****NOTE TO THE TUTOR: This is part 2 of 2 part assignment. The first part was submitted, graded, and have feed back from the grader and is attached in the files as Touchstone 1. The plan was already selected. Please see the feed back and read about the research question and resources. There is also a sample template attached to get an idea of what is required. Touchstone 3 document is the one that needs to be completed. All of the information is below. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for your help******
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.
REQUIREMENTS: You must create 8-11 notecards using the touchstone template below. Your notecards will include:
- introduction card
- research question card
- literature review (4–6 cards)
- hypothesis card
- operational definitions card (if needed)
- research method card
A. Directions
Step 1: Revise Touchstone 1
First, return to the community group description, research question, and proposed bibliography that you submitted in Touchstone 1, and make any necessary changes based on feedback from the grader. You will likely want to refine your reading list based on the feedback you received and what you learned about diversity and collaboration in Unit 3.
Step 2: Conduct a Literature Review
Next, complete your reading for your literature review.
Reminder of attributes of good readings for your literature review:
- They are academic, scholarly works about research findings or they are reliable journalistic reporting based on scientifically credible and reliable data.
- They should have been published in the last 10 years—unless they are a landmark work on the topic and provide important background or as a comparison.
- They look at different sides of the argument and a variety of perspectives.
As you complete each reading, take notes. Questions you should answer about each reading include:
- Who wrote this article? Is it the researchers themselves, or is it a journalist writing about their findings?
- Where was it published? Is it a scholarly publication like an academic journal, or is it for a popular audience? If the publication is for a popular audience, how would you characterize the audience?
- Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists, or are they of a different discipline?
- 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 impact my research question, hypothesis, or research plan?
As you did for your first Touchstone, you will include five key elements for each source, with each element separated by a period:
- Author’s name(s)
- Publication date
- Title of the source
- Page numbers (if applicable)
- Source's location for web-based texts (URL)
EXAMPLE
Alireza Behtoui. 2015. Beyond social ties: The impact of social capital on labour market outcomes for young Swedish people. p. 711-724. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1440783315581217
Step 3: Formulate a Hypothesis, State Your Operational Definitions, and Choose a Research Method
Hypothesis
Next, formulate a hypothesis for your research question and choose a sociological research method appropriate for testing your hypothesis. While you won’t be conducting the research, you will write up a description of how you plan to conduct your research. (HINT: Refer back to Lesson 1.3.5: Formulating a Hypothesis, Lesson 1.3.6: Collecting Data: Quantitative Approaches , and Lesson 1.3.6: Collecting Data: Quantitative Approaches for help.)
A formal hypothesis states the relationship between two variables—one is independent (IV) and one is dependent (DV). It must also be formatted as an If/Then statement, for instance:
- If people eat chocolate (IV), then they will get pimples (DV).
- If people go to the gym (IV), then they will be fit (DV).
Operational Definitions
Operational definitions identify important concepts related to the research. For example, If your community organization includes students, are they K-12? College? Medical? Or are students defined as: young adults between the ages of 18-21 who are attending a particular college or university?
Research Method
Deciding on a research method will also take some thought and planning:
- 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?
Step 4: Prepare Your Notecards
Finally, incorporate Steps 1-4 to prepare a set of notecards for your proposed research study. Use the template provided to create 8-11 notecards that present the work you completed in Steps 1-4.
NotecardComponentIntroductionYour introduction notecard should introduce your audience to the community group being studied.Research questionYour second notecard will state your research question.Literature Review (4-6 cards)Now that you’ve introduced your community group and research question, it’s time to add information to your literature review notecards. Each source should have one notecard. The notecard should describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2.HypothesisYour hypothesis notecard should describe your hypothesis.Operational definitionsYour operational definitions notecard should include and explain any operational definitions you developed for your study. You may skip this card if you have none.Research methodYour research method notecard should introduce your proposed research method and explain how you propose to conduct your research.
SOCI1010 Unit 1 Touchstone Template
Complete the following template, including all parts, using complete sentences.
STEP 1: Pick a Topic
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Write a paragraph (approximately 6-8 sentences) describing the community group you have chosen. In particular, be sure to answer the following questions: · What is the community group? · What are the attributes or characteristics of this community group? · What kind of experience with or access to this community group do you have? |
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The community group I have chosen to focus on for this assignment is Greek-letter social organizations, fraternities and sororities. These groups or memberships offer social, professional, and recreational opportunities for college students, also helping young people cultivate leadership skills and social identities. Diversity in sororities and fraternities does vary by school, but generally, many colleges are working to create more diversity and inclusion. Many universities are implementing new strategies to limit cultural insensitivity and ensure that all students feel welcome to join, or "pledge," if they wish to. Diversity in Greek-life is very important. A sorority, more specifically, this group is exclusive to women, focusing on building social skills, character development, leadership challenges, civic engagement and philanthropy. Strayer University offers Alpha Chi National Honor Society, while not necessary a fraternity or sorority, is the closest thing the institution offers comparably. Otherwise, the only experience and knowledge I have in regard to this type of organization comes from research. Comment by Jennifer Osborne: Good work identifying your community group. You included details about the memberships, the strategies to include diversity, and where there are offered. Comment by Jennifer Osborne: You included your experience with this group and how you have access to them.
