HHS4U Social Science Research Process Continued and Ethical Research February 23 rd, 2015

D EVELOPING A H YPOTHESIS A hypothesis is a possible answer to your research question It is a ‘tentative’ theory for which you will seek evidence You develop a hypothesis after a review of the literature to explain what happens and why it happens Variables are qualities, such as gender and birth order, or behaviours, such as marrying and attending university A hypothesis is a statement of presumed relationship between two or more variables, “other things being equal, if A then B” – If the A variable goes up or down, then B variable also goes up or down

H YPOTHESIS C ONT ’ D ‘A’ is the independent variable because it occurs first ‘B’ is the dependent variable because it depends on ‘A’ Thus ‘A’ is the cause and ‘B’ is the effect Example: Topic: What factors influence an individual’s decision about when to leave home? Hypothesis: Children of remarried parents leave home earlier Independent variable: having remarried parents Dependent variable: leaving home earlier

S ELECTING A R ESEARCH M ETHOD A hypothesis will suggest the type of information that will be gathered and how the information will be analyzed Quantitative – methods that gather information from many people, which can be analyzed to describe, explain, and predict patterns of behaviour for groups of people (results of quantitative can be analyzed using statistics to generalize from the behaviour and predict the behaviour of the entire group) Experiments, surveys, content analysis, secondary analysis

R ESEARCH M ETHODS C ONT ’ D Qualitative – methods are used to gather detailed information from individuals to help the researcher understand their behaviour. It assumes that each subject might behave differently, and does not usually predict how others will behave Evidence gathered by qualitative research can be analyzed to determine the reasons for the subjects’ behaviour and can be presented anecdotally (short stories of observations) as case studies Observations, participant observation, interviews Refer to pg.52 for a more detailed description (photocopied)

S OCIAL S CIENCE R ESEARCH T OPICS Activity Choose from one of the following research topics and create a hypothesis Men in families Women and Crime Family Violence Global Family Sexual Politics Childhood Development and Schooling Male/Female types of jobs Materialization of holiday events

T HREE W AYS TO C HOOSE R ESEARCH M ETHOD First The theoretical perspective that your hypothesis reflects suggests the methods of gathering information that are most appropriate for your investigation Second Choosing methods that other researchers have used makes it easier to see the connections between your research and the research of others Third While you are a student, practical considerations such as whether you want to study or have sufficient knowledge of statistics could limit your choice of research method

S AMPLE G ROUPS A sample group is the population who will be the subjects of your research (if you are wondering what factors influence an adolescent to leave home, your sample group is adolescents and parents) It’s important to define your population so you can eliminate (as much as possible) other factors that could confuse the effects of the independent variable **Remember your hypothesis assumes “all things being equal”

S AMPLE G ROUPS C ONT ’ D Example: If your hypothesis is that “Boys are more likely to write at the top of a chalkboard than girls are”, you should set a parameter that defines the subject’s height Consider parameters such as age, gender, ethnic group, religion, socioeconomic class, and level of education Selecting a sample group from the people you want to study will ease the constraints of time and money. There are two limits (1) Sample group must be representative of the population you want to study (Example: If you’re studying students at your school, and 55% of the school population are girls, then 55% of your sample group, must also be girls)

S AMPLE G ROUP C ONT ’ D (2) You cannot generalize beyond the group from which you draw your sample (Example: if your sample group is selected only within your school, you cannot include that the results apply to all students in Canada)

W RITING R ESEARCH P APERS Social scientists are expected to write research papers that describe the results of their study Papers are subject to peer review (careful scrutiny by colleagues in social sciences to assess the validity of the methods) Your research paper will be subject to teacher review Two major types of research papers: Research essays Research reports

R ESEARCH E SSAYS & R EPORTS Research Essays Are written to support a thesis, many research tasks will be complete when secondary research is finished The answer to the question is stated as a thesis The results are presented as an essay in which evidence from the research is described and organized to support that thesis Research Reports Summarize and present the results of an original investigation of a hypothesis The initial review of literature, the development of the hypothesis, the method, and the results are described Results are analyzed to determine if the evidence supports the hypothesis A research report enables others to evaluate the methods to determine whether the results are valid, and it enables other researchers to replicate the study

E THICAL R ESEARCH Any research using human subjects should be conducted in an ethical manner that respects the well-being and dignity of people Explain the nature of your research to your subjects carefully and obtain their consent to participate, unless you are observing people in a public setting or conducting an anonymous survey If your research requires some sort of deception, you could gain general consent, but then have to explain the deception right away afterwards Example: If you wanted to observe how people respond to celebrities, and had the assistance of a famous friend, you could obtain the subjects’ consent to participate in a study of behaviour of crowds – explain after that you arranged for the celebrity appearance to observe their reaction

E THICAL R ESEARCH C ONT ’ D Finally, you must inform the subjects if the research will cause them any physical or emotional harm/discomfort When you design an investigation, choose the method that will be most effective while being respectful of the people who are helping you in your research

A CADEMIC H ONESTY There are also ethical issues affecting the reporting of your research Do not change, omit, or make up evidence in a mistaken attempt to improve your report Use citations and references to give credit to the original authors of any work, but ensure that the report reflects your own analysis and conclusions You also have an obligation to notify the subjects to inform them of your results of the study, as soon as they’re available Evidence must be presented accurately

A VOIDING P LAGIARISM To submit all or part of someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism and the consequences of plagiarism are severe! (In university, if you do not properly source materials, you will get a mark of ZERO on your assignment/paper and could be expelled from the institution) You MUST identify your sources, we will be using APA style referencing for this course Give specific credit to your sources when you use an idea from them (even if it’s stated in your own words) Indicate exactly where you found a quotation if you use the author’s words