Extended Study ? What do we mean by “research”?
Developing a research question

3. What is the Extended Independent Study ?
A project where you can:
Carry out an experiment/investigation
Do something that really interests you…
An independent research project
Can be on any topic related to social science
No “repetition” of current curriculum content
Maximum word count

4. Deadlines Project proposal 09/12/17 Literature review 19/01/18
Methodology 16/02/18
Contacting sample individuals/groups/participants 16/03/18
Data collection/analysis march/April
Final submission 15/05/18

5. Possible Structure for the Study
Literature review (secondary data)
Research question / aims
Methodology
Results
Conclusion
Evaluation

6. Personal Reflections on Research
Pick a topic that interests you!
Be clear about the question – and type of question - you are asking
Let your question determine your method(s)
Be prepared to be flexible
Have fun

7. What do you need to demonstrate?
A good project is:
Clear
Concise
Specific
A good Student is able to:
Justify decisions
Analyse and interpret information
Form connections between different sources of information
Continually reflect and evaluate

8. Research Questions
RQ are very important – they are the vehicles which you will rely on to move you from your broad research interest to your specific research focus and project
RQ should be:
Clearly formulated
Intellectually worthwhile
Researchable
Ben

9. Research Questions continued
Types of RQ:
What questions (objective: description)
e.g.: what types of people are involved?; what characteristic knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes do they hold?; what is their characteristic behaviour?; what are the consequences of their activities? Etc.
Why questions (objective: explanation/understanding)
e.g. why do people think and act this way?; why did these patterns come to be this way?; why do the characteristics or social process change, or remain stable?; why does this activity have these particular consequences? Etc.
How questions (objective: change)
e.g. how can these characteristics, social processes or patterns be changed?; how can they be made to stop changing, or to slow down or speed up their rate of change?
Ben
What q. require a descriptive answer; directed towards discovering and describing the characteristics of and patterns in some social phenomenon, e.g. categories of individuals, social groups, social processes.
Why questions ask for either the causes of, or the reasons for, the existence of characteristics or regularities in a particular phenomenon. They are directed towards understanding or explaining the relationships between events, or within social activities and social processes.
How questions are concerned with bringing about change, with practical outcomes and intervention.

10. Some “not so good” research questions
Bad: Racism in the UK
Better: Do Muslim people in London perceive higher levels of racism since the Paris attacks of 13th Nov 2015?
Bad: Are females smarter than males?
Better : Do females aged score higher than adult males aged on the WAIS-III? (The WAIS-III is a standardized intelligence test.)
Bad: Why are social networking sites harmful?
Better: How are online users experiencing or addressing privacy issues on Facebook and Twitter?
Ben

11. Small group exercise (5 min)
Develop a research question within one of the following topics:
Teenage pregnancy
Syria refugee crisis
Media bias
Psychology of addictions
Body image
Or any other topic you already have in mind!
Ben

12. Possible titles? To what extent does the media influence body image?
Have the perceptions of mental health changed over time?
What is the reality of living on benefits?
Possible titles?

13. Activity 1
In pairs, talk to your neighbour about why you have chosen your research topic?
What is your project going to include?

14. Activity 2
Create a mind map of your possible research topic (s)

15. Keeping a Research Log