Fall, 2006 (Roos, Soc. 311)

Final Paper

Due: 5 p.m., Thursday, December 14th (Roos office, A342 Lucy Stone Hall)

Your final paper should be on the order of 7-8 pages in length. It must not exceed 10 pages (not counting tables). For the final project you should choose the data analysis technique(s) and presentation mode(s) that best allow you to test your hypotheses, and present your results. The point of this paper is to get you to make an argument in a concise and cogent manner, to test your theory using GSS data [from the 2004 (or 2000 or 2002, or a combined set of years)], and to present your results in an effective manner.

Simply stated, for the final project you will use your three variables to develop your hypotheses, and test them using the elaboration paradigm. You will use the GSS site to run your frequencies. You will probably need to recode at least some of your variables.

Important note: Use the GSS frequencies procedure to produce: 1) the original relationship (the bivariate table showing the dependent variable by the independent variable), and 2) the elaborated relationship (the trivariate table showing the dependent variable by the independent variable by the test variable). Use the information from your output to make two tables, one showing the original relationship and one showing the elaborated relationship (do not just paste the results from the computer output onto paper, rewrite them into tabular form). Make correctly labeled and titled tables.

Supplement this basic analysis with other analyses or data presentation techniques to expand on the argument you are making. Use your imagination. You will increase your grade if you go beyond a mere discussion of the elaboration of your variables.

In writing your paper, follow the general format for research reports (see Ch. 10, pp. 273-276 in Chambliss & Schutt for some ideas). First, discuss the purpose of your study in an Introduction (what exactly are you studying and what hypotheses are you testing?). Include your revised literature from Ass. 2 (what have previous researchers learned about your dependent variable?). We're looking for 3-5 articles/books reviewed for the final paper. Have you been able to replicate previous research? extend previous research by adding new variables? Describe in detail why you expect to get the results you do. Make sure your arguments make sociological sense.

Second, in your Methods section, briefly describe your study design--what data are you using and how are you going to test your hypotheses? This lets other researchers (who may want to replicate your study) know exactly how you went about testing your hypotheses. This is the section in which you describe the General Social Survey, how you coded all your variables (the conceptualization and operationalization), any recoding you did, any missing values you declared, and so forth.

Third, in an Analysis section present the results of your analysis and interpret your data. This section should be the longest since it is the guts of the report. You should provide your tables and graphs and describe your results. Number the tables and/or figures sequentially throughout the report. Relate your results back to your initial hypotheses. Are your hypotheses supported? rejected? If you reject an hypothesis, try to think through why it is wrong.

Finally, summarize the results of your study in a Conclusions section. Whether or not your hypotheses are supported, suggest where future researchers might go from here--on the basis of your literature review, what additional questions might be asked and answered to more fully understand the theoretical issues you have been investigating. Are there additional variables you or future researchers might incorporate into future analyses? Include a set of references in a separate References section that follows your Conclusion.

If you would like some examples of research reports, check out the student papers I mentioned in Ass. 1. These were written for previous Intro to Social Research classes, and received As. Also, you can skim through sociology journals in the periodicals room, or online (e.g., Social Forces, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Social Problems).

DO NOT TURN IN YOUR COMPUTER PRINTOUT, OR COPIES OF PAGES FROM THE GSS--USE THE INFORMATION FROM YOUR OUTPUT TO MAKE TABLES AND INCLUDE THEM IN THE FINAL REPORT.