Day 5: Evaluating Research

(click on image to see full size)

Today we discussed different types of research and we practices the evaluation of research projects, and we named a few criteria that we can used to describe basic features of a study.   Those criteria are listed below.

1. Research Questions?
1. What did they want to learn?
2. Data?
1. What was the sample?  What are the key variables? How are they measured?
3. Methods?
1. How was the data collected?  What general type of research is this (e.g. descriptive?; ethnography?)
4. Analysis?
1. How did they test their hypotheses?   What did they expect to find?
5. Results?
1. What did they learn?  
6. So what?
1. Why might the findings be important?  (relate to discussion of social structure and inequality)

In class, I described a research study, and your task was to take notes that would allow you to describe that study according to each of these criteria.   In the google docs shared folder for the 351 I have shared three documents that will help you fill out each of those criteria for that study.



Click this or copy this link into your browser to go to turn in your answers:

http://bit.ly/cYtLZ6

The image above points out the files:

EvaluationsResearchStudies is a pdf of the slides from the first half of the lecture today.
ASA.Social.pdf    is the slides describing the research study
and
Brooks.Welser.Hogan.Titsworth   is an optional paper that describes the research.