Soc 3322a Mini Assignment 2 Guidelines (15% of Mark)

General Instructions:

The second mini assignment is due on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 and will entail a detailed methodological plan for your community-based research project. The methodology should be predominantly qualitative according to the designs presented in the Berg text and discussed in class. It could consist of in-depth interviews, case studies, observation, ethnography, or types of action research (ie see Banks and Mangan.) If you choose to embed your primary method in a multiple methods approach, using triangulation, it could be a combination of qualitative methods but it may also employ a more quantitative method such as a survey or a quantitatively oriented content analysis.

In submitting the assignment, it should be handed in personally in class: "faxed" or "e-mail" copies will not be accepted. The assignment must be typed (12 point font), double-spaced, on 8.5 x 11 paper, and stapled with a cover page indicating your name and student number (no plastic covers or binders). The assignment should be approximately 2-3 pages in length. Late assignments will be penalized at 2%/day.

The detailed methodology should consist of:

a. Your revised problem statement including possible concepts and links to be observed. (Save your annotated bibliography for the final step of the assignment!)

b. A rationale for the methodology you have chosen.

c. A description of, and the logic behind the sample or samples you intend to use.

d. Your methodological plan, including a timeline of how you plan to proceed.

e. Any ethical concerns you foresee and how you plan to deal with these concerns.

f. Any problems (ie problems of access) that you expect to encounter and what you might do about them.

g. A brief discussion of how you will organize, store and analyse the data that you collect. See Berg and as well, Leedy and Ormrod for more information on this.

A note on plagiarism: "Plagiarism: Students must write their essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea, or a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations. Plagiarism is a major academic offence" (see Scholastic Offences in the Western Academic Calendar).

LINK TO ASA STYLE GUIDE at UWO library: http://www.lib.uwo.ca/files/styleguides/ASA.pdf