Sociology 302

Social Research Methods Prof. J. Badagliacco

Assignment 3: Research Design, Conceptualization, Operationalization, Hypotheses

This assignment is worth 60 points toward your overall grade, and is due in class on Thursday, October 11. I expect your paper to be word processed with normal font and 1-inch margins. Your paper should be about three pages. Remember that the quality of written expression is very important to research, and how you say something as well as what you say is important. For this assignment you should have read chapters 4 and 5 in Babbie, and use materials presented in class. Reminder: hand in your complete folder which includes all previous assignments. As always, I encourage you to work in study groups, and to see Derek or me if you have any questions, prior to the assignment due date. WEAVE YOUR ANSWERS TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS INTO A NARRATIVE.

For this assignment, you will continue to clarify your concept and shape the nature of your project.

1. In a brief paragraph, tell the reader what your concept is, what your research questions is, and what your dependent and independent variables are. Remember that your dependent variable -- the one that is dependent on the other variable(s) -- is closely related to your concept. You should have one dependent variable, and four independent variables. For example, a dependent variable might be: Attitudes toward Euthanasia. Independent variables might include age, social class, state of the person’s health, social support, etc.

2. In what ways will your project fulfill any of the purposes of research mentioned in class? Which purpose is most important to your project? Why?

3. What unit of analysis ideally best fits your project, and why? What unit of analysis will you use?

4. What type of time dimension would be best for ideally studying your topic -- that is, should this be a cross-sectional or longitudinal study (which type?), and why? Be specific!

5. Identify the indicators and dimensions of your dependent variable. Be detailed and specific.

6. What is your nominal definition of your concept? What is your operational definition for your dependent variable?

7. Based on Rosenberg’s conceptual analysis, discuss the causal relationship(s) between the variables your have chosen. Are the relationships symmetrical, reciprocal, or asymmetrical? In what ways are they so? Fully explain how you have to this conclusion. Use diagrams to illustrate the relationships, and include plus or minus signs and arrows to illustrate the causal relationships you are hypothesizing.

8. Derive the theoretical BIVARIATE hypotheses that you are going to address in your research. These hypotheses MUST be related to your chosen variables. Moreover, if you mentioned a variable, it must be included in at least one hypothesis. Remember that our goal is to empirically test these hypotheses with survey research, so your hypotheses must be testable with focus group interviews (our pilot part of the research) and survey questions. State your hypotheses formally, writing the null hypothesis first, followed by the alternative hypothesis. Your must have one hypothesis for each relationship. Use the proper notation. For example:

H0: Attitudes toward euthanasia are not related to age.

H1: The older a person is, the more likely he or she will hold favorable attitudes toward euthanasia.

Good luck!