Mod14: Reading and Writing Social Research

We've spent the last few weeks discussing

• the basics of social research including thinking about how scientific research differs from general observation,

• some of the main paradigms and theories that govern social research and how such world views influence what and even how we approach research topics,

• the ethical considerations of social research including the defined standards and criteria that scientists have established and continue to tweak to ensure as much as possible ethical protections for research subjects, and

• planning out a research project

This week, we'll look at Chapter 15: Reading and Writing Social Research. In essence, we're going about this process backwards. In other words, while the end product of social research is usually some written report, it's very helpful to be able to see our goal and and work backwards. Doing it this way has the advantages of allowing students to get a "bird's eye view" of all the steps that are required and what we expect them to report. 

We also spend some time evaluating information or developing critical digital literacy and how to go about conducting a literature review (going beyond a Google search!). 

• Good assignment - have them look for an article and outline the article-- students should give me a hard copy of the paper and their outline.