Assignment Schedule

Submission Policy, Late Policy, and Plagiarism: Material will typically be handed in at the beginning of Lab. There will be a 5%/day penalty for material handed in late (not including weekends).  Unless otherwise stated, material should be presented on letter size paper and stapled together. Please do NOT use any sort of folder, binder or protective cover (they are cumbersome).  The Department of Geography has a zero tolerance policy towards plagiarism. If a student commits plagiarism, the instructor will assign a grade of zero to the assignment. A second instance of plagiarism is regarded as a scholastic offense and will be dealt with according to The University of Western Ontario policy for Scholastic offenses - more policy and examples of plagiarism via this link.

And now a message from our lawyers (re: Turnitin.com)...
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com

Marking Conventions: If you are curious to know what all they symbols on your marked papers mean, please go here to find out.

Assignment 1: Critical Appraisal

Due Date

Introduction

Critical thinking is the one of the most valuable skills within academia and beyond. This involves the ability to not only read for comprehension, but also, to be able to assess the strengths and weakness of a piece of work and recognize alternative perspectives. This assignment should help prepare you for any major term paper paper or presentation. Both lab 2 and lab 3 should assist you preparing this assignment.

Tasks

1. Select a primary research article (i.e., uses data and is not simply a review of existing literature) from a geography journal see (lab 3). The article should primarily involve human social research.
2. Fill out the critical appraisal form for your article
3. Write a 5 page (max, double spaced) critical review of the article (formal style - e.g., no first person, proper referencing, introduction and conclusion - See Northey and Knight style book in your reading list. See also lab 4.

Submit

1. Completed critical appraisal form. This is not marked per se however, it may be used for reference by the T.A. when marking - technically no marks lost if absent.
2. First page of turnitin.com (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=) originality report (see Lab 3) - no marks.
3. Critical review essay (typed, double-spaced, formal style, title page).
4. Abstract page (only) from the journal article you appraise.

All of this should be presented on letter size paper and stapled. Please do NOT use any sort of folder, binder or protective cover (they are cumbersome).

Helpful Hints

1. Learn how others write critical review papers: Read reviews of other's work - most journals will have a book review section or even commentary sections - these contain critical appraisals
2. Reference other sources on the same topic: That is, compare the paper you are reviewing to what others (e.g., researchers, academics) have said about the topic. See the next point for a good way to do this.
3. Find reviews of the paper you are reviewing: Use the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) in the Web of Science. This is useful for finding journal articles which reference the one you are appraising - including commentary pieces and reviews. That is, search by author. This is something you will learn about in lab 3
4. Explicit Position: Explicitly state your general position/assessment of the paper in the introductory paragraph
5. Do not Simply "Retell": Do NOT simply retell the main points of the paper. This is a critical review. Focus on why the piece of research is good or not-so-good as a piece of (social) scientific research.
6. Do not Overemphasize Writing Style: "This was an easy/hard paper to read," and "The tables were very neat and organized", say very little about a piece of research. Focus on important research issues like: operationalization, conceptual clarity, appropriateness of methods, and weight of evidence (see your appraisal form for guidance)

Some Social Geography Journals

Here is a list of Geography journals that are either entirely social geography or at least contain social geography papers. Keep in mind, you want a an "empirical", a paper that involves a research study. The researcher(s) should have collected their own primary data, or applied secondary data to a specific research problem. Do not use papers that only review the state of the literature on a certain topic. This is by no means a complete list.

Annals of the Association of American Geographers
Antipode
Area
Canadian Geographer
Demography
Economic Geography
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
Geografiska Annaler. Series B. Human Geography
Journal of Cultural Geography
Journal of Historical Geography
Professional Geographer
Political Geography
Social Science and Medicine D: Medical Geography
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
Urban Affairs Quarterly
Urban Anthropology
Urban Geography
Urban Studies

Marking

20 marks 5 style + 15 content

style (5/20 marks)

1. title page (-1)
2. reference list (-1)
3. introductory paragraph (-1) - introduce the purpose of your paper, introduce the topic of the paper topic, state your position on the quality of the paper up front, and provide a roadmap for the rest of the paper
4. concluding paragraph (-1) - revisit your main point about paper quality, summarize, comment on potential directions for future research in this area
5. spelling/grammar (-2 max) - up to two marks can be lost, the first few are free, from then on marks are lost at the TA's discretion
6. formal style (-2 max) - other formal style issues (e.g., slang, acronyms, contractions) TA's discretion
7. turnitin.com (-0 max) (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=) - technically there is no mark deduction for failing to hand in your originality report for this assignment - though doing so, is a good "practice run".  You will lose a mark for not handing in a hard copy of the report in future assignments (check the marking structure).

content (15/20 marks)

1. be consistent - e.g., if you take the position that the paper is very poor - the majority of the text should concern the limitations and problems with the research - nevertheless, you are encouraged to point out some things the researcher(s) did well
2. consider other perspectives/methods - e.g., if you take the position that a paper demonstrates some solid research, you may still point out what light other perspectives/methods might shed on the research problem.
3. concepts and operationalization - this is one of the most fruitful areas for commentary - e.g., what if the researcher measured "class" using average income instead of dwelling value?
4. outside sources - consult sources beyond the paper you are reviewing, cite them appropriately using APA citation format (see lab 4)
5. evidence - comment on the nature and weight of evidence in support of the main argument - is it enough, to for example, change policy in this area?

