14 Jan Since multiple writing styles are

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 1 Forum

Introduction to Social Science Research

In week 1 we discussed some general purposes for carrying out social science research, research ethics, and strategies for carrying out preliminary research. Take a look at this video on the APUS Library to help get you acquainted with the recent updates that have taken place within our library. To also help you navigate the library check out the Ask a Librarian Playlist. Here you’ll find information on LibAnswers!, how to search for books, how to search for articles and more.

Within this course the assignments are scaffolded in that each of them should help you complete the final assignment in this course – an 8-10 page research proposal. To help jump start the planning process, this week you’ll need to discuss your research interests as they pertain to your field of study be it criminal justice, international relations, intelligence studies or etc. Here the goal of the discussion is to help you narrow in on a possible research question you’d like to frame out for your week 3 assignment, and will ultimately come to use in your research proposal.

Using the online library, navigate to the library’s “articles & databases” section and look within the Security & Global Studies database list. Using one or more of the databases find 3 peer-reviewed journal articles to help you articulate your research interests. When talking about the topic you are interested in researching be sure to reference the articles using the writing style specific to your field of study. For those in criminal justice this mean APA, for everyone else, you’ll need to use the

Turabian author-date method (also known as the parenthetical or in-text citation method) as this will be good practice for all future posts and assignments. If you have questions on these writing styles please review the information presented in the Course Overview section of the class. In addition to presenting your research topic, and research question, your post should reflect that you have read this week’s lesson material and demonstrate that you have a sense of the research cycle and what it means to carry out ethical research.

What challenges are you having in coming up with a unique and narrowly focused research question? Did you have any challenges findings articles within the library? If so what did you do to alter your search parameters? Do you anticipate any difficulties in any of the phases of the research cycle as you pursue research on your topic?

Please attach the three peer-reviewed articles you found within the online library. At the end of your post you should have a “References” list that lists these using the writing style that corresponds to a references list or a bibliography.

I know that the discussion standards for the graduate level can be a bit of a mystery when you are just starting out. Take a look at the following blog post to help you get a feel for graduate level discussion standards. http://inpublicsafety.com/2016/01/sharpening-scholarly-skills-can-enhance-professional-performance/

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 2 Forum

Conceptual Framework

To what degree can research within the social science be considered “scientific”? What are some of the challenges that coincide with carrying out scientific research? Your posts this week should demonstrate critical reflection upon the assigned readings.

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 3 Forum

Methodological Theory and Its Role Within Research

Discuss some of the reasons why we include methodological theory in our research? What purpose does it serve? What role do inquiry paradigms play in research? Your posts this week should demonstrate critical reflection upon the assigned readings.

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 4 Forum

Substantive Theory and Its Role Within Research

This week you were exposed to an array of theories that should help to jump start your research. What theory have you chosen to help you answer your research question? Please take this opportunity to practice discussing your theory in detail by explaining why you think it’s a good fit for the research project, the level of analysis it operates at, the variables it acknowledges, whether it seeks to explain or understand, and if it supports prediction. Your discussion should demonstrate a reflection upon the peer reviewed literature.

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 5 Forum

Qualitative Research Methods

Please answer one of the two prompts noted below. Your posts this week should demonstrate critical reflection upon the assigned readings.

1. This week we focused on developing an understanding for some different qualitative methods. What are two or three assumptions that are made specific to qualitative research? Be specific in your description of each one. When considering some of the various qualitative methods that are out there, what challenges might they pose to a study’s validity, reliability, and generalizability?

2. A tremendous amount of research is conducted each year through secondary analysis. What is secondary analysis and what are the advantages and disadvantages of using secondary data? Give an example of a study that was done using secondary data analysis and summarize the findings briefly. Be sure the study is peer-reviewed.

Finally, what are some additional questions that you have about the different qualitative methods that are out there? Use this as an opportunity to gain some clarity on the research methods discussed this week.

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 6 Forum

Quantitative Research Methods

Please answer one of the below prompts. Your posts this week should demonstrate critical reflection upon the assigned readings.

1. Think about how you might design a quantitative research project. What methods would you use to collect your data? What would you need to do to demonstrate that your study had a high degree of validity and reliability?

2. Generally speaking, what are some advantages and disadvantages to doing survey research?

Finally, what are some additional questions that you have about the different quantitative methods that are out there? Use this as an opportunity to gain some clarity on the research methods discussed this week.

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 7 Forum

Mixed-Methods Research

Consider the material that we covered this week and discuss when you think a mixed methods approach should be used in research. What are some key arguments that are occurring within the discipline regarding this question? Your posts this week should demonstrate critical reflection upon the assigned readings.

