SOC 415: Understanding Social Research

• Research Paper (25%)

  In Soc 415 you will begin work on a research paper that you will continue to work on in Soc 416.  The requirements for this term include (1) a title; (2) a summary statement of the variables you will use in your research; (3) an introduction section; (4) a literature review; and (5) a data and methods section. 

   

      A literature review brings together what has been written on your topic (i.e. "the literature").  This will involve a summary of research on the topic you have chosen.  That is, what does research-both empirical and theoretical-tell us about the state of the relationship between these variables ... it is important that you write your literature review so that: (1.) someone who knows nothing about your topic is brought "up to speed" on what research has concluded about the topic and (2.) reference it thoroughly so that informed readers will be able to check to see that you have portrayed the state of the knowledge on the topic accurately and with breadth. 

       Good literature reviews will tell the reader what research has said about the relationship that you have chosen to look at.  Another area of emphasis will be to note how other important variables (i.e. "control" variables) influence the relationship you have chosen to examine.  For example, if you were examining the topic of sports involvement and sexual activity, it is likely that there are important gender differences in this relationship (thus, gender is an important control variable).  Next term you will do analyses that control for at least one variable, so focus especially on the literature that examines your key independent and dependent variable and how the control variable(s) you will examine influences this relationship. Again, remember to focus only on variables that are included in the YRBS...

      Studies that you come across and want to include in your literature review, but which focus on control variables which you will not examine with data in YOUR study, can be [included].  These studies are relevant as they present "the big picture" but they are less relevant than the studies which examine the independent, dependent and control variable that YOU will be examining in YOUR analyses.

  Note: It is important you not only draw on existing research in your paper but also that you properly cite these sources (please use ASA format). Ten (10) or more sources are expected for your final research paper.

[1] Use Boolean or logical operators (AND, OR, NOT) to combine concepts or alternate terms. See http://www.ithaca.edu/library/course/expert.html for a graphic presentation of how these work 

[2] Use truncation (a word root followed by a special character, e.g., "adol*" retrieves also "adolescent", "adolescence", etc.) or wildcards (special characters used within a word to stand for 1 or more letters, e.g., "behavi?r" might retrieve "behavior" or "behaviour" to broaden your retrieval

[3] The use of controlled language lets you take advantage of the work others have done. This tool often helps refine your search by eliminating irrelevant items and retrieving items you might not have found otherwise. This option is not available on the Internet in general and occasionally not available in certain full-text databases

Sociology Research Guide -- offers suggestions on using the OSU Libraries resources for research on sociology topics

Psychology Research Guide -- your topics also lend themselves to searching the psychology literature 

Sociological Abstracts -- the most extensive sociology specific database for scholarly literature and more

PsycInfo -- the single best source for psychology and psychological research in other fields 

Ask a Librarian -- several ways you can contact a librarian for general research help. Drop by the desk, call, e-mail or chat with a librarian.

Citation Help 

OSU Libraries Research Tutorial 

ASA Format guide from California State University - LA 

ASA Citations created by the libraries at Univ. of Connecticut

American Sociological Assoc. Quick Style Guide

The ASA Style Guide is in the reference collection on the main floor at call # HM586 .A541 1997 if you have questions not answered with the above online resources