© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Chapter Eighteen The Research Report Winston Jackson and Norine Verberg Methods: Doing Social Research, 4e

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada A. General Orientation 1. Audience Journal, general audience, technical audience 2. Style Journals have set format; for other audiences, use appropriate level of writing and headings 3. Avoiding Plagiarism “unacknowledged borrowing of other authors’ ideas or words” Use proper referencing style (e.g., A.P. A.)

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada A. General Orientation 4. Avoiding Sexist Language Use pronouns that do not gender stereotype using he implies the person is male; better to use he or she or they Neutralizing gender terms e.g., mailman/letter carrier; salesman/sales agent (other examples on page 473, Table 18.1) Use parallel gender references e.g., change man and wife to husband and wife (other examples on page 474, Table 18.2)

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization A paper should be organized into sections with heading, such as the following Introduction Review of Literature Hypotheses and Research Design Data Collection Procedures Description of the Sample Description of Indexes, Measurements Results (or Findings) Discussion and Conclusion

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization (cont’d) 1. Introduction Inform reader about what the project is about Indicate general approach + focus of project 2. Literature Review Provides an overview of the state of the scientific knowledge on your subject Review the theoretical approaches and empirical findings, noting consistencies & inconsistencies Refer to instructions in Chapter 12 on how to present the summary of previous research

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization (cont’d) 3. Hypotheses and Research Design State the hypotheses after the literature review State them precisely and say how they relate to the literature Draw the causal model (see Figure 18.1, next slide) State rationale for the design Note advantages over alternative designs Say which designs have been used by others

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization (cont’d) FPO Figure 18.1, Causal Model For Unwanted Intimacy Study, page 475

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization (cont’d) 4. Data-collection Procedures Describe the measurement, sample selection, and data collection procedures Note any problems encountered Document key aspects of survey or interview schedule (note if material is in an appendix) 5. Description of Sample Report sample size and description of sample (e.g., distribution of age, gender, etc) note the representativeness of sample

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization (cont’d) 6. Description of the Indexes, Measurement Procedures Describe & evaluate the indexes; report means 7. Results (or Findings) Report variations in the dependent variable Use summary tables, graphs and charts If using tests of significance, report whether findings are statistically significant or not Says whether findings are consistent or inconsistent with past research

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization (cont’d) 8. Organizing Summary Tables Provide well-designed summary The next series of slides provide examples of how one might go about summarizing: A. Univariate Statistics (nominal or ratio variables) B. Contingency Tables C. Mean Values for a Dependent Variable D. Correlations Note that all tables have a number, a title, and clearly labeled column and row headings

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables: Table 18.3 Summarizing Univariate Statistics FPO the top portion of Table 18.3 (Re; Nominal/Ordinal Variables), Summarizing Univariate Statistics, page 477

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables: Table 18.3 Summarizing Univariate Statistics (cont’d) FPO the bottom portion of Table 18.3 (Re; Ratio Variables), Summarizing Univariate Statistics, page 477

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables Table 18.4 Summarizing Contingency Tables FPO the top half of Table 18.4 (Smoking Behaviour by Selected Independent Variables, page 478

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables Table 18.5 Summarizing Mean Values FPO Table 18.5 (Grade Performance of Grade 12 Students), page 479 Note to technical support staff: This table could have only the top set of variables included (or present the data over two slides?); you need the last line showing what the + - and * mean

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables Table 18.6 Summarizing Correlations FPO Table 18.6 (Grade Correlations between First-year University Average, Average High-school Grade, and English High-School Grade), page 480

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada B. Organization (cont’d) 9. Using Graphs, Charts (examples below) Bar chart - Figure 18.2 – suitable when independent variable is nominal/ordinal Graph – Figure 18.3 – suitable for ratio variable 10. Evaluating Hypotheses, Models Interpret findings in light of hypotheses/ model 11. Discussion: tie project together; note relevance to theory and empirical literature 12. Conclusion: review problem + conclusions

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Using Graphs, Charts: Figure 18.1 Bar Chart FPO Figure 18.2 (Age of First Sexual Intercourse), page 480

© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Using Graphs, Charts: Figure 18.1 Bar Chart FPO Figure 18.3 (Sample Plot: Prestige Rating by Income), page 481