Assignment 2: Quantitative Data Management

Due Date

Introduction

Data management and presentation are essential skills in social research. In lab 5/6 you worked with Excel to manipulate some National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) data to create a histogram. For assignment 2 you will extend these data and skills as well as contemplate more thoroughly the implications of the results you produce. You will compare London's NPRI substance releases to those of another Canadian city to understand the differences in type and quantity of substance release.

Tasks

1. Select a comparison city - visit this Statistics Canada page and select a city to which you will compare the London results from lab 5/6. It seems fair to pick a city of similar size, but for variety's sake, choose a city with a 2001 population close to London's, give or take 100,000.



2. Create comparisons in Excel - use your Excel skills to compare the two cities in terms of total NPRI substance releases. How you do this is up to you. You should create material that provides relatively easy visual interpretation. That is, one should be able to see patterns after a short glance at whatever you produce. You do not have to use a horizontal historgram(s), but that is certainly one way to complete this task.



3. Answer the following questions - using full sentences, under clear sub-headings (e.g., question numbers, question titles), answer the following questions as they relate to your data:
   1. Compare the patterns of NPRI substance releases between the cities.
   
   
   2. Who are worse off in terms of NPRI substance releases, Londoners or the residents from your comparison city? You might want to consult www.scorecard.org which ranks substances according to how hazardous they are. Search that site by CAS or plain english name in the field at the bottom. Check out the Hazard Rating section for each chemical. If a search turns up nothing for a CAS search, use the plain English name instead. For example, any chemical with a code starting NA, will require the plain English name for your hazard rating search at www.scorecard.org. The plain English names are on the ChemCode sheet (far right tab).
   
   
   3. What are some strengths and weaknesses of this dataset for answering question ii? You will likely want to do some reading at the NPRI site to help with this one - the about page is a good place to start.
   
   
   4. Define environmental equity. You are encouraged to cite at least one outside source. Here is one I found on Geobase (see lab 2 if you need a refresher on finding journal articles in Geobase)).
   
   
   5. How might these data be used further to understand whether a city (or cities) has an "equitable" distribution of pollution?
   
   


4. Cite any sources using the formal APA style and include a reference list.



5. Include a title page, and staple - no binders, covers, or folders please.



6. Submit your paper to www.turnitin.com (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=) and print the first page of your originality report.

Submit

1. Histogram or whatever other chart(s) you use to compare the two cities.


2. Printout of spreadsheet data used to create the histogram (format for minimal number of printout pages please)


3. Answers to the questions above with a reference list. This written section should total no more than 4 pages double spaced with reasonable margins.
4. The originality report (first page) from www.turnitin.com  (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=)
   
5. Include a title page, and staple - no binders, covers, or folders please.

Marking

20 marks 5 style + 15 content

style (5/20 marks)

1. title page (-1)
2. reference list (-1)
3. not in sentences (-1)
4. spelling/grammar/formal writing style issues (-2 max) - up to two marks can be lost, the first few are free, from then on marks are lost at the TA's discretion; formal style in this case does not mean having an introduction and a conclusion to the written answers
5. poorly labeled histogram/chart (-1)- descriptive title, units
6. missing histogram/chart (-1)
7. missing spreadsheet (-1)
8. missing www.turnitin.com originality report (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=) (-1)

content (15/20 marks)

1. question i - 3 marks - while there are no marks for the spreadsheet and histogram per se - this is where marks will be lost if there are serious errors.
2. question ii - 3 marks
3. question iii - 3 marks
4. question iv - 2 marks
5. question v - 4 marks

Assignment 3: Survey and Questionnaire Design

Due Date

Introduction

In this assignment you have the opportunity to make some research design decisions. You will design a quantitative study which uses a questionnaire as the core research instrument. You will have to make decisions about such things as cost, time, relevance, and methodological rigour. You will submit a paper that includes a rationale for your research design choices and the questionnaire itself. Though some elements of the assignment are predetermined (e.g., research problem) there is considerable flexibility for you to design something completely original. You are expected to submit this assignment to Turnitin.com (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=)(a mark will be deducted if you do not do this). At turnitin, this will be assignment 2, or any revision of assignment, i.e. 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, or 2e, if you submit and want to make changed prior to the due date.

