Name:
Date:
SCENARIO: Your supervisor has approved your research question and plan for studying some aspect of diversity and/or collaboration in a community group. Now it is time to conduct your literature review and develop your hypothesis and research plan.
ASSIGNMENT: In the first Touchstone, you developed a research question and prepared a preliminary bibliography for your literature review. You will now conduct your literature review, formulate your hypothesis and research plan, and develop a set of notecards that summarize your work.
SOCI1010 Unit 3 Touchstone Template
Complete the following template, including all parts, using complete sentences.
NOTECARD 1, Introduction: Your introduction card should introduce your audience to the community group being studied. Remember, it should be a group in which membership is voluntary and recreational. In particular, be sure to answer the following questions: · What is the community group? · What are the attributes or characteristics of this community group? · Is there anything else listeners should know about this group that is relevant for your research proposal? |
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NOTECARD 2, Research Question: |
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NOTECARD 3, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based texts (URL). Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could answer about your source include: · Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists, or are they of a different discipline? · Where was this article published? · When was the research conducted? · What question were the researchers attempting to answer? · How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic? · What methods did they use to study their question? · What conclusions did they draw from their results? · How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research plan? |
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NOTECARD 4, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based texts (URL). Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could answer about your source include: · Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists, or are they of a different discipline? · Where was this article published? · When was the research conducted? · What question were the researchers attempting to answer? · How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic? · What methods did they use to study their question? · What conclusions did they draw from their results? · How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research plan? |
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NOTECARD 5, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based texts (URL). Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could answer about your source include: · Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists, or are they of a different discipline? · Where was this article published? · When was the research conducted? · What question were the researchers attempting to answer? · How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic? · What methods did they use to study their question? · What conclusions did they draw from their results? · How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research plan? |
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NOTECARD 6, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based texts (URL). Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could answer about your source include: · Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists, or are they of a different discipline? · Where was this article published? · When was the research conducted? · What question were the researchers attempting to answer? · How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic? · What methods did they use to study their question? · What conclusions did they draw from their results? · How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research plan? |
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NOTECARD 7, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based texts (URL). Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could answer about your source include: · Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists, or are they of a different discipline? · Where was this article published? · When was the research conducted? · What question were the researchers attempting to answer? · How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic? · What methods did they use to study their question? · What conclusions did they draw from their results? · How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research plan? Skip this card if you only have four sources. |
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NOTECARD 8, LIterature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based texts (URL). Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could answer about your source include: · Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists, or are they of a different discipline? · Where was this article published? · When was the research conducted? · What question were the researchers attempting to answer? · How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic? · What methods did they use to study their question? · What conclusions did they draw from their results? · How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research plan? Skip this card if you only have four sources. |
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NOTECARD 9, Hypothesis: State your hypothesis. Remember, a formal hypothesis states the relationship between two variables—one is independent and one is dependent. It should be formatted as an If/Then statement, for instance: · If people eat chocolate (IV), then they will get pimples (DV). |
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NOTECARD 10, Operational definitions: Include and explain any operational definitions you developed for your study. Remember, operational definitions identify important concepts related to the research. |
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NOTECARD 11, Proposed Research Method: Introduce your proposed research method and explain how you propose to conduct your research. Some questions about your research method you might want to answer include: · Will you use qualitative or quantitative research or a combination? · How will you engage subjects or find your data? · What kinds of tools and assessments will be used to gather the data? |
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Completion Checklist |
Complete? |
Have you revised your research question and sources based on any feedback you received on your first Touchstone? |
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Have you read all of your sources and analyzed them for your literature review, and identified how they might be relevant to your research proposal? |
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Have you included the basic bibliographic information for each source, including author(s), publisher and publication date, title, and URL? |
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Have you filled out each relevant notecard fully and completely? |
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Have you provided all of the information about your chosen community group that your grader will need to know in order to understand your research proposal? |
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Have you reviewed the grading rubric to understand how your Touchstone will be assessed? |
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Have you proofread your work? |
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