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 8 Forum

Data Synthesis, Interpretation, and Presentation

As you may have noticed during the course of your research one key component of a research paper is the abstract. Often the abstract is something that scholars put together before they start work on their research to help them focus their ideas. Then as the paper develops they come to refine the abstract to ensure that it reflects what was actually done within the paper. A good abstract sets the stage for the research topic, explains the method in use, notes the findings, and mentions important implications of the study. They are typically 150-200 words in length and allow researchers to quickly see what a paper is about prior to reading the work in its entirety.

Please post an abstract that accurately reflects your study up to this point. If you need some examples of abstracts to help you get started take a look at some of the abstracts found within the peer-reviewed journals you referenced within your own proposal.

In thinking about your research, how are you planning to assess your data? How might you code your data? Finally, what additional insight did this week’s material help provide that we haven’t covered yet? Your posts this week should demonstrate critical reflection upon the assigned readings.

Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 300 words. Please respond to at least 2 other students. Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 2 Assignment

CITI Training

During lesson 1 you were introduced to why its important to carry out ethical research. For this assignment you will be carrying out CITI training for researchers specific to Social/Behavioral Research with human subjects.

Log onto the CITI Website to complete the training (You will be able to create your own username and password)

Follow the instructions for Registering for the CITI Course (PDF)

Complete the Social and Behavioral Research Investigators Course

The university pays an annual fee for all AMU/APU users; individual users are not assessed a fee for the training.

Each module may take from 10 to 30 minutes to complete, and most contain a quiz. The modules do not have to be completed all in one login session. A minimum aggregate score of 80 percent is required to pass. At the end of your training course you’ll be presented with a “coursework transcript report” which will note that the training you completed will be valid for three years. This means that you will have one less step to do should you go on to seek approval from the IRB to carry out human subjects research for your MA thesis.

To complete this assignment you need upload your coursework transcript report*. The “reported score” will be the score that is entered for your grade. While CITI gives you the option to carry out the training multiple times, your first attempt is what will be recorded.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 3 Assignment

Research Question and Hypothesis Exercise

1. Start your assignment with an introductory paragraph about your research topic and why it is of interest and a research “puzzle.” You want to guide your reader from your research area to your research topic, then on to your general research question, and specific research question.

While there are many ways to frame a research question, at the graduate level, your research questions should be 1) open-ended and start with “How,” “Why,” “What,” or “To what extent;” 2) should incorporate the variables you seek to assess and their relationship; and 3) should indicate how you intend to test the nature of that relationship. You want to make sure that your question has an appropriate amount of complexity so that it requires a significant amount of research and analysis. A simple Google search should not be able to answer your research question.

Unclear: How can the need for power be harmful?

Too simple: What is Hillary Clinton’s position on Obama Care?

Too simple: What is Hillary Clinton’s operational code?

Too broad: To what extent is Hillary Clinton different from Bill Clinton?

Appropriately Complex and Focused: To what extent is Hillary Clinton motivated by a need for power by comparison to Bill Clinton, and how might this impact access and control of information within the White House?

2. Next, provide a purpose statement that conveys your intentions about what you hope to produce. See the reference in your Lessons and review that it will usually be prefaced by some phrase like the following: “This paper examines . . .,” “The aim of this paper is to . . .,” or “The purpose of this essay is to . . .”. Remember that a purpose statement makes a promise to the reader about the development of the argument but does not preview the particular conclusions that the writer has drawn. Your purpose statement should demonstrate what you are hoping to find out, and also explain what you want your readers to understand (motivation or argument of the research).

This formula and example set from the Baruch College Writing Center may be helpful:

I am studying…

(Narrowed Topic)

…because I want to find out…

(Research Question)

….so that readers understand…

(Motivation or Argument)

Differences in Boston-based and Philadelphia-based abolitionist rhetoric…

…why Boston-based abolitionists emphasized broad themes of social justice…

…how previous scholars may have overlooked the role of free black Bostonians in shaping anti-slavery ideals.

The origins of the Glass-Steagall Act

…why lawmakers supported its passage…

…that their motives resulted not from careful economic analysis but rather from ideological preconceptions about the role of commercial banks in society.

(From Baruch College Writing Center “Focusing Research Topics Workshop” www.writingcenter.baruch.cuny.edu)

3. Pull out the dependent (DV) and independent variable(s) (IV) that you are interesting it looking at. This needs to be specific and you need to discuss ideas for how you might go about measuring the impact that the IV as on the DV. You need to focus in on one or two specific variables (and discuss how they are defined), otherwise your research will quickly spin out of control as you will not have the capacity to effectively address the relationship between all the variables. The PRS Group offers a good list of variables they use in their research. This list is just an example of variable to show you what a variable might look like and how it might be defined.

From here develop a hypothesis that reflects your educated guess as to the relationship between those variables. You may use an “if” “then” statement or you may formulate it as a narrative statement.

Hypothesis: A statement for how a change or condition in one or more independent variables cause(s) a change or condition in a dependent variable.

