On successful completion of this course students will be able to:

	Understand the purpose of social research and its potential to investigate contemporary social issues through both quantitative and qualitative approaches.
	Identify the range of methods, techniques and skills used in contemporary social research and their capacity to solve specific social problems.
	Demonstrate skills in social science methods including the ethical and practical aspects of researching social problems, critical reading, reflection and analytical writing.
	Work with others in the exploration of ideas and to collectively develop arguments and negotiate solutions to problems.
	Undertake a research project including formulating a research problem and its key questions

Investigating the Social World (9th edition) by Russell K. Schutt, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2019.
- Etext version available online at https://au.sagepub.com/en-gb/oce/investigating-the-social-world/book254625#description
- Hardcopy available at the Barr Smith Library, High Use area.

 

Lecture power point slides, on-line quizzes, assignment instructions, and model assignments will be posted to the MyUni course site available via MyUni link.

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

 
1 x 3 hour lecture per week                              36 hours

2.5 hours reading per week                              30 hours

1 hour on-line quiz answering per week           12 hours

5.5 hours assignment
preparation each week on average                  66 hours

1 hour exam review per week                          12 hours


Total (per semester)                                       156 hours




 

10 On-line Quizzes (Not
required, Bonus points, 1% each)                       Weekly                                         10%                                      1,2,3,4

Midterm Exam                                                     26 March                                       15%                                     1,2,3

Assignment One (Prospectus)                             2 April                                           10%                                     1,2,3,5

Assignment Two (Single Study Review)               2 May                                           15%                                     1,2,3

Assignment Three (Literature Review)                6 June                                           30%                                     1,2,3,5

Final Exam                                                           TBA                                               30%                                     1,2,3

5.2.1          Ten On-line Quizzes (10%)                                                             DUE: Day Before a Specified Class

The quizzes will consist of a set of multiple choice questions that will test your comprehension of the readings required for the following day’s lecture. The quizzes are due on the MyUni by 10 pm on the day before the lecture. (For example, the quiz one that deals with Chapter 2 is due by 10 pm on March 6, and the Chapter 2 will be discussed in class on March 7.) Late submissions will not be accepted. For the specific days when the quizzes are available as well as the relevant readings to be tested by the quizzes, please see the 4.3. Tentative Course Calendar above.

The quizzes will be graded. Each will be worth 1% of your final course grade. The quizzes are not required. If you decide to do them, the marks you get will be added to your course grade. For example, if you get 72% (C) and add 3 % extra from the quizzes, you final grade in the course will become 75% (D). A final course grade above 100% will be rounded as High Distinction (HD).

The purpose of the on-line quizzes is to give you an additional incentive to stay on top of your readings and to give you some early indication how well you are doing in the course. Moreover, the quizzes will enable me to identify specific textbook materials which are difficult to understand for the majority of students in the course. I will then pay more attention to those materials in my lectures. (In order to have time to adjust the lecture content, I need to have the quiz results by 10 pm.) Since the format and the difficulty of the quizzes will be similar to the mid-term exam and the final exam questions, the quizzes will also help you to prepare for them. Finally, at least 25% of the questions that will appear at the mid-term exam and the final exam will come from the quizzes.

 
5.2.2.        Mid-Term Exam (15%)                                                                                                                     Due: March 26

The mid-term will be multiple choice and will include the kinds of questions asked in the quizzes. It will take place in the regular class time and location on March 26. Details of this assessment will be provided in the class on March 19.

5.2.3.        Assignment One (Prospectus) (10%)                                                                                          DUE: April 2

The prospectus is the first step towards producing your state-of-art literature review. It should be no longer than 1 page in length
(plus 1-2 pages of bibliography) and should briefly outline your research question, your theoretical rationale, and 8 relevant academic sources you propose to review. It is particularly important to justify your proposed research question as interesting and worth answering. Details of this assessment will be provided in the class on March 12.

5.2.4.        Assignment Two (Single Study Review) (15%)                                                                         DUE: May 2

In the second assignment, you will apply your new methodological skills to analyze an assigned study, and to identify its main strengths and weaknesses. The study to be analyzed will be made available at the MyUni. Details of this assessment will be provided in the class on April 2.

5.2.5.      Assignment Three (Literature Review) (30%)                                                                            DUE: June 6

In this assignment you will do a thorough literature/theory review, addressing a topic of your choice. The Literature Review will be up to 10 pages long, double spaced, 12 pt Times New Roman, 1-inch margins. As a critical review of the “state of knowledge” on your topic, it will allow you to situate your research question as having the potential to add to or correct an existing theory, thereby helping us to understand the phenomena in question.  For this reason, it is crucial to find proper academic sources to review.

A literature review is not simply a list of the research on a topic, nor is it merely a summary of the arguments others have made concerning a topic. A literature review is an essay which allows you to survey the field as it is, with an eye to the contribution that
you will make to the literature through your research question. Therefore, you should be particularly attentive to the questions that are unanswered (or unasked) in the literature, the theoretical concepts in the field which are inadequate, the errors that exist in our current ways of looking at the topic, and so on.

You should begin to conduct your review of the literature with a question that is as specific as possible, knowing that it will change as you interact with the literature. By the time you write your literature review, your research question should be carefully formulated in researchable terms. Details of this assessment will be provided in the class on May 2.

 
5.2.6.        Final Exam (30%)                                                                                                                               DATE: TBA

You will be expected to display understanding, integration, and critical reflection on the required readings and lectures. The examination will have a multiple choice format. Details of this assessment will be provided in the class on June 6.

Note: Further information on the expectations for the Prospectus, the Single Study Review, and the Literature Review will be provided at the MyUni and discussed in class.

Online submission of all assignments