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STEP 2: Ask a Question
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Write the question you have formulated for your study and identify the independent and dependent variables. |
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Are diversity experiences of students who participate in fraternities and sororities positive? Comment by Jennifer Osborne: Good start to the question. When considering the variables I suggest eliminating gender as this will be considered anyways, and how else can you incorporate a sociological theme in to the question? Two independent variables (group and gender) and three dependent variables (self-identity, self-efficacy, and goal instability) |
STEP 3: Prepare a Bibliography
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List 4-6 articles, books, or other resources that relate to your question for your literature review. Use the simplified method to format sources for your bibliography. Include five key elements for each source, with each element separated by a period: · Author’s name(s) · Publication date · Title of the source · Page numbers (if applicable) · Source's location for web-based texts (URL) |
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Example: 1. Alireza Behtoui. 2015. Beyond social ties: The impact of social capital on labour market outcomes for young Swedish people. p. 711-724. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1440783315581217 Comment by Jennifer Osborne: You did well selecting some articles to support your study. I suggest using academic publications to ensure you are able to analyze the data for your study. |
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1. Parker, Eugene T. and Pascarella, Ernest (2018) “On Greek Row: Diversity, Socially Responsible Leadership and Fraternity and Sorority Membership,” Oracle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity and Sorority Membership,” Orachle: The Research Journal of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors: Vol. 13: Iss, 1, Article 3 http://scholarworks.wm.edu/oracle/vol13/iss1/3 Comment by Jennifer Osborne: Was the title typed in twice? Looks almost the same for title of article. All information should be separated by a period. |
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2. Olivia, Bienvenue 2017. Campus Greek life plays important role in diversity, inclusivity. The Daily Illini https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/2017/04/12/campus.greek-life-plays-important-role-diversity-inclusivity/ |
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3. Nair, Ajay. “Greek Life on Campus: An Asset and a Challenge.” INSIGHT Into Diversity , 17 Oct. 2017, www.insightintodiversity.com/greek-life-on-campus-an-asset-and-a-challenge. Comment by Jennifer Osborne: There are a few minor changes that need to be done in this citation. The date should be year only format, separated by periods, and title should follow date. |
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4. Laird, Thomas F. Nelson. “College Students’ Experiences with Diversity and Their Effects on Academic Self-Confidence, Social Agency, and Disposition toward Critical Thinking.” Research in Higher Education, vol. 46, no. 4, Springer, 2005, pp. 365–87 , http://www.jstor.org/stable/40197372. Comment by Jennifer Osborne: This source has the title after the author when it should be date. All information should be separated by a period. |
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5. Chang, Clio. “Pledging a Diverse College Experience.” The Century Foundation, 5 May 2016, tcf.org/content/commentary/pledging-a-diverse-college-experience /?agreed=1. Comment by Jennifer Osborne: Same here. The date should follow the author then the title with source information following. |
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6. |
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Touchstone 1: Developing a Research Plan |
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Rubric Category |
Feedback |
Score (acceptable, needs improvement etc.) |
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Thesis Research Question |
Research question is sufficiently specific for research but does not tie into broader themes in sociology. Independent and dependent variables are clearly identified but are not in the correct relationship. Good start to your question and variables are identified. I suggest including a sociological theme into the question and removing gender as an IV as this will be considered in the study anyways. See comments on page for feedback. |
12/15 |
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Identify Community Group |
A voluntary, recreational community group is identified and described thoroughly. Group attributes/characteristics and discussion of the student’s experience with or access to this group is provided. Good work with discussing your community group and detailing the attributes of the group. See comments on page for feedback. |
15/15 |
Bibliography |
Only 1 credible, relevant, recent, and properly cited source is provided. You provided some good articles to support your study, some minor changes are needed in formatting, and two of them need to be reviewed for data. See comments on page for feedback. |
9/15 |
Writing Mechanics |
There are 0-2 errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. You did well with spell checking, using proper grammar mechanics, and punctuation. |
5/5 |
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Overall Score and Feedback: 41 /50 |
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Name: Date:
SOCI1010 Unit 3 Touchstone Sample
Complete the following template, including all parts, using complete sentences.
