Research Methods for the Social Sciences Research Design Project
Research Methods for the Social Sciences Research Design Project
This project is designed for you to be able to demonstrate your proficiency with experimental design concepts outside of the context of an exam and illustrate the application of such concepts. In this project, you are to write a research proposal, which includes addressing each of the components we have discussed in this course related to designing and implementing a research study and your proposed data analyses. You must design an experiment that addresses each of these components for a social science topic. (Topics must be relevant to a social science. For instance, things like weight-lifting, dieting, or plant growth, would not be appropriate topics.) If you have difficulty coming up with a topic, reach out to me, and we can work together to find something you’re interested in!
You will not be conducting the study – you will be designing a study. It must be scientifically sound, but doesn’t not have to be practical given your resources. For instance, you may want to have a sample of 10,000 people and pay them each $100 for participating – that would be difficult to do in the real world (without major grant support), but if you design a research project that is consistent with scientific principles, you’re only limited by your imagination.
Throughout the semester, corresponding with course content, you will submit each element of your proposed study. These submissions must be in the format provided (on the following pages), in order for you to receive the full 10/10 completion points. For instance, see page 7 when turning in Part B, and notice that when you turn in Part B, you also submit Part A again on the same page. The elements build off of one another, so I can’t provide the individualized, specific feedback I routinely provide if you have not submitted the previous Parts as required. I’m here for you!
The strategy I recommend is copying and pasting each Part’s template into a document and filling it in. When you fill in your answers, be sure so review pages 3 – 4 each time, which has the explanations of what types of information should be addressed in the Parts or what the different terms mean. This way, you’ll be sure you have covered all of the necessary elements and correctly.
The individual parts will be graded based on completion of the assignments, and you will receive individualized specific feedback about your submission, such as suggestions for improvement or that you’ve done an awesome job!
The Final Research Design Project submission will be graded based accuracy. You will have received feedback throughout the semester, and I am always available for questions or concerns. Therefore, you are expected to have developed a quality project, implemented suggestions, thought through on your own about areas of improvement, or sought additional help. Late assignments will result in a grade of 0.
You can see your individualized feedback in a couple of ways throughout the semester.
1.
You can click on the like for the assignment in the Assessments|Assignments tab. Then you will see the “Feedback to Learner” information on the right hand side of the “Review Submission” page. Here is a picture of what that will look like:
