ASSIGNMENT 2: SOCIAL CONTROL AND CRIMINAL DEVIANCE: BULLYING
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Assignment 2: Social
Control and Criminal Deviance: Bullying
Student Success Tips
- Review the Student’s Guide to Research section of the
textbook (Chapter 2)
CHAPTER 2 STUDENTS GUIDE TO RESEARCH:
Sociological research seldom follows a formula
that indicates exactly how to proceed. Sociologists often have to feel their
way as they go, responding to the challenges that arise during research and
adapting new methods to fit the circumstances. Thus, the stages of research can
vary even when sociologists agree about the basic sequence. At the same time,
for student sociologists, it is useful to understand the key building blocks of
good sociological research. As you read through the following descriptions of
the stages, think about a topic of interest to you and how you might use that
as the basis for an original research project.
STEPS IN THE STUDENT’S GUIDE TO RESEARCH:
FRAME YOUR RESEARCH QUESTION “Good research,”
Thomas Dewey observed, “scratches where it itches.” Sociological research
begins with the formulation of a question or questions to be answered. Society
offers an endless spectrum of compelling issues to study: Does exposure to
violent video games affect the probability of aggressive behavior in
adolescents? Does religious faith affect voting behavior? Is family income a
good predictor of performance on standardized college entrance tests such as
the SAT? Beyond the descriptive aspects of social phenomena, sociologists are
also interested in how they can explain relationships between the variables
they examine. Formulating a research question precisely and carefully is one of
the most important steps toward ensuring a successful research project.
Research questions come from many sources. Some arise from problems that form
the foundation of sociology, including an interest in socioeconomic
inequalities and their causes and effects, or the desire to understand how
power is exercised in social relationships. Sociologists are also mindful that
solid empirical data are important to public policies on issues of concern such
as poverty, occupational mobility, and domestic violence. Keep in mind that you
also need to define your terms. Recall our discussion of operationalizing
concepts. For example, if you are studying middle school bullying, you need to
make explicit your definition of bullying and how that will be measured. The
same holds true if you are studying a topic such as illiteracy or aggressive
behavior.
REVIEW EXISTING KNOWLEDGE Once you identify
the question you want to ask, you need to conduct a review of the existing
literature on your topic. The literature may include published studies,
unpublished papers, books, dissertations, government documents, newspapers and
other periodicals, and, increasingly, data disseminated on the Internet. The
key focus of the literature review, however, is usually published and
peer-reviewed research studies. Your purpose in conducting the literature
review is to learn about studies that have already been done on your topic of
interest so that you can set your research in the context of existing studies.
You will also use the literature review to highlight how your research will
contribute to this body of knowledge.
SELECT THE APPROPRIATE METHOD Now you are
ready to think about how your research question can best be answered. Which of
the research methods described earlier (1) will give the best results for the
project and (2) is most feasible for your research circumstances, experience,
and budget? If you wish to obtain basic information from a relatively large
population in a short period of time, then a survey is the best method to use.
If you want to obtain detailed information about a smaller group of people,
then interviews might be most beneficial. Participant observation and detached
observation are ideal research methods for verifying data obtained through interviews,
or, for the latter, when the presence of a researcher might alter the research
results. Document analysis and historical research are good choices for
projects focused on inaccessible subjects and historical sociology. Remember,
sociological researchers often use multiple methods.