Finally, explain why these are the important variables to look at within this research project. Why focus on these variables and not other variables?

By the time you are done you should have at least 3-4 pages of content (double spaced in times-new roman font), not including the title page, and a “references list or bibliography” page. Your writing should be consistent with the professional/academic writing style. For a refresher on the conventions of academic writing please refer to the latest Turabian writing guide or APA writing manual. Since multiple writing styles are in use within this course, on your title page, please note which style you are using within your assignment. This will help me cater my comments to the style you are using. The style you use need to be the one that is used within your program of study.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 4 Assignment

Literature Review on a Theory

Writing a Literature Review

Most research projects include a literature review to determine what knowledge exists on the subject under study and to develop the theoretical framework that will be used in the study. The literature review sets the context for the entire research project by explaining what others have found in researching the same or similar specific research questions. Literature reviews are also done to help summarize the current state of knowledge on a topic and the current knowledge gaps up to this point. In this format they are often published as a pure literature review within peer reviewed journals. One example can be found here specific to the literature on psychobiography as a method, here is another example article. Students often have a hard time writing literature reviews because it seems like a foreign way to organize information, however in a way you can equate the way that an essay is written to that of a literature review. In an essay one will bring in numerous references within each paragraph, the same would be the case for a literature review in that literature reviews are organized thematically. NCSU has a fantastic video (https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/tutorials/litreview/) that helps explain what a literature review is an how they are written at the graduate and professional levels, I recommend taking a look as it will help give you some additional perspective on how these are written. For some additional information on how to organize your theoretical framework into your paper, check out this USC Library guide on Theoretical Frameworks.

A literature review begins with an introductory paragraph in which the writer frames the research topic and its significance, or the puzzle or topic area that the researcher is addressing. To do that, the writer will summarize the major relevant arguments on the research subject, highlighting the main issues and how schools of thought might differ. If there are key terms to be defined, the writer would also do that here, if the literature review is part of a larger research paper.

The body of the literature review tells readers what others have found in their studies about your specific research question, or topic under investigation (the extent of existing knowledge on your specific research question/current state of the research on a particular topic), critiques what is right or wrong with these other studies, and discusses how the body of knowledge needs to be moved forward (and/or how the work is distinguishable from the research study you are proposing). Your review should organize material by theme or method or what makes sense for the project.

The conclusion should summarize the primary “sense of the literature”, encapsulating for the reader where the existing literature ends and if carrying out a study, where your research will start.

Assignment Instructions:

This assignment serves as a building block for your final thesis proposal. For this literature review you need to select a substantive theory, either something that we discussed in the lesson, or something outside of the course, and focus your literature review around that theory. Your theory selection should make sense with the research question you intend to assess within your final research proposal. Since this is a literature review focused on a particular topic (i.e. the substantive theory) you will need to discuss the current state of the literature specific to that theory (for example, deterrence theory, social identity theory, and etc). You’ll want to start with a discussion on the early conceptualizations of the theory and how it has developed overtime. your conclusion should include a discussion on where the research on that theory needs to go next. What are some questions that remain? What new ways should it be applied?

Format: Standard academic format will suffice: 1-inch borders on all four sides, double spaced, with times new roman 12-point font. As with all academic assignments (unless otherwise specified) you must include a references section and list your references.

This literature review should include a critical review of at least 9-10 scholarly/peer-reviewed articles.

Since multiple writing styles are in use within this course, on your title page, please note which style you are using within your assignment. This will help me cater my comments to the style you are using. The style you use need to be the one that is used within your program of study.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 5 Assignment

Qualitative Article Reviews

Assignment Instructions

Select two articles from the list below and in 1-2 pages single-spaced (per article) address the following:

Include the full reference for the article using the writing style specific to your program on the title page.

Criminal Justice = APA

International Relations, National Security, Military Studies, and Intelligence Studies = Turabian.

Since multiple writing styles are in use within this course, on your title page, please note which style you are using within your assignment. This will help me cater my comments to the style you are using. The style you use need to be the one that is used within your program of study.

State the main goal(s) of the study

Summarize the research design, and discuss the research method(s) used to answer the research question or assess the hypothesis.

Summarize the results of the study.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the study’s research design.

Provide a discussion on how the study can be moved forward. For example, how can the methods be used in your own research proposal? In what other research might these methods apply? Include two well phrased research questions that could be used in follow-on studies to the one reviewed.

Format: You should have 1-inch margins on all 4 sides of your papers; your title page should include your name and date; you should use 12-point times new roman font throughout.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 6 Assignment

Quantitative Article Reviews

Assignment Instructions

Select two articles from the list below and in 1-2 pages single-spaced (per article) address the following:

Include the full reference for the article using the writing style specific to your program on the title page.

Criminal Justice = APA

International Relations, National Security, Military Studies, and Intelligence Studies = Turabian.

