Research

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?
(e.g. What activities does this group do together? What element of the members’ interests or identities brings them together? How is membership in the group defined, if at all?)

· Is there anything else listeners should know about this group that is relevant for your research proposal?

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Name and description of your community group.

NOTECARD 2, Research Question:

·
State your research question.

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?

·
Bibliography information for your first source

·
Description and analysis

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?

·
Bibliography information for your second source

·
Description and analysis

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?

·
Bibliography information for your third source

·
Description and analysis

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?

·
Bibliography information for your fourth source

·
Description and analysis

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.

·
Bibliography information for your fifth source

·
Description and analysis

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.

·
Bibliography information for your sixth source

·
Description and analysis

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).

·
State your hypothesis

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.
You may skip this card if you have none.

·
Explanation of operational definitions

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?

·
Description of your proposed research method

·
Explanation of how you propose to conduct your research

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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