Assignment Instructions

SOCI 332 – Statistics for Social Sciences

Final Portfolio Assignment 

(WORD DOCUMENT BELOW ATTACHED WITH THE DIRECTIONS FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT)

Overview

One of the most crucial components of this course is developing a research project from conceptualizing a research problem and developing a number of measurement and statistical analysis approaches to bring evidence to bear on the problem.  Throughout the class, you created a research study based on publicly available data from the General Social Survey (GSS).  You chose data which were representative of your interests and satisfied your research question and hypotheses.  

This Assignment meets these course objectives: Describe and apply the concepts and logic of elementary statistics. Conduct statistical analysis in SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Compare and contrast different types of data and the statistics that can be used to analyze them Examine the differences between descriptive and inferential statistics and their use in the social sciences. Form critical interpretations of quantitative research literature in sociology and other social sciences. Complete and interpret descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis Critically evaluate the quality of research design and evidence in published social research.

Instructions

The Final Portfolio Assignment is where you pull together the research you’ve been working on the first seven weeks of class.  Using your weekly Forum posts, and the feedback from your classmates and instructor on your posts, construct a 6-8 page paper that fully explores your research topic in a way that provides the context and explanation surrounding the analyses provided in the paper.  Your project should display you understand what you are writing about holistically, not simply going through the motions.  

Citing literature about your research topic, be sure to set the stage for the data and analyses that you present.  Briefly describe the General Social Survey as your survey instrument.  Provide the questions, verbatim, that were asked in the survey which became the variable which you chose to use.  You will also need to include the answer choices for each of them.  This portion can be a table if you choose.  Share and explain frequency table(s) an histograms or graphs to describe your data.  Using the statistical tests you ran each week in class (crosstabs, tests of significance, measures of association), present the tests and your findings.  Clearly identify and explain your hypothesis and the five steps of hypothesis testing as they apply to your paper. Explain the results of the statistical tests and pull in some literature to provide context, demonstrating how your results and research fit into the larger body of literature on this topic.  Be sure to use proper APA formatting for citations and references. However, you do not need to include an abstract or table of contents.  You can find guidance in APA by clicking here to access the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Because the project is a formal, you should include a title page and reference page. You may organize the paper based on the following headings:

Introduction – Introduce the topic based in current literature (briefly – show why it is important to study). Discuss why you chose the topic and what the purpose of the paper is. Give a brief overview of what you will cover.

Literature Review – Review 3-4 peer-reviewed sources that provide a background on your topic. These sources don’t have to specifically address the relationship between your IV and DV, but should address the topic and be somewhat related to your variables.

Methods – Briefly discuss the GSS (information you included in Assignment 1) as your data source. Identify and describe your specific variables, including the name, question, and responses (categories). You may state your hypothesis here, but do not go through the hypothesis testing steps until the next section.

Findings – Begin with a discussion of each variable individually, utilizing your frequency tables and charts/graphs. Then discuss your other analyses in logical order. Crosstabs are your first look at a potential relationship. Next, discuss the steps of hypothesis testing. Include the table of your significance test. Last, discuss the strength and direction of the relationship using measures of association.

Discussion – Discussion what you learned from the various analyses and draw any conclusions you found. Talk about any further research you think may be needed on your topic.

Note: 

This course has “Resubmission” status enabled to help you if you realize you submitted an incorrect or blank file, or if you need to submit multiple documents as part of your Assignment.  Resubmission of an Assignment after it is graded, to attempt a better grade, is not permitted.

Grading Rubric

View the grading rubric so you understand how you will be assessed on this Assignment. 

Final Portfolio Assignment

100 %

Exemplary

4 pts

Accomplished

3.4 pts

Developing

3 pts

Beginning
2.6 pts

Did not attempt
0 pts

Introduction
10 %

Exemplary

Student provides rich, detailed introduction to the research topic.

Accomplished

Student provides an introduction to the research topic.

Developing

Student provides an introduction to the research topic, some detail lacking, more development needed.

Beginning

Student provides an introduction to the research topic, significant detail lacking, more development needed.

Did not attempt

No introduction to the research topic is provided.

Review of literature
20 %

Exemplary

Student presents context for the current study with more than three sources, two must be scholarly.

Accomplished

Student presents context for the current study with three sources, two must be scholarly.

Developing

Student presents limited context for study and only reviews two sources, at least one is scholarly.

Beginning

Student presents limited context for study and only reviews one source; the source is scholarly.

