SOCILOGY FOUR HD ASSINGMENTS SOCIOLOGY (assures 80% above)

SOCILOGY FOUR HD ASSINGMENTS SOCIOLOGY (assures 80% above)

ASSINGMENT 1 RESEARCH DESIGN AND PRACTICE MODULE Research project report (2,000 words) HARVARD REFRENCING

Task:

You are asked to design, run, and write up a quantitative study using The Islands virtual population and SPSS statistics. The task involves:

Identifying an appropriate topic of study, one rooted in relevant social scientific literature and that is feasible in The Islands.

Forming an overall research aim, operationalised as two research questions. Each research question will in turn have a related null and an alternate hypothesis statement.

Developing an appropriate research design, including using a probability sampling method.

Collecting, cleaning and (re)coding as necessary relevant data from a sample of the Islands population.

Producing in SPSS Statistics descriptive statistics including appropriate charts for three variables. This will include at least one continuous variable and at least one nominal-binary variable.

Producing in SPSS Statistics bivariate analysis of your three variables, including using two distinct statistical tests. Your analysis will use either [A] a test of association + comparison of means test, OR [B] a correlation + comparison of means test.

Interpreting and presenting your findings as a written report.

Detailed guidance on what this project entails can be found below, and weekly taught content will introduce you to the Islands, SPSS Statistics and how to complete the necessary aspects of this task.

It is strongly advised you approach this as a 'little and often' project, and that you talk to teaching staff about your ideas over the course of the semester.

Learning outcomes assessedThrough this project report assessment, students will demonstrate they have completed the modules learning aims to:

Provide an introduction to the collection and analysis of social research data,

Equip students with a critical understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different research methodologies,

Provide a general introduction to quantitative social research with an emphasis on putting principles into practice via a hands-on approach,

Introduce the principles underpinning social survey research, and

Give students hands-on experience in designing and implementing a small-scale study.

The Research Design Worksheet The worksheet exists to help you plan your ideas and discuss these with the teaching team during scheduled seminars and workshops. We will not collect in these worksheets, nor review any sent to the teaching team by email. You are welcome to verbally discuss your ideas with us during lectures, seminars/workshop and by booking meetings during feedback and consultation hours.

It is assumed you will use the worksheet to draft different versions of your project, as you develop your ideas. If you do this, take care to clearly label the documents so know which is your most recent work (e.g. worksheet v1, v2, v2.5, etc.).

Elements of the projectThe project report will require you to do the following, it is suggested you use this as a checklist:

Identify an appropriate topic of study, that is both:

Rooted in relevant social scientific literature, and

Practical to undertake in The Islands.

Explain your project using appropriately phrased

Overall research aim,

. Two research questions, and

. Accompanying null and alternate hypotheses.

Concisely explain the project design, including

The probability sampling method used,

How your data was collected, cleaned and, if necessary, re-coded.

The levels of measurement of your three variables.

Note: to complete the required bivariate and statistical analysis, one of your variables must be measured as truly continuous (interval or ratio) and, another must use a nominal-binary level of measurement.

The third variable should be a level of measurement that is suitable for your project.

Present and summarise findings from work in SPSS Statistics, including

Descriptive statistics for each of the three variables, using SPSS Statistics generated charts/graphs and adapting a summary table template provided for you.

Present and explain two forms of bivariate analysis and relevant statistical analysis covered in the module and conducted using SPSS Statistics. Use:

Either the test of association (chi-square) and a form of comparison of means test (T-test of U-Test) to examine two nominal variables (one of which is nominal-binary) and a truly continuous variable,

Or a form of correlation (Pearson or Spearman) and a form of comparison of means test, to examine two truly continuous variables and one nominal-binary variable.

Discuss your findings, including

Stating whether null hypothesis for each research question can be supported or if we do not have the evidence to support this. Cite the evidence or lack of evidence from your statistical tests in this decision.

Considering your findings in relation to your overall research aim and the wider social scientific literature previously cited.

Structuring the elements of the project reportA full assessment template for this project report is provided on Moodle that details how to include the above elements. To summarise, your report will include the following:

A combined introduction and literature review.

A methods section.

A results section containing the descriptive statistics and your bivariate analysis, including relevant statistical tests.

A discussion of your findings.

A bibliography listing all the sources in used in your project report in Harvard referencing.

An appendix that provides an anonymised and edited for clarity copy of your SPSS output. For many people, the appendix is very short, as the most important charts and figures will be in the results section. However, if you re-coded variables in SPSS, or explored alternate charts or statistical tests to understand your data include these here. Marks are not lost for failing to include this, but it can be harder to gain them if the marker is not able to fully understand what you have done.

Assessment Tips

After discussing your ideas in seminars

Conduct a pilot study (see section below). This will not be the data you use in the final study but allow you to test and explore your project in more detail. This will likely be over the Easter vacation period and the final week of teaching. Using the pilot study Instance on The Islands to:

Develop a sampling technique to collect and record data.

Collecting data will involve acquiring a random sample of participants suitable for your investigation, obtaining consent from the Islanders, and setting tasks for them to complete that produce data which measures the concept(s) you are interested in.

Be consistent with recording your data so that it is manageable/usable. Your final spreadsheet or data record should be organised with a column for each variable and a row for each subject/participant and contain all the observations collected.

Explore the pilot data using SPSS.

This means producing appropriate univariate graphs/charts (bar chart, line chart, etc.) and tables presenting relevant descriptive statistics (N/%, SD/IQR, mean/median, etc.) which clearly your data and support your investigation.

Interpreting descriptive/univariate findings.

Your interpretation of the descriptive data should address your investigation question(s) or issue(s), but also be aware that unanticipated information might emerge during your exploration. It is likely that many of you will need to re-code or combine variables in order to better measure the concepts you are interested in or to be able to conduct bivariate analysis. You may also decide at this stage to re-visit and re-structure aspects of your study design (e.g. sampling).

Feedback from previous years assignmentsThe best assignments in prior years have been those in which students:

Demonstrated a clear understanding of the task by providing a clear description and justification of their hypotheses, which linked explicitly to their research topic and to evidence in the literature.

The variables, hypotheses and method of analysis were all coherent with each other,

Showed that they were able to present, reflect on, and interpret their findings appropriately including when their initial analysis may not have been perfectly conducted,

Provided reports which were clear and concisely written, following the template provided,

Used the discussion section to reflect on their stated hypotheses and literature review. Strong discussion sections noted potential implications of the findings for policy and practice before highlighting potential limitations of the study and suggesting directions for future research.

Weaker reports often:

Showed little to no familiarity with course material and failed to demonstrate a grasp of key concepts in quantitative analysis,

Treated casually the technical aspects of the task and requirements of this briefing, such as statistical analyses applied inappropriately or not at all, suggesting a lack of understanding.

Lacked clear structure, with poor presentation of information with tables and graphs often missing or inadequately present, and outputs simply copy/pasted into the report from SPSS.

Tips for selecting variables

It is important that:

You clearly and precisely explain how variables measure an underlying concept your research is interested in,

Where you identify a variable due to the literature review, you properly explain and acknowledge this.

We encourage that you use the literature to support you in translating concepts into measurable variables whenever possible, as variables that have been validated by other researchers and shown to measure the concepts they claim to measure are better than those which have not been shown to be reliable and/or valid.

Using the same approach to defining a variable as other researchers allows you to connect your findings to existing research (something that you would not be able to do if you were to create your own measure of social class, instead of using typical measures of class, for instance).

Keep in mind that you may not be able to find a perfect measure of a concept that you wish to study. Be honest and explain why the variable used is the best information available to you we understand there are limitations to having you work with a virtual population.

General advice on hypothesis testing

This module uses bivariate analysis only, so your research questions and hypotheses need to be simple, clearly expressed generalisations about variable A influencing/not influencing variable B. We are not conducting multivariate analysis.

It does not matter for your mark/grade if your null or alternate hypotheses turn out to be supported. It does matter if your hypotheses rests on plausible assumptions or rationale. Do not select a predictor variable simply because it is easy to measure. When testing hypotheses, we are assessing support for a chosen hypothesis (the alternate hypothesis) by rejecting the null hypothesis.

Identifying predictor and outcome variablesFor bivariate analysis and statistical tests to work effectively, there needs to be variation in your data, this means that different Islanders give different responses to a particular item. In short, the information within a variable needs to vary.

If all your sample gives the same response, then it is not a variable but a constant (i.e. year group is a constant for people enrolled in RDP, whereas year group is not a constant for everyone studying within the School of Sociology and Social Policy). Therefore, if you are gathering data primarily from high school students in the Islands, age would be an unsuitable predictor variable.

In addition, ensure that your predictor and outcome variables are logically ordered. Consider if social divisions (e.g. age, gender, class, health, etc.) can be plausibly identified as a predictor, outcome or perhaps an intervening variable. This is why [1] it is essential to read the relevant academic literature with care and attention, [2] we strongly encourage you to attend workshops to discuss your ideas with peers and staff, [3] and that you conduct a small, informal pilot study to test your ideas in practice.

Pilot studyA pilot study will help you confirm which statistical tests to use as well as testing the research design and exploring initial data. This will help you decide whether or not your study as designed is feasible or if some amendments are necessary (they usually are), consider:

Were you able to collect the data in a time-efficient manner?

Does the topic interest you enough to proceed with it for your final essay?

Are there aspects of your study design that you can tweak to improve your final product?

Assignment 2 - Rehabilitation, Risk and Desistance MODULE

(2000 words) - HARVARD REFRENCING

For this assignment you are required to complete a2,000-wordwritten assignment based onone topic chosen from this list of three:

The Probation Service states that its mission is to Assess, Protect and Change. Critically consider whether it is fulfilling this role in this respect.

The Parole Board must not give a direction for release unless the Board is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that the person should be confined. Critically consider if this is an appropriate threshold for the Parole Board to make decisions on the release of people from prison.

McNeill (2012) identifies for forms of offender rehabilitation: personal, social, moral and legal. Critically consider to what extent the criminal justice system in England and Wales currently addresses each of these forms.

Assessment 3 INVESTIGATING SOCIAL WORLDS - 1500-word essay (HARVARD REFRENCING)

Deadline: 13 May 2024

Please choose a NEW question from the below. Any material repeated from other assessments will be discounted.

1.What is distinctive about social science research, as opposed to other ways of making claims about society?

2.Is positivism a sound epistemological basis for social research?

3.Why are research ethics important in social science research?

4.To what extent is all social research political?

5.For those who have been oppressed by colonization, research is a dirty word (Thambinathan and Kinsella, 2021: 1). Discuss this statement, with reference to debates about social science and colonialism addressed in this module.

Assessment 4 INVESTIGATING SOCAIL WORLDS 2500-word critical review (HARVARD REFRENCING)

Deadline: 13 May 2024

For this assessment you must locate an article within an academic journal which you wish to review. You should NOT use an article which has been listed as a seminar reading for the module, or one which you have previously used.

It must have TWO key characteristics:

The topic of the article and the research approach must broadly align with your degree programme and the fields of study of the School of Sociology & Social Policy.You are looking for an article which contains social research, not research from the natural sciences.

The article must detail an empirical research study.This means that the authors of the article will have conducted some kind of data collection such as interviewing, focus group, survey or collecting a sample of newspaper articles.

Your task is to write a review of the journal article which draws out key information and offers your insights based on what you have learned on the module into the research study.