Since multiple writing styles are in use within this course, on your title page, please note which style you are using within your assignment. This will help me cater my comments to the style you are using. The style you use need to be the one that is used within your program of study.

State the main goal(s) of the study

Summarize the research design, and discuss the research method(s) used to answer the research question or assess the hypothesis.

Summarize the results of the study.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the study’s research design.

Provide a discussion on how the study can be moved forward. For example, how can the methods be used in your own research proposal? In what other research might these methods apply? Include two well phrased research questions that could be used in follow-on studies to the one reviewed.

Format: You should have 1-inch margins on all 4 sides of your papers; your title page should include your name and date; you should use 12-point times new roman font throughout.

SSGS500 Research Design and Methods

Week 8 Assignment

Research Proposal

Assignment Instructions

This assignment requires you to write a proposal that states your research question and your research strategy for addressing it.

Research Proposal:

The research proposal must be between 8-10 pages in length not including title page or references.

Your title page should include the working title of your research project, your name, date, and course title. You should also have an abstract on your title page.

Your proposal should have the following sections:

Introduction: The introduction is where you identify your specific research question and where you set the general context for the study. In this section you need to include:

a statement of the problem or general research question and context leading to a clear statement of the specific research question;

background and contextual material justifying why this case or topic should be studied; and

a purpose statement.

Literature Review: This short preliminary literature review section reviews the literature important to your specific research question. The literature review focuses on discussing how other researchers have addressed the same or similar research questions. It introduces the study and places it in larger context that includes a discussion of why it is important to study this case. It provides the current state of accumulated knowledge as it relates to your specific research question. In this section you should:

Summarize the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledge base) on the specific research question. For example if you discuss other studies that have been conducted you would summarize the researcher’s findings, how those findings were obtained, and conduct an evaluation of biases in the findings.

This section should provide a broad overview of the primary arguments related to the topic and organizes the general views on the main aspects of the topic by theme, which could be the prevailing arguments or schools of thought, or commonly held beliefs that your particular topic may challenge.

Include a short conclusion and transition to the next section.

In your literature review you should also discuss the theoretical framework to be used in the study. You should ensure you cover the following in your discussion:

a summary of the theory or model to be used in the study, including a diagram of the model if appropriate;

comment on the kinds of questions this theory has been used to answer in the past and why it is appropriate to use in this proposed study

To really drive this home you want to end your literature review with a discussion of the current knowledge gaps. This is an opportunity to once again promote the importance of your own research. How will your research fit within this larger body of knowledge? What are you doing differently? What gaps will your research fill?

For some additional information on how to organize your theoretical framework into your paper, check out this USC Library guide on Theoretical Frameworks.

From here you would then include a transition into your methodology section.

NOTE: Literature reviews can be a bit tricky to write. Think back to how you wrote your short theory lit review in week 4. Chances are you already started to write in a style similar to what one does when completing a literature review. Check out this video (the same one you were guided to in week 4) to help you further prepare to write this section of your proposal. This will not be the last time that you are asked to write a literature review in your academic career so its important to master this skill.

Research Design and Methods: Describes how you will answer your research question or test the hypothesis. This section describes your overall research design and how you plan to collect, synthesize, and interpret your data. It should include:

identification and operationalization (measurement) of variables;

a sampling plan (i.e., study population and sampling procedures, if appropriate);

justification of case studies used;

data collection/sources (secondary literature, archives, interviews, surveys, etc.);

a summary of analysis procedures (pattern-matching, etc.); and

the limitations of study and bias discussion.

Conclusion: Reemphasizes the importance of your study and ties the proposal together.

Reference List: As with all academic papers you need to references the works that you have cited (direct quotes or paraphrases) in the text of your document and incorporate a complete reference list or bibliography at the end. This list needs to be in the style used within your field. APA= Criminal Justice, Turabian for all others in this course.

Remember that the references you use demonstrate your knowledge of the topic area. This research proposal is meant to convince your professor that you not only have identified a worthy question in need of investigation, but that you are also capable of carrying out the research involved to successfully answer that question. At the very least you should have referenced 12-15 peer-reviewed sources in this proposal.

Since multiple writing styles are in use within this course, on your title page, please note which style you are using within your assignment. This will help me cater my comments to the style you are using. The style you use need to be the one that is used within your program of study.

Format:

Standard academic format will suffice: 1-inch borders on all four sides, double spaced, with times new roman 12-point font.

As you proof read your assignment I encourage you to work with Belcher, Wendy Laura. 2009. “Editing Your Sentences” In Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. Sage. This resource has a nice step by step process for enhancing your writing.

The research paper must be submitted as a Word Document Attachment in the Assignments section of the classroom by Sunday, 11:55pm EST at the end of week 8.

Entitled (NameFINALW8.doc) and upload in the Assignments sections.