Did not attempt

Student presents limited context for study and only reviews non-scholarly sourc

GSS
5 %

Exemplary

Student provides detailed explanation of the survey instrument used for data collection

Accomplished

Student explains the survey instrument used for data collection

Developing

Student explains the survey instrument used for data collection. Some detail lacking, more development needed.

Beginning

Student explains the survey instrument used for data collection. Significant detail lacking, more development needed.

Did not attempt

Student does not include a review of the survey instrument.

Variables
5 %

Exemplary

Student identifies the variables correctly, levels of measurement, and presents all variable data from the GSS

Accomplished

Student identifies the variables correctly, levels of measurement, and presents all variable data from the GSS. Minor corrections needed.

Developing

Student identifies the variables correctly, levels of measurement, and presents some variable data from the GSS. Some corrections needed.

Beginning

Student identifies the variables- some may be inaccurate or missing. Levels of measurement may be inaccurate or missing.

Did not attempt

Variables and levels of measurement are not identified.

Frequency tables
5 %

Exemplary

Student includes a detailed explanation for frequency tables using relevant and cited material. Student provides frequency tables with detailed and accurate findings.

Accomplished

Student includes an explanation for frequency tables using relevant and cited material. Student provides frequency tables with accurate findings.

Developing

Student includes an explanation for frequency tables using relevant and cited material. Student provides frequency tables with accurate findings. Some detail lacking, minor inaccuracy.

Beginning

Section is incomplete- either lacking a table or explanation.

Did not attempt

Student does not include frequency tables.

Histograms or Graphing
5 %

Exemplary

Student includes a detailed explanation for histograms or other graphing using relevant and cited material. Student provides histogram chart and explains findings accurately.

Accomplished

Student includes an explanation for histograms or other graphing using relevant and cited material. Student provides histogram chart and explains findings accurately.

Developing

Student includes an explanation for histograms or other graphing using relevant and cited material. Student provides histogram chart and explains findings accurately. Some detail lacking, minor inaccuracy.

Beginning

Section is incomplete- either lacking a histogram/graph or explanation.

Did not attempt

Student does not include histograms or other graphing.

Crosstabs
10 %

Exemplary

Student presents crosstabulation data with accurate and detailed explanations.

Accomplished

Student presents crosstabulation data with accurate explanations.

Developing

Student presents crosstabulation data with accurate explanations. Some detail lacking, minor inaccuracy.

Beginning

Section is incomplete- either lacking crosstabs or explanation.

Did not attempt

Student does not include crosstabs.

Hypothesis testing
10 %

Exemplary

Student provides detailed overview of hypothesis testing using and citing relevant material. Student also lists and describes the 5 steps with regards to their study.

Accomplished

Student provides an overview of hypothesis testing using and citing relevant material. Student also lists the 5 steps with regards to their study.

Developing

Student provides an overview, but there are lacking details. Student may also be missing steps within the 5 for the process as relevant to their study.

Beginning

Student is missing one area (overview of hypothesis testing or the 5 steps as applicable to their study)

Did not attempt

Student does not provide this section

Tests of significance
10 %

Exemplary

Student runs correct test for correlations and appropriately presents the findings with detailed explanation.

Accomplished

Student runs correct test for correlations and appropriately presents the findings.

Developing

Student runs the wrong test but analyzes findings appropriately for that particular test.

Beginning

Student runs the wrong test and does not provide accurate explanation of results or student provides inaccurate explanations of the correct test; or student had one portion- SPSS test but no explanation or explanation without SPSS table

Did not attempt

Student does not include a test of significance.

Measures of Association
10 %

Exemplary

Student runs correct test for measures of association and appropriately presents the findings with detailed explanation.

Accomplished

Student runs correct test for measures of association and appropriately presents the findings.

Developing

Student runs the wrong test but analyzes findings appropriately for that particular test.

Beginning

Student runs the wrong test and does not provide accurate explanation of results or student provides inaccurate explanations of the correct test; or student had one portion- SPSS test but no explanation or explanation without SPSS table.

Did not attempt

Student does not include measures of association tests.

APA Format
5 %

Exemplary

Included APA formatted in-text citations and full references for all paraphrased and quoted work from other sources

Accomplished

Minor errors in APA formatting of citations

Developing

Multiple errors in APA formatting of citations

Beginning

Little use of APA format

Did not attempt

APA format not attempted

Grammar and spelling
5 %

Exemplary

Author makes no errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content

Accomplished

Author makes a couple errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content

Developing

Author makes a few errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content

Beginning

Authors makes many errors in grammar and spelling that the intent of the paper is difficult to understand

Did not attempt

Authors makes so many errors in grammar and spelling that the intent of the paper cannot be understood