SOCIOLOGY RESEARCH METHODS

HW3: Questionnaire (25 points):
Due no later than 11:55p ET on Sunday of Week 7 – submit using link in Sakai AND using www.turnitin.com
PURPOSE: The purpose of exercise is to develop a short questionnaire containing both close-ended survey questions and open-ended questions. Students will go through the research design process from research question, to survey construction, to analysis of survey results and theory building using a peer-reviewed article. Tips on Finding a Peer Reviewed Journal Article may be found under Lessons>Course Materials>Resources.

Requirements:

Your assignment should include
– ALL sections 1-9

This assignment does NOT have to be written in essay format. You may organize it by section, question number with question text, and then your answer.

APA formatting should be used throughout. Any time your paraphrase or directly quote a source (such as your article), in-text citations should be used. A full APA-formatted reference should be included at the beginning or end of assignment. See Lessons>Course Materials>Resources for APA Tips.

1.Research Question (1pt)

1) Develop a clear, specific, sociological research question that will investigate the relationship between two social phenomena/behaviors/facts.

2. Conceptual and Operational Definitions (5pts)
2)   Clearly identify the variables in your research question
3)   Identify which variable is your independent variable, and which variable is your dependent variable.
4)   Provide a conceptual definition for each variable. (i.e. similar to dictionary definition)
5)   Describe what ‘type’ of variable each variable is.
6)   Provide an operational definition for each variable. (i.e. how the variable is going to be measured)

3. Hypothesis (1pt)
7) Develop a hypothesis for your research question – a statement of what direction you believe the relationship between your two variables will be.

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4. Questionnaire Construction (3 pts)
8)   Develop 5-10 closed-ended questions (*for groups: 10-15 questions)
a.   Some of these should measure basic socio-demographic characteristics (i.e. age, race/ethnicity, gender, SES)
b.   The rest should be indicators for your variables
c.   These should be constructed based on the ‘type’ of variable you are measuring.
9)   Develop 2-5 open-ended questions for to help measure your variables (* for groups: 3-7 questions)
a.   This is going to help provide some rich qualitative information and serve as a check for the internal validity of your close-ended questions

5. Sampling Design (2 pts)
10) Describe your population, sampling frame, and method
11) Describe your sample

6. Administer the Questionnaire (1 pt)
12)   Have 3-5 people complete your questionnaire. (*for groups: 10 people per person)
a.   This may be done face-to-face where you ask the questions, the respondent answers, and you record the information
b.   This may be done via a form that people fill out (i.e. it could have been sent to some friends/family via email or handed to them in the kitchen)
c.   When asking people to complete the questionnaire, you need to inform them that it is VOLUNTARY, and their identity will be kept confidential
i.   Do not put a place for name on the questionnaire

6. Compile the results of your questionnaire into a table (1 pt)
13) This provides you with a simple count
14) *For groups only: consolidate data and consult with professor by Week 6 about data analysis.

Sample Table
Indicators   Respondent 1   Respondent 1
Socio-demographic measures
Age   38   24
Gender   female   Male
Etc.
Variable 1
Measured by Q1   C – neither agree nor disagree   A – strongly agree
Q3   D – disagree   B – agree
Q8 (open-ended)   R1 described their daily activities in the household…   R2 described their daily activities in the household…