Tasks

1. RESEARCH PROBLEM -  There is noticeable grassroots movement in urban centers in Canada to move away from the use of "chemical" pesticides.  For example the Ontario College of Family Physicians recently released this report: http://www.ocfp.on.ca/English/OCFP/Communications/CurrentIssues/Pesticides/default.asp?s=1 which says we should reduce exposure to pesticides.  Currently, the decision whether or not to use "chemical" pesticides in urban environments rests with individual homeowners. How people actually make that decision is not entirely clear and whether human health risk factors into that decision.
2. Research the problem - read the information at the link and beyond if you like.  Use this as a basis for developing your research questions.
3. Detail your research questions (research design lecture).  Further refine these research questions into testable postulates involving the relationship between concepts (measurement lecture).  Perceived health risk, pesticide user, yard care decision maker, aesthetic appeal are all examples of concepts that might show up in these postulates and questions.
4. Select your method - use the table below to help you make your selection. Outline your rationale for selecting this method. You have to factor response rate, the desired number of completed questionnaires, and potential sampling biases for each method. See Babbie Ch 7 and/or the lecture on sampling.
   
   Method Selection: Response Rate and Cost (some rounding)
   

   METHOD	Expected Response Rate	$/Completes	# Administered/100 Completes
   Self Administered
   Web and/or email	20%	$20	500
   Mailout and mail return	25%	$25	400
   Handout and mail return	33%	$35	300
   Researcher Administered
   Phone	65%	$75	150
   Face-to-face	75%	$100	130




5. Budget for your questionnaire - the Associate Dean Research (Social Science) has graciously decided to give you $100,000 for your survey. You will want to maximize the number of "completes" within this budget. What are the tradeoffs here?
   
   
6. Design your questionnaire - Though not factored directly into the marking of this assignment, it is strongly suggested you work through the process of outlining your operational definitions for concepts and that these definitions be used to guide you selection of indicators and ultimately the questions you ask in the questionnaire - see Babbie Ch5 and/or the lecture notes on measurement.. You will have to formally state postulates about the relationship between concepts. For example, what might be the relationship between gender and perception of risk? Read over the chapter on survey design (Babbie, Ch 9) and/or the lecture on surveys. Some specifics about questionnaire design are as follows:
   1. The questionnaire should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.
   2. Neatness counts. Even if you choose a researcher administered method, the layout of the survey matters (e.g., spread out is better than compact).
   3. Superfluous questions are suspect. There needs to be a direct match between the questions you ask and the postulates you want to test. Do not ask questions in your survey that bear no relation to your postulates. For example, a match is absent if you have a question about income, but have no postulate about the relationship between SES (a concept) and some other concept.
   4. Testing puts off respondents - if respondents feel their knowledge on a topic is being examined they may get annoyed and/or uncomfortable. For example, "Please answer yes or no to the following question: DDT is a known carcinogen." is a "testing" question. One or two may be reasonable, but too many is not advisable.
   5. The exercise in Lab 7 highlights other examples of question wording problems.

Submit

1. Introduction - introduce the topic.
2. Rationale - details of the reasons for choosing the method and sample size you choose. Outline the strengths and weaknesses of method and sample size you choose.
3. Postulates - details concerning postulates about the relationship between concepts in your study survey.
4. Questionnaire - formatted as it would be for "administration" to respondents.

Marking

20 marks 3 style + 17 content

style (3/20 marks)

1. title page (-1)
2. reference list if material cited (-1)
3. not in sentences (-1)
4. spelling/grammer/formal writing style issues (-2 max) - up to two marks can be lost, the first few are free, from then on marks are lost at the TA's discretion; formal style in this case does not mean having an introduction and a conclusion to the written answers. This includes the questionnaire.

content (17/20 marks)

1. Introduction - 2 marks - some evidence of background work needed here.
2. Rationale - 3 marks
3. Postulates - 4 marks
4. Questionnaire - 8 marks - format/neatness marks can be lost here.

Assignment 4: Content Analysis

Due Date

Introduction

In this assignment you will analyse artefact data using content analysis. You have the opportunity to use BOTH quantitative and qualitative analytical approaches. You will use an online newspaper database to select news articles from a specified time period. The topic need only be relevant to the geographers. You are expected to submit this assignment to Turnitin.com (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=)(a mark will be deducted if you do not do this).

Tasks

1. Review your chapters and notes relevant to qualitative analysis and content analysis - see Babbie Ch. 11, and Ch 13. See also the lecture notes for Unobtrusive Research and Qualitative Data Analysis.



