Research Design in using social science research methods
Description
Important pieces of information that you need to pay attention to are:
1. The LEARNING OUTCOME of this course which needs to be demonstrated in this research design are as follows;
I Describe and explain the theoretical tenets of quantitative and qualitative methodological approaches to research design;
ii Demonstrate skills in identifying and researching relevant literature and documents, including academic and empirical research and policy documents;
iii Explain the theoretical principles underlying research question/s and research hypothesis/es and demonstrate an ability to construct appropriate research question/s and research hypotheses/es for a specified research project;
iv Describe, explain and select an appropriate methodological approach and sampling strategy and design data collection instrument/s for a specified research project;
v Describe and apply principles of ethical research;
vi Report the key elements of a written research according to American Psychological Association guidelines;
vii Be aware of the range, complexity and value of criminological research
2. The assessment piece comes with a template that guides how it should be written. It is important to follow this guide as it mirrors the marking criteria. The most important piece in this assessment is the PROCEDURE and MEASURES in the methodologies section. They both carry 20% each compared to the rest of the other section, which attracts 10%. You must ensure to be a lot more clear and more precise in filling the requirements in this section.
3. The Introduction of the research design NEEDS a review of empirical research examining the relationship between variables outlined in the research question. To guide the reader more closely, you could ever have a subsection in the introduction called a Literature review, but this is not a requirement but will help organise the paper.
4. You will need to do extensive research so that you are effectively and faithfully presenting the current ‘thinking’ in relation to each topic. Each key point you make needs to be validated with empirical research – this is what will validate your argument and makes your work informative. It would be best if you spent more time understanding what is required of you based on the marking criteria.
This is not your regular standardised essay, even though it is in an essay format, but you will realise that you will be talking about things you will not talk about in a regular essay. So please use the book I will provide as a guide to help you fulfil the requirements, as this is the textbook we have used throughout this term. A link will be provided that will give you access to download, and you can keep it to use for future work as it is a PDF copy.
Finally, the two topics you will have to choose from will be uploaded in a separate document. They will be i. Media and Youth Crime or Unemployment and Crime rate. All other documents will be uploaded. I advise you to go through each one of them as they will form what is required of you. Please feel free to contact me at any time. I will communicate with you via the message section, Thanks
The number of sources has to be realistic with the word count.
