Transcript Soc 3307f Research Report - University of Western Ontario

Soc 3307f
Research Report
Overview
Typed, double-spaced, 12 point font
 Length: 12-15 pages
 Finished report should have a

 Title
page
 Table of Contents
 Abstract
 Bibliography
 Use ASA/ASR format found at:

http://www.lib.uwo.ca/files/styleguides/ASA.pdf
Report Sections
Introduction (1-2 paragraphs)
 Literature review (3-4 pages)
 Methodology (2-3 pages)
 Findings/Results (2-3 pages)
 Discussion and Conclusion (3-4 pages)

Title Page, Abstract, Table of Contents



a.Title Page: The title page should include the title of the
study; your name and student ID number, course section
number and the date of submission. The title of the study
should clearly reflect the goal of the research.
b.Abstract: The abstract should briefly state the goals of
your research, methodology, briefly outline your most
important findings and the significance of your research. It
should be no more than 200-300 words (about half a page,
single spaced). Much of the abstract can be drawn from the
text of the report. You should probably write the abstract last.
c.Table of Contents: The table of contents should list all of
the major subheadings of the report and note the page
numbers on which they first appear. Again, see Van Den
Hoonaard Ch. 8 or Berg Ch. 12 for how to do this.
Introduction

Brief introduction (2-3 papagraphs) to the
area and to your own research problem.
This section integrates a revision of your
research problem statement submitted on
Sept. 26th
Literature Review (3-4 pages)

The literature review should discuss previous research done
on the topic you have chosen and should rely mostly on
recent academic journal articles. The utility of the literature
review is that it situates your current research within the
broader context of previous research. Summarize and
discuss the research and findings described in the articles
you have chosen following the guidelines given in class.

You will need at least 5-7 relevant articles from sociological
journals and/or book chapters that are directly related to sorts
of themes that you are studying. Although previous studies
may not have used YouTube videos as their source of data,
there will be papers that focus on very similar themes to the
ones you are examining. The goal here is to relate your topic
to what has been previously published, show what is known
and not known about the topic, and state how your study will
further advance knowledge in that particular area.
Methodology (2-3 pages)

A full description of procedures and strategies used
in your research. It should include a brief
description of the setting where research took place
(i.e. describe what YouTube is and how it works)
and a description of your sample: the type of
sample, your selection strategy, and the number of
videos chosen. Discuss in detail how the
observational data for this study were collected,
organized and analyzed. How did you select the
appropriate videos for your study? What types of
information did you look for and gather from the
chosen videos? How did you organize and
document your observations? How was your coding
done? What analytic strategies were used?
Results (2-3 pages)

This section will present your relevant
findings and the results of your qualitative
analysis. Include specific examples where
necessary and make sure you include
citations for the examples. In essence,
your results section is a revision of your
rough coding notes submitted on Nov. 14.
Discussion and conclusion (3-4
pages)

Discuss your findings. How do your
findings relate to previous research in the
area? How has your research contributed
to existing research? What are the
implications related to your research?
What could you have done differently?
What directions could future research
take?
Presentation (Nov. 28/Dec. 5)

You will give a brief oral report of your
most important discoveries (your findings)
in class. Your talk should be no more than
10 minutes long and may include one or
two powerpoint slides or handouts.
Please make sure your talk is concise and
to-the-point, and watch your time!
Examples

Linkletter, Gordon, Dooley. 2010. The
Choking Game and YouTube

Church. 2010. YouTube Politics:
YouChoose and Leadership Rhetoric…

Kelly, Feeley, Watson. 2012. The image of
you: constructing nursing identities...