SOC XXXXXXXXXX: Sociology of Gende
1
SOC XXXXXXXXXX: Capstone in General Sociology
Spring 2021
Assignment 4: Rough Draft of Second Part of Research Paper (worth 20 points)
Due on Canvas by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 8
The second part of the rough draft of the research paper should include the following (consult the “Assignment 4 tips
[rough draft - second part]” slides, the research paper instructions, and the “data and methods” slides from 3-16 for more
information on writing these sections):
1. Data and methods.
a. Data. Indicate that you used the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). Briefly describe the
HSLS:09: it was a nationally representative study that began with U.S. ninth graders, their parents, and schools in
2009 with follow-ups of the young people in 2012 (when they were in their mid-teens) and 2016 (when they were
early twenties).The purpose of the study was to follow young people from their high school experiences through
early adult experiences (e.g., postsecondary schooling, entering the labor force). Use the document by Duprey et
al XXXXXXXXXXavailable on Canvas as your source of information about the dataset. The document is the very last item
in the “Research Paper Project (for All Papers/Research Questions)” module on Canvas.
. Variables. Be sure to indicate what your independent variables were, what your control variables were (i.e., race-
ethnicity and/or gender if you chose to include them), and what your dependent variable was. Do NOT discuss
gender and race-ethnicity if you will not include them in your results and tables. Briefly mention what all of the
variables you use were about and how the response categories of the variables were coded (e.g., parental
education was coded in years ranging from 11 to 20, high school extracu
icular involvement was coded 1=more
than 2 hours per weekday and 0=2 hours or less per weekday). Refer to the SPSS output from Assignment 2
(descriptive statistics and the frequency tables) for this information. Be sure to indicate your omitted (reference)
group category if you had a set of dummy variables (e.g., both parents and children born in the US was the
omitted category for immigrant generation status, and white, non-Hispanics was the omitted category for race-
ethnicity).
c. Sample size. Indicate the number of cases you analyzed. (This is the number of cases that were not missing data
for the variables used in your analysis.) One place to look for the total number of cases (n) is the “N Valid” row in
the Statistics box in the SPSS output from Assignment 2 (descriptive statistics). I also included in the number of
cases in the table titles for each paper (see the table format document on Canvas for your research question/paper
number).
d. Analysis. You should indicate which specific type of regression you used (given on the handout for Assignment
2). You could give this information at the end of the data and methods section or right before you present your
egression results.
2. Results.
a. Descriptive statistics. Mention your descriptive statistics can be found in Table 1. Interpret them in your paper the
way you did in class Assignment 2. (Keep in mind feedback I gave you on your interpretations.)
. Regression results. If you have not already done so in your paper, indicate the specific type of regression you
used. Mention that your regression results can be found in Table 2. Indicate which variables were statistically
significant and interpret them as you did in Assignment 2. Indicate whether any of variables were not significant.
(Keep in mind feedback I gave you on your interpretations.)
**Be consistent in your use of gender and/or race-ethnicity. If you did not use them in Assignment 2, do not use them in
your paper. If you used them for one chart in Assignment 2 but not the other one, you need to decide whether to not use
them at all in your paper. If you want to include gender and/or race-ethnicity, then you must have them in both the
descriptive statistics (Table 1) AND regression results (Table 2) in your paper.** CONT’D
2
3. Discussion and Conclusion.
a. A summary of your findings and whether each of your hypotheses was supported. (Keep in mind that sometimes
hypotheses are not fully supported by all of the results.)
. A discussion of your findings in terms of theory—do your findings support the theory or theories you presented
earlier in your paper? How or how not?
c. A discussion of your findings in terms of the articles (studies) you reviewed earlier in the paper—are your
findings consistent with those studies or did you find something different (and if so, how)?
d. A discussion of the strengths (e.g., think in terms of the quality of your dataset and variables).
e. A discussion of the weaknesses of your research (e.g., were some of your variables not ideal, would it have been
desirable to have included additional variables in your analysis?).
f. Make suggestions for future research.
