Putting the pieces together
The introduction
Purpose statement
Literature Review
Research Design
Data Collection
Methodology
Introduction/Purpose
• The introduction & Purpose
statement are critical
• Some readers might only read that
part (lazy professors; editor; grants)
• You better clearly identify your
purpose and its importance on the
first page.
Three Purposes of
Research
1. Exploration
2. Description
3. Explanation
Identify Units of Analysis
What or whom to study:
• Individuals
• Groups
• Organizations
• Institutions
• Social artifacts
Units of Analysis and
Faulty Reasoning
• Ecological fallacy – assuming
something learned about an
ecological unit says something about
the individuals in the unit.
• Reductionism – Reducing
something to a simple explanation
when in reality it is complex.
Identify Time Dimension
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Longitudinal Studies
 Trend
 Cohort
 Panel
How to Design a
Research Project
1. Define the purpose of your project.
2. Specify exact meanings for the
concepts you want to study.
3. Choose a research method.
4. Decide how to measure the results.
How to Design a
Research Project
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Decide whom or what to study.
Collect empirical data.
Process the data.
Analyze the data.
Report your findings.
Elements of a Research
Proposal
•
•
•
•
Problem or objective
Literature review
Subjects for study
Measurements
Elements of a Research
Proposal
•
•
•
•
Data-collection methods
Analysis
Schedule
Budget (maybe)
Why these need to be clear?
• To get your prospectus approved
• To get funding (grants)
• To get approval from IRB
So you are still clueless
Look to the literature
Find Empirical Research
Examples and Map them
Qualitative
Quant.
Other
Mixed
Focus Groups
Survey
Q-Methodology
Triangulation
Interviews
Random samples
Advocacy
Research
Sequential
Ethnography
Statistics
Content Analysis
Concurrent
Ethnomethodology
Misc
Secondary Data
analysis
Remember
• You are writing developing two
research designs
• 1 broader one for your thesis
• 1 narrower one for your paper
• They are obviously related but not
interchangeable.
Advice
Be as clear and specific as possible
• What is “crime policy”?
• What is “assessment”?
• What is “privacy”?
• What is “identity”?
• What do you mean by “immigration”
(legal, illegal, both)?
Advice
In the research design/methodology
section, use the lingo but define the
lingo. Case study, ethnography, indepth interviews (what does that
mean?); focus group (elaborate).
Include a justification section for your
design that includes references.
Drafting and redrafting
• Moving from first to final draft is a
multistage process that sees you
working systematically through the
development of:
 logic
and argument
 coherence and consistency
 fluency and readability
 and finally, copy editing
APSA Citation Style
Erskine, Hazel. 1974. “The Polls: Fear of Violence and
Crime.” Public Opinion Quarterly 38 (1): 131-15.
Ferraro, Kenneth and Randy LaGrange. 1987. “The
Measurement of Fear of Crime.” Sociological Inquiry 57
(1): 70-101.
Garofalo, James. 1981. “The Fear of crime: Causes and
Consequence.” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
82 (2): 839-857.
Warr, Mark. 1990. “Dangerous Situations: Social
Context and Fear of Victimization.” Social Forces 68, 3:
891-907.
Example: Pape (2003)