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Reference List

Included with the proposal is your starting list of articles, publications and books that have emerged or are emerging as you research your topic. The reference list should contain a minimum of 25 references (at least 250 words) but more are encouraged if they exist in your judgment. This is not the final reference list but represents the work in progress as the Capstone paper develops. Please use APA formatting for references. Please post your list of references in the Discussion forum with a header containing the degree you are seeking and a possible title of your paper (again this is not set in stone, just something to give everyone an idea of where you think you are headed.)

PROFESSOR NOTES

Capstone Outline and Resources

The Capstone project is a program requirement that will demonstrate your research, writing, and analytic skills. Knowledge of public sociology gained from this program will be evident in your academic paper. Your Capstone project paper is an original work wherein you have the opportunity to research either a current public policy issue or a current organizational issue that reflects your unique interests in addition to your mastery of the program curriculum. This week you will select a topic, develop a detailed outline, and begin to compile a bibliography for the final paper.

To select a topic, take a look at articles in journals and on the internet targeted at public policy and /or health sectors to learn what issues are important in those areas today. Additionally, there are potential projects that can be gleaned from the courses you have taken. What was your favorite class? What is it you would like to know more about regarding that subject? Students who benefit the most from this course do so because their final project is of personal interest.

What is Research?

First I wanted to provide a refresher on how we classify and define research in the social sciences. In our everyday lives, we actually hear the phrase “research” more than we think. Need a new washer? You may do some research to find the best brand or model. The news covers a story about the latest research finding that drinking a glass of red wine is equivalent to an hour at the gym (no, that is not made up but yes, the magnitude of these findings are taken out of context). You may run into someone at the mall who asks you to take a quick survey for a research study that is being conducted by a company or product.

When you look up “research” in the dictionary (Merriam-Webster’s version), you get the following three definitions:

1. Careful or diligent search
2. Studious inquiry or examination; especially: investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories of laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws
3. The collecting of information about a particular subject

For our purposes all three of those definitions apply to what we’re talking about. Sociological (or any social science) research is a careful diligent search, a studious inquiry or examination aimed at collecting information about a particular subject. However, in our case—research is focused on the systematic analysis of a particular issue guided by the standards and criteria of scientific inquiry. In this way, research conducted for scientific purposes is different than research you do when you are looking to purchase your next washer/dryer set.

Research Methods/Approaches

In sociological research there are three major research methods: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. Here are some reminders about the differences between quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods research:

Quantitative Research: Quantitative research methods are defined as emphasizing “objective measurements and the statistical, mathematical, or numerical analysis of data collected through polls, questionnaires, and surveys, or by manipulating pre-existing statistical data using computational techniques. Quantitative research focuses on gathering numerical data and generalizing it across groups of people or to explain a particular phenomenon” (Babbie, 2010).

Typical methods employed in quantitative research:

· Surveys, Questionnaires, Polls

· Experimental Designs

· Content Analysis (with a quantitative focus)

Qualitative Research: Qualitative research methods emphasize the “qualities of entities and [focus] on processes and meanings that are not experimentally examined or measured [if measured at all] in terms of quantity, amount, intensity, or frequency. Qualitative researchers stress the socially constructed nature of reality, the intimate relationship between the researcher and what is studied, and the situational constraints that shape inquiry. Such researchers emphasize the value-laden nature of inquiry” (Denzin, 2000).

Typical methods employed in qualitative research:

· Interviews

· Focus Groups

· Ethnography

· Case Studies

· Phenomenology

· Narrative Analysis

· Life History

· Content Analysis (qualitative)

Mixed Methods: Mixed methods research integrates both quantitative and qualitative research in a single study. Using each method for its strengths in understanding a single social problem or area of study.

How Do I Identify a Research Problem or Question?

There are several ways that Sociologists identify research topics, problems, or questions to pursue—it is important to be open to any possibility; you never know what might come to you! Sometimes researchers find a research area based on a “hole” in the current scientific literature—finding something that has never been studied, is understudied, or something that they have a strong critique of in the literature.

Researchers may also land on their research because of a personal interest or connection. As a military spouse, I had a growing interest in studying military spouses and families during college. Once in graduate school I was interested in studying the lives of wounded veterans (for my dissertation research) because of my personal connection to the military (as a military spouse) and my understanding of living with a family member who has a disability (my father has a non-military related traumatic brain injury).

Another way researchers may come to a research question is through current events. How can we understand the relationship between American culture, laws, and values with the current levels of gun violence, particularly mass shootings?

As you are thinking about your capstone paper proposal this week, it is important to stay open—you never know when a research problem, question or idea may come to you! Don’t second guess yourself—always keep your research ideas alive. You should thoroughly explore an idea before deciding it’s not a good one!

Conducting an Initial Search for Relevant Literature

Your first discussion board posting requires you to list your initial working draft of your references list for your capstone paper. Typically when I’m researching a new topic (that I don’t know much about), I start with Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/

Here’s a link to the Sociology/Social Science databases in the Ashford Library to help get your started on your search: https://library.ashford.edu/databases_subject.aspx#Sociology

I personally recommend ESBSCOhost, JSTOR, and Project MUSE.

Resources

Recommended References

Byrne, D. (2017). Reviewing the literature . Project Planner. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526408518

Thomas, D. R., & Hodges, I. D. (2010). Doing a literature review . In Thomas, D. R., & Hodges, I. D., Designing and managing your research project: Core skills for social and health research (pp. 105-130). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446289044

Walliman, N. (2006). Writing a literature review . In Walliman, N., Sage Course companions: Social research methods (pp. 182-185). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781849209939

Wentz, E. (2014). The literature review . In Wentz, E., How to design, write, and present a successful dissertation proposal (pp. 81-95). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781506374710

Young, E., & Quinn, L. (2017). An essential guide to writing policy briefs (Links to an external site.) . Retrieved from https://www.icpolicyadvocacy.org/sites/icpa/files/downloads/icpa_policy_briefs_essential_guide.pdf