Touchstone 1 developing a research plan scenario imagine

1. Touchstone 1: Developing a Research Plan
SCENARIO:
Imagine that you work for a nonprofit organization that is
focused on increasing diversity in community groups in your
area. Your supervisor asks you to develop a sociological study
concerning topics of diversity and collaboration in a specific
community group of your choice. Eventually you will prepare to
share your research with colleagues.
ASSIGNMENT:
For this Touchstone, you will begin by formulating a question
about diversity in a community group that you have access to.
Then you will use the steps of the scientific method to prepare a
research plan, including a bibliography for a literature review.
As you learned, sociologists follow the scientific method so that
their results are both scientifically valid and useful to the
greater sociological community. A literature review allows
researchers to learn from completed studies and to build upon
their conclusions.
Use the following Touchstone template to fill in your research
plan as you develop it. When you have finished, submit this
template to move on to the next unit.
A. Directions
Step 1: Pick a Topic

2. Select a community group to study. Some examples of
community groups you might explore include:
An activity-based group like a book club, a soccer team, or a
community choir
A religious or ideological community such as a church
congregation or a local political party
A community organization like a Parent Teacher Association
(PTA), a neighborhood association, or the volunteer committee
at a local soup kitchen
An identity-based organization such as a social club for
veterans or a fraternal type organization
It should be a group in which membership is voluntary and
recreational. Avoid:
Families
Workplaces
Ethnic or racial categories
Friend groups
You might wish to choose a group that you are a part of, or you
might not. You can use your personal experience with the group
to form the basis of your research question. Or you can ask
members of the group about their experiences, which will help
you develop your research question.

3. In the template, write a paragraph (approximately 6-8
sentences) describing the community group you have chosen. In
particular, be sure to answer the following questions:
What is the community group?
What are the attributes or characteristics of this communit y
group?
(e.g. What activities does this group do together? What element
of the members' interests or identities brings them together?
How is membership in the group defined, if at all?)
What kind of experience with or access to this community group
do you have?
Step 2: Ask a Question
Next, you will formulate a question related to this group, and to
topics related to diversity and/or collaboration. You might think
about diversity in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality,
religion, socioeconomic status, or along multiple intersecting
identities. Be sure to use what you learned in Unit 1 about the
ways sociologists ask questions.
Examples:
What are the challenges of a mom’s community organization in
appealing to moms with children of different ages?
How does a group of car enthusiasts reach out to the
surrounding community to get support for their events?

4. How has the Boy Scouts accepting girls impacted their mission
and programs?
Do gender segregated sports teams for kids help maintain
traditional gender roles?
In the template, write the question you have formulated for your
study. Be sure to identify the Independent and Dependent
variables and identify them correctly.
(HINT: Refer back to
Lesson 1.3.3: Asking Questions
and
Lesson 1.3.5: Formulating a Hypothesis
for help.)
Step 3: Prepare a Bibliography
Finally, you will begin developing a bibliography for a review
of the existing literature that relates to your question. Before
conducting a full literature review, a sociologist will bui ld a
bibliography, or a list of potential sources that they will read
and study in greater depth in the review.
Collect 4-6 articles, books, or other resources that relate to your
question and list them in your template. You don’t have to look
into these materials in depth right now! You’ll review this
literature more closely in a later Touchstone, and you will also
be exposed to additional relevant research and frameworks in
Unit 3. You’ll also be able to add to or amend your bibliography
before your Touchstone in Unit 3.

5. Attributes of good readings for your literature review:
They are academic, scholarly works about research findings or
they are reliable journalistic reporting based on scientifically
credible and reliable data.
They should have been published in the last 10 years—unless
they are a landmark work on the topic and provide important
background or as a comparison.
They look at different sides of the argument and a variety of
perspectives.
Where to find readings:
More than likely you will use a major search engine like
Google. Start your search by asking the question you want to
answer and identifying key search terms to generate relevant
results. You can limit your Google search to works that have
been published in the last 10 years. You can also use a search
engine like
Google Scholar
that specifically searches scholarly literature. However, keep in
mind that much of this literature may have limited or paid
access. Another good place to search is in a public or university
library catalog or database. Whichever way you choose to
search, make sure that you are selecting credible sources.
What makes a source credible?
Credible sources are written by authors who are well known in
their field. They are based on scientific data—not opinions or
with biased observations. Sources should be from reliable
outlets, like major publishers, universities, think tanks, and
credentialed current practitioners.

6. (HINT: Refer back to
Lesson 1.3.4: Researching Existing Sources
for more guidance.)
How to format sources in your bibliography:
Sociologists use American Psychological Association (APA)
format for their research. However, you will use a more
simplified method to format sources for your bibliography. You
will include
five key elements
for each source, with each element separated by a period:
Author’s name(s)
Publication date
Title of the source
Page numbers (if applicable)
Source's location for web-based texts (URL)
C. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission:
Use a readable 11- or 12-point font.
All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.

7. Composition must be original and written for this assignment.
Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
Submission must include your name and the date.
Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx.