Description
3000 word research design that explain how and why a particular programme of research will be carried out. The research topics is “How do changes in gender role and norms influence marriage dynamics.” This project will consider this question through an analysis of secondary data
Please include all the following:
1. A brief specification of the sociological puzzle or research questions to be addressed.
Begin with a brief statement (1-3 sentences) that quickly tells what the topic of the research is and what kind of research project have designed. Simply name check key categories, concepts, places, methods, and approaches.
2. A rationale that justifies the topic as a relevant one for sociological study, including references to relevant sociological literature.
Justify the topic as one that is sociologically relevant and coherent. This section should be 2-3 paragraphs and might include some the following:
• References to ongoing debates in academic writing (including specific citations), explaining what this research would add.
• The identification of a demonstrable gap in the literature on a wider topic. It is generally difficult to identify a huge gap on a major topic, but it might be that you can offer some new approach or method, or an application to a new place or category.
Reference to relevant ongoing public policy issues or media attention that would make this research project particularly timely.
3. A more detailed elaboration of the research questions to be addressed.
This section needs to specify in more detail what it is that your research project will have found out by the end. Often this is done through breaking down the overall research problem into a short list (3-6) of more specific questions that may be answered. While the first statement of your research problem might be quite general and abstract in nature, the elaboration should, of itself, start to suggest ways that answers will be found. Ask questions that are definitely answerable.
4. A description of how the proposed research would be carried out that explains and justifies any sampling, data collection and data analysis techniques, anticipates potential problems in carrying out the research and considers any ethical or political concerns.
This section will usually be the longest and may be subdivided again (e.g. by stages of research). The key aim is to explain what you will do and why it is realistic to expect that doing so will in fact answer the questions you have set yourself. The match between the questions you ask and the kinds of answers that your research is capable of providing is central to making your Research Design convincing.
Projects that involve secondary data will necessarily have had some of those decisions taken by others in the past, and important ones may need to be noted here. Some reflection on the pros and cons of using pre-existing data may be necessary here as well as a specification of which dataset(s) will help you answer your questions and what you will have to do with the data to find your answers. (Note: for projects based on secondary data simply producing descriptive statistics is unlikely to by sufficient: so, what statistical tests will you carry out? On which variables?).
The research designs will additionally need to address the following:
– Are there ethical or political concerns that must be addressed to ensure professional and morally acceptable conduct? Are there issues of personal safety to address in carrying out your research?
-What (other) problems might you anticipate in carrying out your research? These might be practical in nature or relate, for instance, to a need to adjust later stages of research in response to findings from earlier stages. You should show that you are reflecting critically on your own research design in order to ensure that potential problems do not have disastrous consequences.
5. A realistic research timetable.
6. Bibliography
