Revising your research proposal

Revising your research proposal is the focal point of this course.  Everything so far has lead up to this point-- this week we talk about writing and look at examples of scholarly writing to help us improve our own writing.

See the shared google document :654 Writing Advice for the links to the documents listed below.

Note that the second draft has a 2000 word limit (twice that of the first draft).

Following is from that document.

Writing advice:  

You should have several short term writing goals.  First, read your paragraphs and write a sentence that directly states the argument of that paragraph (thesis statement).  Use your improved thesis statements to improve the rest of your paragraph.  Make each sentence more purposeful and active.  Second, revise the content of your proposal by making the important sociological contribution of your work clear.   Finally, improve the consistency of your argument between different analytic levels:   title, abstract, paragraph, section, paper.   Your message needs to be consistent across these levels.  In other words, your title should be the heart of abstract, your abstract should be the core of the paper; the thesis statement of each paragraph should be a good short version of your paragraph.

Here are suggestions and links to the exemplars:

Hechter paper:  Read the introduction.  400-405.   Notice his use of example--how and why does he use the example that he does?   What is the role of drama?   What is the thing that he wants to explain?


Papachristos paper:   74 to 82.   What sort of puzzle does Papachristos solve?  Why is this an especially sociological answer to this puzzle?  How can you frame your research questions to make them fully sociological?


Stark paper:   All 5 pages.  Pay attention to the direct, active sentences.   Notice the clear sentence and paragraph level construction.  Also note his advice about writing and revising.  


Kreager paper:  351-357  Pay attention to how Kreager uses theories in his study.   Can you identify theories in your research topic that would predict contrasting patterns in how people behave or interact?

Course update

1. I shared two examples of digital portfolios from last year.  We will discuss goals for the assignment in class.  However, here is the summary:   a digital portfolio is where you get to collect, describe and interpret what you have done in and because of involvement in 654 this fall.  
1. Students are encouraged to think of general areas of involvement, including, but not limited to:
1. Knowledge
2. Accomplishments
3. Skills
4. Cooperation
2. Opportunities for these will increase as the quarter continues, but you should be thinking about what you have done in these areas so far, and consider upcoming assignments as opportunities in those directions. 
2. I have been ill-- and have been awake very little since Sunday evening.   Therefore I have not reviewed peoples quiz answers yet.    We will discuss those answers in part this week, in part next week. 
3. Review articles for next week.  
4. Field research, (13)
1. Field research exercise

Quiz 2

I will be adding questions for quiz #2 below.  It will not be due until Oct 9th.  We will be able to discuss the questions during class on Monday.




Click on the image of the question to see it more clearly.




1. Thinking about why and how you sample

2.  Conceptualization and measurement

3.  Operationalizing deliberation

Based on Black et al 2011, describe how to operationalize deliberation.  In your description define, and apply to this research the following terms:  content analysis, coding scheme, exploratory research, small groups, descriptive statistics, and network visualization.   What are the most important findings?  What sort of research should be done to extend, refine or improve upon the current study?

Interpreting quantitative results:

4.  Based on Yuan et al 2009, what can we learn about diffusion from studying interactions in online community?    Provide a detailed explanation of how each important concept was operationalized and measured.  Make sure you pay special attention to the attributes and measurement of key independent variables, and the dependent variable.  Then, using the results reported in tables 1,2, and 3 explain what the results are, how they should be interpreted, and what they mean.

When you are done with your answers, open this link to turn them in.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGF2bndoNERRTEdLY3NCMjl3dTFncWc6MQ

No quiz this week!

Readings for Monday:
Chapters 6,7,8 Neuman!!
Survey, part 1: http://db.tt/b2ixTcP5
Survey, part 2: http://db.tt/YZbXSPSL
IRB form: http://db.tt/52IZj6DE
Status updates article:  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2011.562221
(access while on campus or through library proxy)
or try this: http://db.tt/HSxa90HL


Come prepared to talk with Brandon about thesis research, his thesis, and grad school.

