SSC 322 -801 Intro to Research
Analytical Paper – Foundations of the Research Proposal
Instructor: Felicia M. Yarborough
In research, the measurement of social concepts begins with first conceptualizing them (i.e. explaining exactly what we mean by the concepts) and then operationalizing them (i.e. specifically defining how we will make our observations of the concepts). Simple concepts (like ‘educational level’) may involve simple measures; complex concepts (like ‘job satisfaction’) may involve more complex measures. The objective of this paper assignment is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the steps involved in conducting research and to develop a measurement strategy of your own.
In order to demonstrate your understanding of the steps involved in conducting research, you will:
– Create a Statement of Confidentiality for subjects participating in the research.
– Create a statement indicating the voluntary nature of subjects’ participation.
In developing your measurement strategy, please be sure to consider the following:
– Problem statement: Identify an area of the social sciences that you are interested in (e.g. marriage and family, crime and criminal justice, social problems, social class, etc.) and explain what you want to study.
– Identify a concept (e.g. attitudes toward the government, marital satisfaction, delinquency, mental illness, etc.) that receives attention in this area. Peer-reviewed journal articles provide insight into which concepts are currently receiving the most attention.
– Describe how you might conceptualize this concept
– Describe one or more measurement strategies for operationalizing this concept. Identify indicators with which to classify your units of analysis into two or more categories (categories should be exhaustive)
– Identify the level of measurement of this concept (i.e. nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio).