Transcript Powerpoint slides for Paper Writing

Identifying research questions
• Start thinking about your research early on.
• Totally open-ended research is risky.
• Research questions help to focus your literature searches,
data collection, analysis and writing.
• Make sure your research questions have a clear social
scientific angle.
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Sources of research questions
(Marx 1997)
• Intellectual puzzles and
contradictions
• Existing literature
• Replication
• Structures and functions
• Opposition
• Social problems
• Personal experience
• Gaps between official
accounts and facts on the
ground
• The counter-intuitive
• Deviant cases and atypical
events
• New methods / theories
• New social trends
• Sponsors and teachers
Thinking deeply 4.1
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Steps in selecting research questions
Figure 4.2,
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Checklist for a research proposal
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What is the topic; what are the objectives?
Why is the topic important?
What are your research questions?
What does the literature say?
How will you collect the data?
Why are these methods appropriate?
What resources will you need?
What is the timetable?
What problems do you foresee?
Are there any ethical problems?
How will you analyse the data?
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
A few practical hints
• Be aware of safety issues
• Keep a research diary or log book of what you have done
and when
• Keep records of sample recruitment / response rates
• Allow time for transcription
• Familiarize yourself with technical equipment and
computer software packages
• Begin coding as soon as you have some data
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Issues in writing up social research
• Many people find writing up research more difficult than
carrying it out
– You must convince your readers about the credibility
of the knowledge claims you make
– Good writing is to do with developing your style so
that it is persuasive and convincing
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Tips for writing up your research
Start early!
Be persuasive.
Get feedback.
Avoid sexist, racist, and disablist language.
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Structure of the Kelley and De Graaf (1997)
article (quantitative research)
The article is a secondary analysis of survey data on
religion in fifteen nations and was published in the
American Sociological Review, with the following
structure:
1.Introduction;
2.Theory;
3.Data;
4.Measurement;
5.Methods and models;
6.Results;
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7.Conclusion.
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
1. Introduction
• The first sentence locates the article’s focus as addressing an
important aspect of modern society that touches on many
people’s lives.
• The second sentence notes that there is variety among Western
nations in the importance of religion and that this is an area of
interest to sociologists.
• The third sentence suggests that there is a problem with the
issue of secularization, a research focus for many sociologists.
• The fourth sentence outlines the authors specific contribution to
this area.
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2. Theory
In this section, existing ideas and research on the topic are
presented, leading to the formulation of their hypotheses:
• Hypothesis 1. Contextual factors have an impact on religious
beliefs.
• Hypothesis 2a. Family background will have a greater impact on
a person’s religious beliefs in predominantly secular societies.
• Hypothesis 2b. In predominantly secular societies parents and
other family members are more likely to try to isolate children
from secular influences.
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3. Data
A general outline is given:
– of the data sets
– of the sampling procedures
– of sample sizes
– of response rates
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4. Measurement
This section explains how the main
concepts in their research were
measured, including scoring
procedures for indicating a nation’s
religious or secular orientation on a
five-point scale.
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5. Methods and models
This is a very technical section:
– outlining the different ways in which
the relationships between the
variables might be conceptualized
– Tracing the implications of using
different multivariate analysis
approaches for the findings
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6. Results
Here the authors provide a general
description of their findings.
Then they consider whether their
hypotheses are supported and explore the
significance of other contextual
characteristics.
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7. Conclusion
• This final section begins with a strong statement of the
findings.
• Then they reflect upon the implications of having their
hypotheses confirmed:
–for our understanding of the process of religious
socialization and religious beliefs;
–and in terms of the impact on certain theories about
religions beliefs in modern society.
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Lessons to be learned from the article
• Strong opening statements grab the reader’s attention and
act as signposts to what the article is about
• The rationale of the research is spelled out clearly
• Research questions are spelled out very specifically
• The research methods, nature of data, measurement of
concepts, sampling and data analysis are clearly and
explicitly summarized
• The presentation of findings is oriented specifically to the
research questions
• The conclusion spells out the implications of the findings
for the research questions and the theories examined
earlier in the paper
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Key points
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Checklist for writing up your research: 1.
• Have you clearly specified your research
questions?
• Have you clearly indicated how the literature
you have read relates to your research
questions?
• Is your discussion of the literature critical and
organized so that it is not just a summary of
what you have read?
• Have you clearly outlined your research
design and your research methods?
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Checklist for writing up your research: 2.
• Have you presented your data in a manner
that relates to your research questions?
• Does your discussion of your findings show
how they relate to your research questions?
• and on how they shed light on the literature
that you presented?
• Are the interpretations of the data that you
offer fully supported with tables, figures, or
segments from transcripts?
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Checklist for writing up your research: 3.
• Does your writing avoid sexist, racist, and
disablist language?
• Have you included all appendices that you
need (interview schedule, communications
with research participants)?
• Have you checked that your list of references
includes all the items referred to in your text?
• and that it follows precisely the style that
your institution requires?
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition
Checklist for writing up your research: 4.
• Have you ensured that your institution’s
requirements for submitting projects are fully
met in terms of word length (neither too long
nor too short) and whether an abstract and
table of contents are required?
• Have you ensured that you do not quote
excessively when presenting the literature?
• Have you fully acknowledged the work of
others so that you cannot be accused of
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plagiarism?
Bryman: Social Research Methods, 4th edition