2011 Quiz 1

Quiz #1

1.  How are the steps of quantitative research process similar to those of the qualitative research process?

2.  Where do the approaches differ?  Explain why those differences exist.  

3.  What are the main differences between basic and applied research?

4.   What are the major types of data collection techniques?

5.  Time point of data collection is a dimension on which research studies vary. Briefly describe the three main types of longitudinal research.

6.  Explain what a cohort is and give an example of your own (not from class or the book).

7.  Why does social research need theory?

8.  Go to page 74 and read the section on causal explanation through the first full paragraph of page 78.  Using concepts introduced in that section and elsewhere in the book, explain why the politicians plan in example 3.3 (3.5 in sixth edition) is faulty.

9.  Describe the defining aspects of positivist, interpretive and critical approaches to social science.   (chapter 4)

10.  What is the most important reason to perform a literature review?

11.  Neuman discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using the internet for social research (p. 140).   Here is a description of google scholar-- including some criticisms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_scholar

To what extent do his comments apply or fail to apply to google scholar?

12.  Use google scholar to find a research for each of three faculty members from our department.  Use google scholar to then find 1 article that cited each of those articles.

Copy and paste the item details from the search result, like this:

Faculty research:     Becoming a nonexpert and other strategies for managing fieldwork dilemmas in the criminal justice system Find it with OLinks

U Castellano - Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 2007 - jce.sagepub.com

In this article, the author presents three fieldwork strategies for managing role conflict in criminal
justice settings. One of the most critical issues for ethnogra- phers immersed in fieldwork is balancing
the tension between the researcher and participant-observation roles. Ethnographers in ...

Cited by:

Probation officers' perspectives on recent Belgian changes in the probation service

Find it with OLinks
A Bauwens - Probation Journal, 2009 - prb.sagepub.com
Abstract Throughout the last decade Belgium's criminal justice sector – and its probation service
in particular – has undergone a period of rapid change gener- ated by public criticism, political
pressure and calls for reform. This qualitative study highlights how structural changes ...

13.  What are the most important ethical considerations for social science researchers?

Click here when you are ready to upload your answers:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHVMVkRkSGFTYjZMM3lIWDJEVXoyRnc6MQ

Link list

Weeks

Week    01     Readings        Discussion     Survey

Week    02    Readings      Discussion     QuizW2

Week    03    Readings      Discussion     QuizW3

Week    04    Readings      Discussion     QuizW4

Week    05    Readings      Discussion     QuizW5

Week    06    Readings      Discussion     Other

Week    07    Readings      Discussion     Other

Week    08    Readings      Discussion     Other

Week    09    Readings      Discussion     Other

Week    10    Readings      Discussion     Other

Week    11    Readings      Discussion     Other

654 Fall 2011: New student survey

Soc 654 cohort of 2011.  Answer the following questions, then open the link below and paste your answers into the fields of the survey.

1. What background, experience and training do you have in social science research methods?
2. What are your professional / academic goals?
3. What are your learning objectives for this course?
4. What is the address of the gmail account that you use for professional / academic work?
1. you will need to get one before completing this survey, kthx.
5. My answers to the above:
1. Ted Welser  (Sociology)background:   Art and philosophy in undergrad;  phd at University of Washington in Seattle;  worked at Microsoft Research in the Community technology group (now defunct).  I love to learn how things work;  I am also very interested in how changes in technology and communication are changing how people interact, and driving different types of social change (change at many different scales of analysis).   
2. My professional/academic goals and background are described here:   https://plus.google.com/118359416062708974494/about
3. My learning objectives are to help you think about research, develop the capacity to understand a wide range of types of research, see how to evaluate research and develop awareness of how to make research projects better.   I also want to help each of you think about how you could begin to investigate questions that interest you and to develop your capacity to clearly write about your research objectives. Finally, I want to encourage understanding of how science operates through an iterative social process of asking questions of the empirical world. 
4. h.t.welser
5. Click to open survey form.

J. K. Rowling, Harvard commencement speech

http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination

Neil Tyson; evidence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfAzaDyae-k

Neil Tyson makes some good observations about standards for evidence.