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NOTECARD 1, Introduction: Your introduction card should introduce your audience to the community group being studied. |
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I propose to study the Teen Reading Club at the Springfield Public Library. Teen Reading Club is a book club led by an SPL librarian. The group meets once per month to discuss a book that everyone has read. It's an open group, so the teens who participate can vary from month to month. Prior to January 2020, each month's reading selection was chosen by the librarian. Beginning in January 2020, the reading selection for each month was chosen by attendees at the previous month's meeting, voting among five options pre-selected by the librarian. |
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NOTECARD 2, Research Question: This card will state your research question. |
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Does the method of selecting a reading for the Teen Reading Club have a measurable impact on the diversity of the readings selected? |
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NOTECARD 3, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the first source in your literature review. |
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Sofya Aptekar, 2019 The Public Library as Resistive Space in the Neoliberal City https://www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cico.12417 Sofya Aptekar is a sociology professor at UMass Boston. She did ethnographic research in a public library in Queens, New York City. She was interested in studying how people of different classes and backgrounds interacted in a library space within a diverse neighborhood. She found that the library is a place where middle class people and lower class people have authentic interactions and where middle class people try to bend the rules in order to help lower class people. This is relevant to my proposed study because Aptekar discusses how diversity — in this case, economic diversity — impacts relationships and programming at an urban public library. |
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NOTECARD 4, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the second source in your literature review. |
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Similar to Notecard 3, create the following for your second source: · Bibliography information for your second source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 5, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the third source in your literature review. |
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Similar to Notecard 3, create the following for your third source: · Bibliography information for your third source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 6, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the fourth source in your literature review. |
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Similar to Notecard 3, create the following for your fourth source: · Bibliography information for your fourth source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 7, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the fifth source in your literature review. Skip this card if you only have four sources. |
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Similar to Notecard 3, create the following for your fifth source: · Bibliography information for your fifth source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 8, LIterature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the sixth source in your literature review. Skip this card if you only have four sources. |
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Similar to Notecard 3, create the following for your sixth source: · Bibliography information for your sixth source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 9, Hypothesis: State your hypothesis. |
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If the attendees select the books, then the readings selected will exhibit a decrease in diversity of the writers, compared to when the librarian selects the books. |
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NOTECARD 10, Operational definitions: Include and explain any operational definitions you developed for your study. You may skip this card if you have none. |
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Attendees = the teens who attended the previous month's reading group and who voted on the next month's reading. Librarian = the professional SPL librarian leading the reading group any given month. Note that multiple librarians have led the reading group in the period of time included in my study. Writer diversity = the diversity of the identities of the authors of the selected readings will be assessed based on the writers' Wikipedia pages. Diversity will be measured based on race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and religion. |
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NOTECARD 11, Proposed Research Method: Introduce your proposed research method and explain how you propose to conduct your research. |
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I will ask the librarian for a list of the readings for the teen reading group from January 2017 up until the most recent month available. I will analyze this data to determine whether the diversity of the writers represented increased or decreased since the change to the book selection process in January 2020. I will assign a score to each writer based on publicly available information about their identities, according to the following criteria: Race and ethnicity: If the writer is a person of color and/or Hispanic, +1 If race and ethnicity are unknown, 0 If the writer is non-Hispanic white, -1 Gender: If the writer is a woman, non-binary, transgender, or another gender minority, +1 If the writer's gender is unknown, 0 If the writer is a cisgendered man, -1 Sexual orientation: If the writer is openly queer (or, for writers from prior generations who are deceased, if historians largely consider them to have been queer), +1 If the writer's sexual orientation is unknown, 0 If the writer is heterosexual, -1 Religion: If the writer practices a minority religion in the USA or is strongly connected to a minority religion heritage, +1 If the writer's religion is unknown or if they have no religious affiliation, 0 If the writer is Protestant or Catholic, 0 For instance, J.K Rowling would receive a total score of -2, because she is a straight, white, Christian woman. Angie Thomas would receive a total score of 1, because she is a Black Christian woman of unknown sexual orientation. After assigning scores, I will find the average score for all writers selected between January 2017 and December 2019, and the average score for all writers selected between January 2020 and the latest available data. Comparing the average scores for the two time periods will show whether my hypothesis is correct. |
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Name: Date:
SOCI1010 Unit 3 Touchstone Template
Complete the following template, including all parts, using complete sentences.
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NOTECARD 1, Introduction: Your introduction card should introduce your audience to the community group being studied. |
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· Name of your community group · Description of your community group |
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NOTECARD 2, Research Question: This card will state your research question. |
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· State your research question |
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NOTECARD 3, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the first source in your literature review. |
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· Bibliography information for your first source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 4, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the second source in your literature review. |
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· Bibliography information for your second source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 5, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the third source in your literature review. |
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· Bibliography information for your third source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 6, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the fourth source in your literature review. |
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· Bibliography information for your fourth source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 7, Literature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the fifth source in your literature review. Skip this card if you only have four sources. |
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· Bibliography information for your fifth source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 8, LIterature Review: Describe the information and analysis you performed in Step 2 for the sixth source in your literature review. Skip this card if you only have four sources. |
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· Bibliography information for your sixth source · Description and analysis |
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NOTECARD 9, Hypothesis: State your hypothesis. |
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· State your hypothesis |
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NOTECARD 10, Operational definitions: Include and explain any operational definitions you developed for your study. You may skip this card if you have none. |
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· Explanation of operational definitions |
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NOTECARD 11, Proposed Research Method: Introduce your proposed research method and explain how you propose to conduct your research. |
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· Description of your proposed research method · Explanation of how you propose to conduct your research |