15 Jan What challenges are you having

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.