2. Select a topic that is relevant to geographers. Here are some examples:
   global climate change
   health inequalities, income inequalities
   Kyoto protocol
   urban renewal/revitalization
   water quality
   Walkerton e-coli issue
   "natural" hazards like: floods, earthquakes, fires
   social impacts of war
   _______ fisheries collapse
   migration or immigration
   rural decline
   Sydney NS tarponds
   please do not feel you have to select from this list, it is here only to start you thinking.



3. Formulate some research questions to guide your database search and article selection. Each of the following examples involve very different sampling strategies:
   How much coverage does the flu receive compared to West Nile virus? (note: the flu typically kills far more people annually)
   What role does "blame" play in coverage of the cod fisheries collapse on the east coast.
   What types of people do the Toronto Star typically consult on environmental issues versus the Globe and Mail?
   How has the focus of coverage on the Sydney tarponds changed over time?
   How important is issue X versus issue Y according to papers, A, B, C (importance may be measured by location in the paper, e.g., section A)?



4. Choose your strategy for article selection. You are expected to use BOTH manifest and latent coding of the newspaper articles. You should analyse 20 (minimum) full articles using latent coding. Keep in mind that editorial pieces are supposed to be opinionated, which may prompt you to exclude such articles since they may bias your analysis (unless, of course you are specifically intersted in the nature of opinions on your topic expressed in editorials). There may be other types of articles you may want to include/exclude. Regardless, you are going to have to check that the article is at least relevant. Since most issues will involve several, often hundreds or even thousands, of articles you will have to sample to get your 20 (minimum). Thus, you will have to pick an appropriate sampling strategy.



5. Get your articles. If you have not already set up your home computer for library access, you may want to do so or simply access the articles database from a computer on campus. Visit the database page and click the Canadian Newstand link for access to many Canadian Newspapers. (If you are prompted for a password - which normally, you should not - and you are accessing the database through legitimate means, deleting the cookie solves the problem.) Notice that you can search by date in Proquest using Canadian Newstand - this will be very useful.



6. Do a qualitative analysis (latent coding) - your latent coding and manifest coding analyses do NOT necessarily have to answer the exact same question, in fact this is probably not even advisable. They each have different purposes (see Ch 11 and lecture notes). Keep in mind latent coding is about meaning, going beneath the surface of the mere "presence" of words. Write up your findings, citing examples from the articles (some direct quotations). You can do some counting of your latent themes if this seems worthwhile. Tables and/or charts are useful for presenting counts.
   
   
7. Do a quantitative analysis (manifest coding and counting) - you can do this one of two ways:
   
   Method 1: cut and paste the articles into a Word file. Use the Find feature to locate words or phrases and count them (a summary count is produced in the Find window). The most recent version of Adobe Acrobat does a good job of this too. This works well if you have a limited number of articles - say, less than 50. Since you have the text handy and Word highlights the finds you can check if they are relevant to your research question.
   
   Method 2: use the Proquest search engine. This is very useful if there are many articles on the issue and, less than 50 articles is UNlikely to be a good, representative sample. Note that with this method you do NOT necessarily need to sample, you can take all finds. Proquest searches are recommended for producing your manifest coding frequencies.
   
   Write up your findings. Keep in mind that tables and/or charts are useful for presenting counts (frequencies).

Submit

1. Introduction - introduce the topic. Cite at least one outside source (e.g., journal article) to set the context for your topic.
2. Details of Sampling Strategy - details of the reasons for choosing the sampling strategy you use, the advantages and potential limitations.
3. Qualitative Findings - describe what is most interesting about your findings. Cite outside sources (e.g., journal articles) if you think this would substantially strengthen your case.
4. Quantitative Findings - how did your expectations (postulates) match against what you found? Cite outside sources (e.g., journal articles) if you think this would substantially strengthen your case.
5. Conclusion - summarize your findings overall drawing links between the quantitative and qualitative findings.
6. Copies of two of your articles - print off two of the most important articles, any you quote directly would be good candidates. There is no mark for this, but they will be useful for marking.
7. Report summary from Turnitin.com  (classid mon= ; password=)(classid wed = ; password=)- a mark will be deducted if you do not at least submit the paper. Please print the first page of the originality report.
   

Marking

20 marks 3 style + 17 content

style (3/20 marks)

1. not submitted to Turnitin (-1)
2. title page (-1)
3. reference list if material cited (-1)
4. not in sentences (-1)
5. spelling/grammer/formal writing style issues (-2 max) - up to two marks can be lost, the first few are free, from then on marks are lost at the TA's discretion; formal style in this case does not mean having an introduction and a conclusion to the written answers.

content (17/20 marks)

1. Introduction - 2 marks - some evidence of background work needed here.
2. Qualitative Findings - 7 marks
3. Quantitative Findings - 7 marks
4. Conclusion - 1 marks - format/neatness marks can be lost here.