1 SCS 200 Project One Guidelines and Rubric Overview Professionals in the social sciences investigate human behavior and society for the purpose of understanding why people act the way they do. This investigation can help address a wide variety of social issues, such as the role of social media in the Arab Spring protests, the impact of social skills on future success, racial factors in police violence, and how partitioned grocery carts can help shoppers purchase healthier foods. Social scientists can help address issues such as these through research and investigation. The summative assessment for this course has two parts. In Project One, you will conduct a research investigation that examines an issue in the social sciences. You will identify appropriate resources for investigating the issue you select, use these resources to apply social science principles to the issue, and develop a question related to the issue. In addition, you will identify an audience who would be interested in the selected issue. In Project Two, you will develop a presentation for the audience you identified in Project One. In your presentation, you will explain how social scientific thinking has affected you and discuss the impact of the issue on your audience, supporting your claims with evidence. Project One addresses the following course outcomes:  Illustrate the impact of social scientific thinking on personal and professional experiences  Select appropriate and relevant social science resources in investigating contemporary issues in the social sciences  Communicate effectively to specific audiences in examining fundamental aspects of human behavior  Apply essential principles of the social sciences in addressing critical questions related to human behavior Prompt In Project One, you will select a contemporary issue in the social sciences to investigate. You may select an issue discussed in the course, or you may select your own with instructor approval. You could consider using your question from SCS 100 if it is something you would like to investigate further for this assessment. After selecting an issue, you will conduct a research investigation, identifying appropriate resources for researching the issue, applying social science principles to your issue, and developing a question related to the issue. You will submit your research investigation as a written report. 2 Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed: I. Introduction: In this section, you will discuss your social science issue and select resources that you can use to research the issue. Specifically, you should do the following: A. Describe the issue in the social sciences that you have selected to investigate. Why is this issue significant? B. Describe at least three social science resources that you could use to investigate the issue you selected. Your sources must be relevant to your issue and must be of an ac ...

1. 1
SCS 200 Project One Guidelines and Rubric
Overview
Professionals in the social sciences investigate human behavior
and society for the purpose of understanding why people act the
way they do. This investigation
can help address a wide variety of social issues, such as the role
of social media in the Arab Spring protests, the impact of social
skills on future success, racial
factors in police violence, and how partitioned grocery carts can
help shoppers purchase healthier foods. Social scientists can
help address issues such as these
through research and investigation.
The summative assessment for this course has two parts. In
Project One, you will conduct a research investigation that
examines an issue in the social sciences.
You will identify appropriate resources for investigating the
issue you select, use these resources to apply social science
principles to the issue, and develop a
question related to the issue. In addition, you will identify an
audience who would be interested in the selected issue. In
Project Two, you will develop a
presentation for the audience you identified in Project One. In
your presentation, you will explain how social scientific
thinking has affected you and discuss the
impact of the issue on your audience, supporting your claims
with evidence.

2. Project One addresses the following course outcomes:
and professional experiences
ant social science resources in
investigating contemporary issues in the social sciences
fundamental aspects of human behavior
g
critical questions related to human behavior
Prompt
In Project One, you will select a contemporary issue in the
social sciences to investigate. You may select an issue
discussed in the course, or you may select your
own with instructor approval. You could consider using your
question from SCS 100 if it is something you would like to
investigate further for this assessment.
After selecting an issue, you will conduct a research
investigation, identifying appropriate resources for researching
the issue, applying social science principles to
your issue, and developing a question related to the issue. You
will submit your research investigation as a written report.
2

3. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
I. Introduction: In this section, you will discuss your social
science issue and select resources that you can use to research
the issue. Specifically, you should
do the following:
A. Describe the issue in the social sciences that you have
selected to investigate. Why is this issue significant?
B. Describe at least three social science resources that you
could use to investigate the issue you selected. Your sources
must be relevant to your
issue and must be of an academic nature appropriate for the
issue. In your description, consider questions such as these:
What are the
similarities and differences in the content of your sources?
What makes them appropriate and relevant for investigating
your issue? What was
your thought process when you were searching for sources?
How did you make choices?
II. Body: In this section, you will use the social science
resources that you selected to investigate your issue, focusing
on an appropriate audience and the
social science principles related to the issue. Be sure to cite
your sources. Based on your research, address the following:
A. Identify the social science principles that apply to your
issue. In other words, which principles of social science apply
to the issue you selected?
B. Explain how the principles you identified apply to your
issue. In other words, how are the social science principles you

4. identified relevant to your
issue?
C. Identify an audience that would be interested in your issue.
For example, who would benefit most from hearing your
message? Or who could
best help in addressing the issue?
D. Describe how and why you can tailor your message to your
audience, providing specific examples. For example, will your
audience understand
social scientific terminology and principles, or will you need to
explain these? How will you communicate effectively with your
audience?
III. Conclusion: In this section, you will conclude your research
investigation by discussing future directions for research.
Specifically, you should do the
following:
A. Based on your investigation, develop a research question
related to the issue you selected. In other words, what would
you like to know more
about?
B. Explain how a social scientist would go about investigating
the research question you developed. In other words, what
would the next steps be if
a social scientist were to continue researching your question?
IV. Provide a reference list that includes all of the social
science resources you used to investigate your issue and
question. Ensure that your list is formatted

5. according to current APA guidelines (or another format with
instructor permission).
3
Project One Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your research investigation should
be 3 to 5 pages in length and should use double spacing, 12-
point Times New Roman font, and
one-inch margins. You should use current APA style guidelines
(or another format approved by your instructor) for your
citations and reference list.
Critical Elements Exemplary Proficient Needs Improvement Not
Evident Value
Introduction: Issue
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
description is exceptionally
clear and contextualized (100%)
Describes selected issue in
social sciences and its
significance (85%)

6. Describes selected issue in
social sciences and its
significance, but with gaps in
detail or clarity (55%)
Does not describe selected
issue in social sciences or its
significance (0%)
10.5
Introduction: Social
Science Resources
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
description of resources
demonstrates strong
understanding of information
needed to investigate issues in
the social sciences (100%)
Describes at least three relevant
and appropriate social science
resources that could be used to
investigate selected issue (85%)
Describes at least three social
science resources that could be
used to investigate selected
issue, but with gaps in
appropriateness, relevance, or
detail (55%)
Does not describe at least three
social science resources that

7. could be used to investigate
selected issue (0%)
10.5
Body: Identify
Principles
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response demonstrates insight
into essential social science
principles (100%)
Identifies social science
principles that apply to issue,
citing sources (85%)
Identifies social science
principles that apply to issue,
but with gaps in accuracy or
citation (55%)
Does not identify social science
principles that apply to issue
(0%)
10.5
Body: Explain
Principles
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response demonstrates insight
into essential social science

8. principles (100%)
Explains how identified
principles apply to issue, citing
sources (85%)
Explains how identified
principles apply to issue, but
with gaps in detail, clarity, or
citation (55%)
Does not explain how identified
principles apply to issue (0%)
10.5
Body: Audience
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
identification of audience
demonstrates insight into issue
(100%)
Identifies an audience that
would be interested in issue,
citing sources (85%)
Identifies an audience, but
audience is not appropriate for
issue or there are gaps in
citation (55%)
Does not identify an audience
(0%)

9. 10.5
Body: Message
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response demonstrates
sophisticated understanding of
how to effectively communicate
with specific audience (100%)
Describes how and why
message can be tailored to
audience, providing specific
examples and citing sources
(85%)
Describes how and why
message can be tailored to
audience, but with gaps in
examples or citation (55%)
Does not describe how and why
message can be tailored to
audience (0%)
10.5
Conclusion: Research
Question
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response demonstrates
understanding of social
scientific thinking (100%)

10. Develops research question
related to selected issue, based
on investigation (85%)
Develops research question
related to selected issue, but
question is not based on
investigation (55%)
Does not develop research
question related to selected
issue (0%)
10.5
4
Conclusion: Social
Scientist
Meets “Proficient” criteria, and
response demonstrates
understanding of social
scientific thinking (100%)
Explains how a social scientist
would go about investigating
research question (85%)
Explains how a social scientist
would go about investigating

11. research question, but with
gaps in clarity, detail, or logic
(55%)
Does not explain how a social
scientist would go about
investigating research question
(0%)
10.5
Reference List
Provides reference list that
includes all social science
resources used to investigate
issue and question, ensuring
that list is formatted according
to current APA guidelines
(100%)
Provides reference list that
includes all social science
resources used to investigate
issue and question, but list has
gaps in adherence to current
APA formatting guidelines
(55%)
Does not provide reference list
that includes all social science
resources used to investigate
issue and question (0%)
10.5

12. Articulation of
Response
Submission is free of errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, and
organization and is presented in
a professional and easy to read
format (100%)
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
(85%)
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas (55%)
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas (0%)
5.5
Total 100%