Chapter 18 The Research Report Winston Jackson and Norine Verberg Methods: Doing Social Research, 4e

18-2© 2007 Pearson Education Canada 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., APA)

18-3© 2007 Pearson Education Canada General Orientation (cont’d) 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 Use 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)

18-4© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Organization A paper should be organized into sections with headings, 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

18-5© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Organization (cont’d) 1. Introduction Inform reader about what the project is about Indicate general approach + focus of project 2. Review of Literature Provides an overview of the state of the scientific knowledge on your subject Review the theoretical approaches and empirical findings, noting consistencies and inconsistencies Refer to instructions in Chapter 12 on how to present the summary of previous research

18-6© 2007 Pearson Education Canada 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

18-7© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Figure 18.1 Causal Model For Unwanted Intimacy Study

18-8© 2007 Pearson Education Canada 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 the Sample Report sample size and description of sample (e.g., distribution of age, gender, etc.) Note the representativeness of sample

18-9© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Organization (cont’d) 6. Description of the Indexes, Measurement Procedures Describe and 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

18-10© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Organization (cont’d) 8. Organizing Summary Tables Provide well-designed summary The next series of slides provides 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 labelled column and row headings

18-11© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables: Table 18.3 Summarizing Univariate Statistics A. NOMINAL/ORDINAL VARIABLESNUMBERPERCENTAGE Gender Male Female Status Student Retired Unemployed, looking for work Unemployed, not looking for work Employed part-time Employed full-time Size of home community Under 5, ,000 – 19, ,000 – 99, ,000 – 999, ,000,000 or more

18-12© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables: Table 18.3 Summarizing Univariate Statistics (cont’d) B. RATIO VARIABLES MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION NUMBER OF CASES Age Income$43, , Seniority Number of children

18-13© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables: Summarizing Contingency Tables TABLE 18.4 SMOKING BEHAVIOUR BY SELECTED INDEPENDENT VARIABLES INDEPENDENT VARIABLES PERCENTAGE OF SMOKERS NUMBER OF CASES: COLUMN TOTAL PROBABILITY (CHI-SQUARE) TREND Residence On campus ? Off campus SES of Father Low SES Mid to high SES Respondent’s Age 19 or younger or older Level of Self-Esteem Low – High Source: Adapted from Michelle Lee (1992). “Smoking Behaviours.” Antigonish: St. Francis Xavier University, Research Methods Paper. Cited with permission.

18-14© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables: Summarizing Mean Values TABLE 18.5 GRADE PERFORMANCE OF GRADE 12 STUDENTS INDEPENDENT VARIABLESMEANSTANDARD DEVIATION NUMBER OF CASES TEST OF SIGNIFICANCE TREND Eats breakfastNo Yes Breakfast eaten in last 7 daysNo Yes Breakfast makerOthers – Self Lunch makerOthers * Self Supper makerOthers * Self Trend predicted correctly – Trend predicted incorrectly * Trend not predicted Source: Adapted from Annette Fougere (1992). “Effects of Eating Breakfast on Grade Performance.” Antigonish: St. Francis Xavier University, Research Methods Paper. Cited with permission.

18-15© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Summary Tables: Summarizing Correlations TABLE 18.6 CORRELATIONS BETWEEN FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY AVERAGE, AVERAGE HIGH-SCHOOL GRADE, AND ENGLISH HIGH- SCHOOL GRADE (N = 3617) CORRELATIONS FIRST-YEAR UNIVERSITY AVERAGE AVERAGE HIGH-SCHOOL GRADE ENGLISH HIGH-SCHOOL GRADE First-year university average Average high-school grade English high-school grade Source: Winston Jackson

18-16© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Organization (cont’d) 9. Using Graphs, Charts (examples on following slides) 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

18-17© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Using Graphs, Charts: Bar Chart

18-18© 2007 Pearson Education Canada Using Graphs, Charts: Plot