Particular Human Interaction, Situation, or Activity (Essay Sample)

TERM PAPER RESEARCH PROJECT
The term research project for this course is to be research on a particular human interaction, situation, or activity. This is where students will actually practice sociology by designing and conducting their own research on a particular facet of human society. There are three parts to the term paper; the research proposal, a one page statement of the particular human activity or endeavor to be investigated, the theoretical position from which the investigation will be performed, the hypothesis, and the methodology; the literature review, which should be roughly 3-4 pages and incorporate initial results of a review of literature relevant to the proposed research connected to the theoretical position and research orientation, and the research proposal expanded into a research model, including the operationalization of important concepts; and the final submission which should be 7-9 pages, with an 11 or 12 point font, one inch margins, and double spaced, and incorporate results of the research and discussion of the results connected to the theoretical paradigm(s) in APA format.
Project Assignment Components
Research Proposal: This paper should be no more than 1-2 pages in length, double-spaced with an 11 or 12 point font, and should be a brief description of the proposed term paper research, including what is the hypothesis of the research paper, which theoretical approach the paper will employ, what methodology the student will be using, and which particular human activity or endeavor the student will be investigating. Another way of thinking about this is to make sure that there are several things included in this paper; what is the subject of the research, what is the expected finding, why is this subject important to research, and how is the data going to be gathered. The subject of the research has only one restriction; it must involve human activity of some type. Sociology studies numerous facets of human society and activity. Possible sources for research topics include hobbies, interests, social problems, career choices, etc. When the particular human interaction, activity, or situation is selected, there may be an expectation of what will be found. This is the potential hypothesis for the research paper. Connecting this hypothesis with one or more of the larger theoretical approaches, functionalism, conflict and interactionist, can be thought of as explaining why this subject is important to research and how this research contributes to a greater understanding of human society, activity, or interaction. This is the deductive process of research. Alternately, if there is no expectation of any results, data can be gathered and analyzed, and the explanatory theory can be developed out of the analysis. After gathering and analyzing data, an explanation is developed using one or more of the theoretical approaches. This is the inductive process, also known as the grounded theory approach to research. The final component of the research proposal is the method; how the data is to be gathered. Chapter 2 of the textbook has good descriptions of the various methods; experiment, survey, observation, secondary analysis, content analysis, historical and comparative sociology. Students should also include a brief rationale for the selection of the particular method. There are four videos in Class Session 2 Learning Activities folder, three of which have sociologists discussing their research, and the fourth, the paradox video, discusses the research cycle, and these videos contain helpful material regarding the research process. Students are encouraged to view these videos prior to creating the research proposal. This portion of the term paper research project is pass/fail; all students submitting the research proposal component of the term paper research project will receive the 10 points. General comments and guidelines from the instructor will be provided for each research proposal indicating the best way to proceed with the literature review and research.
Literature Review: This paper should be 3-4 pages long, although it may be longer, and should contain all of the elements discussed in the research proposal more fully developed, and also incorporating any relevant literature connected to the theoretical position or research method. The object of this paper is to find articles and books from respected sources that help to support the hypothesis, and to find articles supporting the selection of the method. Another way to think about the literature review is as a process in which searches are conducted in databases for articles and books that contain support for the hypothesis or the method, and can be used in constructing an explanation for the expectation presented in the hypothesis, or to support the reasoning behind the selection of the method. All students should read “Conducting Literature Reviews” in the required content for Class Session 7. Students conducting inductive research may also want to read “The Place of the Literature Review in Grounded Research” in the supplemental content for Class Session 7. This portion of the term paper research project is pass/fail; all students submitting the literature review component of the term paper research project will receive the 15 points. General guidelines and comments from the instructor will be returned for each literature review indicating how to proceed with the research.
Final Submission: After conducting the literature review, it is time to gather your data using your selected research method. Once you have gathered your data, it is time to present your findings, in a formatted paper with several sections, including an introduction drawn from the research proposal, the literature review, a description of the research method, the findings of your research, a discussion of the findings, and a conclusion. This paper should be 7-9 pages in length, and should be in the APA format. This paper should be a coherent presentation of the findings of the research of the student connected to one of the theoretical positions presented in the text with a defensible interpretation of the relevance of the findings to social science. Some questions to consider in the discussion of your findings include; did you support or reject your hypothesis? How do your findings relate to the three theoretical paradigms; structural functionalism, conflict or symbolic interaction? Can you generalize from your findings to the larger society? How could your findings apply to social policy? Remember, be objective and allow your data to speak, even if it does not support your hypothesis. Negative results are still good scientific results. The final submission should also include a title page, an abstract page, and a reference page with sources in APA format, all of which are to be included in the page count. You should have at least four sources in addition to the textbook. The body of the paper should be 4-6 pages, and page numbering, a running header, and any visual representations (graphs, charts, etc.) should be included in the body of the paper. Points will be deducted for errors in theory, method, format, grammar and punctuation in the grading process for the final submission, which is worth 100 points. Points will also be deducted for papers that do not meet the minimum length requirement.
Refer to the Course Tour video, located in the Resources tab, for a tutorial on using the Journals tool located in the Communications & Tools tab.
Refer to the Term Paper Rubric located in the Rubrics folder in the Resources tab for further information on grading requirements.
Component Submission: Each of the first two components will be submitted through a journal in the Journals tool in the Communications & Tools tab. The research proposal should be submitted through the Term Paper Research Proposal journal, which can be accessed through the Assignments and Assessments folder inside Class Session 3 folder, and through the Journals tool in the Communications & Tools tab. The literature review should be submitted through the Term Paper Literature Review journal, which can be accessed through the Assignments and Assessments folder inside Class Session 7 folder, and through the Journals tool in the Communications & Tools tab. You may submit them either as a text submission or as a file attachment. The third component will be submitted through the Term Paper Research Project assignment located in the Assignments and Assessments folder inside Class Session 14 folder. All three components need to be submitted in order to receive the grade, but there will be no grade until the final completed term paper is submitted. For further information on using Journals, refer to the Journal video in Blackboard Help.
Individual Discussion: Students may use course messages or e-mail, whichever your instructor prefers, to discuss the term paper or any other topics.