WEIGH THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS Research
conducted on other human beings—as much of sociological research is—poses
certain ethical problems. An outpouring of outrage after the discovery of
gruesome experiments conducted by the Nazis during World War II prompted the
adoption of the Nuremberg Code, a collection of ethical research guidelines
developed to help prevent such atrocities from ever happening again (Table
2.5). In addition to these basic guidelines, scientific societies throughout
the world have adopted their own codes of ethics to safeguard against the
misuse and abuse of human subjects. Before you begin your research, it is
important that you familiarize yourself with the American Sociological
Association’s Code of Ethics (www.asanet.org/about/ethics.cfm), as well as the
standards of your school, and carefully follow both. Ask yourself whether your
research will cause the subjects any emotional or physical harm. How will you
guarantee their anonymity? Does the research violate any of your own ethical
principles? Most universities and research institutes require researchers to
complete particular forms before undertaking experiments using human subjects,
describing the research methods to be used and the groups of subjects who will
take part. Depending on the type of research, a researcher may need to obtain
written agreement from the subjects for their participation. Today, a study
like that conducted by Philip Zimbardo in the 1970s at Stanford University
(described in the Private Lives, Public Issues box) would be unlikely to be
approved because of the stress put on the experiment’s subjects in the course
of the research. Approval of research involving human subjects is granted with
an eye to both fostering good research and protecting the interests of those
partaking in the study.
COLLECT AND ANALYZE THE DATA Collecting data
is the heart of research. It is time-consuming but exciting. During this phase,
you will gather the information that will allow you to make a contribution to
the sociological understanding of your topic. If your data set is qualitative—
for example, open-ended responses to interview questions or observations of
people—you will proceed by carefully reviewing and organizing your field notes,
documents, and other sources of information. If your data set is
quantitative—for example, completed closed-ended surveys—you will proceed by
entering data into spreadsheets, comparing results, and analyzing your findings
using statistical software. Your analysis should offer answers to the research
questions with which you began the study. Be mindful in interpreting your data
and avoid conclusions that are speculative or not warranted by the actual
research results. Do your data support or contradict your initial hypothesis?
Or are they simply inconclusive? Report all of your results. Do your findings
have implications for larger theories in the discipline? Do they suggest the
need for further study of another dimension of the issue at hand? Good research
need not have results that unequivocally support your hypothesis. A finding
that refutes the hypothesis can be instructive as well.
SHARE THE RESULTS However fascinating your
research may be to you, its benefits are amplified when you take advantage of
opportunities to share it with others. You can share your findings with the
sociological community by publishing the results in academic journals. Before
submitting research for publication, you must learn which journals cover your
topic areas and review those journals’ standards for publication. Some colleges
and universities sponsor undergraduate journals that offer opportunities for
students to publish original research. Other outlets for publication include
books, popular magazines, newspapers, video documentaries, and websites.
Another way to communicate your findings is to give a presentation at a
professional meeting. Many professional meetings are held each year; at least
one will offer a panel suited to your topic. In some cases, high-quality
undergraduate papers are selected for presentation. If your paper is one,
relevant experts at the meeting will likely help you interpret your findings
further.
Take notes as you watch the video below.
WATCH THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO LOCATED AT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkG0nssouFg.
Write a one to two (1-2) page essay in which
you:
- Identify the most important step in the student’s guide
to research that you would need in order to analyze bullying.
- Define the identified critical step of research in your
words.
- Explain how bullying relates to one (1) of the
following topics:
- the agents of socialization (i.e., family, teachers
and school, peers),
- formal organizations (i.e., conformity to groups),
- different types of deviance (i.e., everyday deviance,
sexual deviance, or criminal deviance).
Provide a rationale for your response.
Your assignment must follow these formatting
requirements:
- Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font
(size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides. Check with your professor
for any additional instructions.
- To keep this essay short and manageable, your only
sources for the essay should be the TED video and the sections noted in
your text. For this reason, APA citations or references are not required
for this assignment.
- Include a cover page containing the title of the
assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title,
and the date. The cover page is not included in the required assignment
page length.
The specific course learning outcomes
associated with this assignment are:
- Define the basic concepts used in the discipline of
sociology.
- Define the various methodologies for sociological
research.
- Identify the sociological perspective to the
inequalities of class, race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation,
socioeconomics, and political aspects.
- Use technology and information resources to research
issues in sociology.
- Write clearly and concisely about sociology using
proper writing mechanics.
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