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Research Skills Assignment 2 will guide you through developing a research question. The first step of this process involves thinking about and identifying a broader “personal interest” related to a researchable sociological topic.
Think about some sociological personal interests that you have. List at least two of these personal interests you have and discuss why you are interested in them. Remember, this needs to be a sociological interest, so it might be helpful for you to first read the short blog entry “What Makes a Research Question Sociological?”
Interest One:
Interest Two:
Q2. Building your understanding (2 parts – Q2a. and Q2b.)
Early in the research process we often consider what we know about our interests and what we need to know to develop our foundational knowledge of the subject. Consider this – if my research interest is “college student food insecurity,” then I might need to know about how many college students are food insecure, how the concept of “food insecurity” is defined, and even just general knowledge about college attendance in the United States. Gathering such knowledge requires me to engage with the scholarly (including government-published) research literature on this topic.
Q2a. Choose one of the research interests you mentioned above. Discuss your general knowledge about the topic – what do you know? How do you know this to be true/accurate? Explain in 3 to 5 sentences.
Q2b. Now consider what you don’t know. Think about three pieces of foundational knowledge that you might need to know related to this interest. These can be definitions of concepts, the general scope / scale of the sociological phenomenon of interest, or even why such an issue is worthy of investigation. Below, list these three pieces of information you need to know and explain why this knowledge is foundational for exploring your selected research interest:
Q2b.1:
Q2b.2:
Q2b.3:
Q3. Locating literature (3 parts – Q3a., Q3b., Q3c.)
Now it is time to begin your investigation. Consider Q2b.1, Q2b.2, and Q2b.3. Use what you learned about navigating scholarly literature to locate a peer-reviewed research article that answers or attempts to answer (not necessarily exhaustively) one of the “holes” in your understanding from Q2b. Read the article and answer the following questions:
Q3a. Provide a citation for the article written in ASA (American Sociological Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) formatting style.
Q3b. What is something noteworthy you learned about the topic through reading this article? What did you learn anything about the concepts/knowledge you discussed in Q2b and anything else you learned? Explain in 3 to 5 sentences.
Q3c. What research method was used by the author(s) of the research article you selected? Was this research quantitative, qualitative, or perhaps something else (e.g. mixed methods)? Explain in 2 to 3 sentences.
Q4. Reflecting on Reading Scholarly Research
Accessing and reading scholarly literature like peer reviewed journal articles can be challenging, especially for a novice. Reflect on your experience reading the article you located. What was your experience like? Were there any sections of the article that were particularly challenging to comprehend or navigate? Explain in at least 3 to 5 sentences.
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