4. Tables. You need to have two tables, one with descriptive statistics (means) and the other with regression results. Refer
to the table format documents I created for each research question (paper) number. You may copy and paste my table
formats into your paper and then enter your results into the tables. Start your tables on a new page of your document.
5. Abstract. This will be optional for the research paper project. If you wish to include one, place it as a first and separate
page on your assignment. Consult the example in the PowerPoint slides for this assignment (Assignment 4).
SOC XXXXXXXXXX
SOC 4943
Fall 2020
Assignment 4: Rough Draft of First Part of Research Paper (worth 20 points)
Due on Canvas by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 6 (note the changed due date)
To facilitate writing the research paper, you will produce a rough draft in two parts. I am defining the first part
(half) of the rough draft as the cover (title) page, introduction, literature review and theory, hypotheses, and
eference sections of the paper.
For reminders on how to write the sections that will make up the first part (half) of your rough draft: consult the
esearch paper instructions you received earlier in the semester (available in the “Research Paper Project [For
All Research Papers/Research Questions]” module), excerpts from the Edwards book on writing paper (pp. 19-
21 in the Week 4 module and pp XXXXXXXXXXand 47-54 in the Week 10 module), and the PowerPoint slides on
writing research papers/articles from earlier this semester (see the slides in the Week 4 module). The Reitzes and
Jaret XXXXXXXXXXand Purcell XXXXXXXXXXarticles assigned earlier this semester (in the Week 3 and Week 4 modules,
espectively) can serve as examples of how to write a research paper. Additional suggestions for writing the first
part are in the “tips for assignment 4 (rough draft – first part)” PowerPoint file, which is available in both the
Week 10 module and under the slides subheading of the “Research Paper Project [For All Research
Papers/Research Questions]” module.
A few
ief reminders (consult the “tips for assignment 4 (rough draft – first part)”slides and the research paper
instructions for more details):
• Cover (title) page: include your name and a title for your paper. This is a separate page.
• Introduction: what is your research question and why is it interesting and important?
• Literature review and theory: make sure you include the three required articles and the two articles you
found in your literature review (your assignment #2) and focus on findings reported in the articles for
variables similar to the ones you are using. Write an integrative literature review, not a one-article-per
paragraph review. The theory or theories you are using and why they are relevant to your study should
e discussed before your hypotheses. Make sure you cite a source for your material on theory (refer to
your assignment #2). Make sure you use ASA format co
ectly for your in-text citations and references.
• Hypotheses: remind your readers of the theory or theories you are using. You wrote hypotheses in
assignment #2—refer to what you wrote in that assignment (and my comments) for this section of your
paper.
• References: this section starts on a new page. Make sure you use ASA format co
ectly here. Make sure
you alphabetize your references by last name of the first author of each article.
SOC XXXXXXXXXX: Capstone in General Sociology
SOC XXXXXXXXXX
Fall 2020
Assignment 3: Due October 27, 9:15 a.m.
Research Paper Question #3: How are family factors (parental education and parental educational expectations for their child) and high school experiences (GPA and sport/extracu
icular involvement) related to educational expectations during one’s early twenties?
Independent variables (measured during high school)1:
Parental education (how much schooling parent with most schooling has had)
Parental educational expectations (how far in school parent expects child to go)
High school GPA (total GPA from high school transcript)
Extracu
icular involvement (average number of hours per weekday on extracu
icular activities)
Dependent variable (measured in second survey follow-up in 2016):
Educational expectations (how far in school respondent expects to go, reported during early twenties)
Control variables (if you wish, now is when you have to decide whether to include any in your paper):
Male (whether male vs. female)
Race-ethnicity (Asian, black, Hispanic, multiracial, white)
Directions: Refe
ing to the descriptive statistics and regression results from SPSS that are attached, complete the following charts.
1. Report descriptive statistics (means) and interpret them
Name/description of variable (include even omitted categories)
State the mean
here
Interpret the mean. What does it tell you relative to the values of the categories as shown in the frequency tables?
2. Report regression results and interpret them
Independent variable name/description (in leftmost column e.g., parental education)
Estimate/coefficient from SPSS (look in