Sociology

crucial components of this course is developing a research project from conceptualizing a research problem and develop a number of complementary design, measurement, and data collection approaches to bring evidence to bear on the problem. We are going to create a research study based on previous research you choose to use. We will then determine which variables we can use from the General Social Survey (GSS) which are representative of our interests and satisfy our research question and hypotheses. Not to worry, there are over 5,000 variables within this dataset to choose from. This presentation will enable us to complete the following objectives: Describe and apply the concepts and logic of elementary statistics. Conduct statistical analysis in SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Compare and contrast different types of data and the statistics that can be used to analyze them Examine the differences between descriptive and inferential statistics and their use in the social sciences. Form critical interpretations of quantitative research literature in sociology and other social sciences. Complete and interpret descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis Critically evaluate the quality of research design and evidence in published social research. Instructions This presentation is a compilation of the assignments and activities that you will complete for your weekly Forum posts. Each week you will have an activity to complete. You will post your work and engage with your instructor and classmates throughout the week to determine the “perfect” version of your work. In other words, you are expected to revise anything prior to placing it you’re your ‘Final Portfolio Project’ file. You will create a designated word file to act as a repository of assignments. Each week you will copy and paste your work for the discussion board (not including your responses to classmates) into this file and format-as-you-go to become a cohesive presentation. You are encouraged to use subheaders for each section. Construct a presentation that fully explores each of the following areas: Each section should have information for context which provides your reader with the background necessary to understand what you are presenting. What I mean by this is that you will want to ‘present’ the topic of hypothesis testing while citing resources like Babbie (your textbook) and other resources located in the class. You may than present your outline of this testing as it relates to your variables. Without context, the audience may be lost. Your professor is looking to see whether you understand what you are writing about, not simply going through the motions. The project will be presented to the Professor as a professional presentation using audio narration. In addition, this project will be presented to the class in the Week 8 Forum as a multimedia presentation using either Power Point with narration, Screencast-o-matic, or Prezi. Other programs need to be submitted to the instructor for review. The following table is an outline of each task that you will complete on the discussion forums. Project Outline Week Task 1 Choose a topic based on previous paper, assignment, or research Post topic to the Forum 2 Create frequency tables, including descriptive statistics data, and graphs data appropriately. Provide a brief explanation of your findings. 3 Find correlation data for your variables Create and explain crosstabs for your variables Identify a research question and develop your hypotheses (research and null). Also include if this is a directional or non-directional hypothesis Clearly identify your variables (independent v. dependent, levels of measurement, if they are discrete or continuous, etc.) 4 Present research articles which utilize quantitative data Write your literature review * For the DF you will need to focus on critiquing the statistical process of these articles, BUT for your final portfolio project you will need to provide a literature review based on these articles. In other words, you will need to provide more of a comprehensive overview (as you would in a research paper) of these articles for the final version. 5 Chi-square test Determine your test statistic (see table for more details) 6 t Test Determine your ideal test statistic Perform the ANOVA test. You will need to choose an appropriate variable where many groups can be considered (religious background, political affiliation, level of education, SES, or income for example). Remember to recode certain variables (income for example) to make reasonable categories. 7 Proofread the file and work on “tightening things up” Do not forget to include your conceptual framework (based on a theory within your field of interest), literature review, research question and hypotheses 8 Submit your presentation to the Forum