Posted: May 1st, 2025

Sociology – developing a research

Step 1: Revise Touchstone 1
First, return to the community group description, research question, and
proposed bibliography that you submitted in Touchstone 1, and make any
necessary changes based on feedback from the grader. You will likely want to
refine your reading list based on the feedback you received and what you
learned about diversity and collaboration in Unit 3.
Step 2: Conduct a Literature Review
Next, complete your reading for your literature review.
Reminder of attributes of good readings for your literature review:
•
They are academic, scholarly works about research findings or they are
reliable journalistic reporting based on scientifically credible and reliable
data.
• They should have been published in the last 10 years—unless they are
a landmark work on the topic and provide important background or as a
comparison.
• They look at different sides of the argument and a variety of
perspectives.
As you complete each reading, take notes. Some of the questions you could ask
about each reading include:
1. Who wrote this article? Is it the researchers themselves, or is it a
journalist writing about their findings?
2. Where was it published? Is it a scholarly publication like an academic
journal, or is it for a popular audience? If the publication is for a popular
audience, how would you characterize the audience?
3. Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers sociologists,
or are they of a different discipline?
4. When was the research conducted?
5. What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
6. How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic?
7. What methods did they use to study their question?
8. What conclusions did they draw from their results?
9. How do their conclusions impact my research question, hypothesis, or
research plan?
As you did for your first Touchstone, you will include five key elements for each
source, with each element separated by a period:
• Author’s name(s)
• Publisher and publication date
•
Title of the source, in quotation marks
• Page numbers (if applicable)
• Source’s location for web-based texts (URL)
EXAMPLE
Alireza Behtoui. Journal of Sociology, 2015. “Beyond social ties: The
impact of social capital on labour market outcomes for young Swedish
people.” p. 711724. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1440783315581217
Step 3: Formulate a Hypothesis, State Your Operational Definitions,
and Choose a Research Method
Hypothesis
Now, formulate a hypothesis for your research question and choose a
sociological research method appropriate for testing your hypothesis. While you
won’t be conducting the research, you will write up a description of how you plan
to conduct your research. (HINT: Refer back to Lesson 1.3.5: Formulating a
Hypothesis, Lesson 1.3.6: Collecting Data: Quantitative Approaches , and Lesson
1.3.6: Collecting Data: Quantitative Approaches for help.)
A formal hypothesis states the relationship between two variables—one is
independent (IV) and one is dependent (DV). It must also be formatted as an
If/Then statement, for instance:
•
If people eat chocolate (IV), then they will get pimples (DV).
• If people go to the gym (IV), then they will be fit (DV).
Operational Definitions
Next, state your operational definition. Operational definitions identify important
concepts related to the research. For example, If your community organization
includes students, are they K-12? College? Medical? Or are students defined as:
young adults between the ages of 18-21 who are attending a particular college or
university?
Research Method
Then, choose a research method. Deciding on a research method will also take
some thought and planning:
1. Will you use qualitative or quantitative research or a combination?
2. How will you engage subjects or find your data?
3. What kinds of tools and assessments will be used to gather the data?
Step 4: Prepare Your Notecards
Finally, incorporate Steps 1-4 to prepare a set of notecards for your proposed
research study. Use the template provided to create 8-11 notecards that present
the work you completed in Steps 1-4.
Notecard
Component
Introduction
Your introduction notecard should introduce your audience to the comm
Research question
Your second notecard will state your research question.
Literature Review
(4-6 cards)
Now that you’ve introduced your community group and research questio
notecards. Each source should have one notecard. The notecard should
Step 2.
Hypothesis
Your hypothesis notecard should describe your hypothesis.
Operational
definitions
Your operational definitions notecard should include and explain any op
may skip this card if you have none.
Research method
Your research method notecard should introduce your proposed researc
research.
Refer to the checklist below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your
Touchstone until it meets these guidelines.
1. Literature Review: Sources and Feedback
❒ Have you provided 4-6 sources appropriate for a sociological literature review?
❒ Have you addressed all feedback on the Unit 1 Touchstone bibliography?
2. Literature Review: Description and Analysis
❒ Have you thoroughly and accurately described your sources and identified
relevance to the research topic?
❒ Did you properly format these sources and include the five key elements for
each source, with each element separated by a period:
• Author’s name(s)
• Publisher and publication date
• Title of the source, in quotation marks
• Page numbers (if applicable)
• Source’s location for web-based texts (URL)
3. Hypothesis and Operational Definitions
❒ Is your hypothesis well-aligned to the research question?
❒ Is your hypothesis testable and predicts outcomes between two or more
identified variables?
❒ Are all concepts needing operational definitions identified and definitions are
provided?
4. Research Method
❒ Did you select and explain a qualitative or quantitative research method that is
suitable to the research question?
❒ Did you identify specific instruments?
5. Conventions
❒ Have you proofread your essay for grammatical and mechanical errors?
❒ Have you used spell check or another method to check spelling?
6. Before You Submit
❒ Have you included your name and date at the top left of the page?
Lisa Calvo
July 15, 2024
The community group chosen for this assignment is the FLAT EARTH GROUP. This group determines
the truth of earth’s shape, relative size, and motionless ground which has been falsely portrayed for over
100 years for sinister reasons. The earliest flat earth map was created on clay tablets in the year 600 BC
by the Babylonians and depicted Babylon and the nearby Euphrates River. Characteristics of the Flat
Earth Group include true shape & size of the earth, experiments producing evidence, and the motion of
the sun, moon, & stars in the sky. My personal experience on this matter started in 2010 when a friend
brought me to a star gazing event which involved powerful telescopes and some of the brightest minds
behind those telescopes explaining the night sky in real time. This was a recuring event every Saturday
night, weather permitting, and I have learned quite a bit over the years and have ever since been
determined to find out why the truth has been hidden from humanity. One of the biggest breakthroughs
was the advancement of technology providing us with more powerful cameras and telescopes which
provide the naked eye with the true images of our night sky and no longer having to rely on the CGI
(computer generated images) images NASA has provided for decades. An easy example of a motionless
earth is the simple experiment anyone can do at night which involves marking any night sky object, a star
for example, will be in the exact same place in the sky at the exact same time exactly one year after. This
can also be proven with the sun and moon.
RESEARCH QUESTION: Why do you believe the earth is motionless?
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: The Sun, Moon, & Stars
DEPENDENT VARIABLE: Ground Motion
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1) “The Flat Earth Conspiracy” by Eric Dubay – This book explores various theories and
arguments surrounding the belief in a flat earth. (NOVEMBER 09, 2014)
2) “Flat Earth: The History of an Infamous Idea” by Christine Garwood – A historical
perspective on how the flat earth theory has evolved over time. (2007)
3) “Terra Firma: The Earth Not a Planet, Proved from Scripture, Reason, and Fact”
by David Wardlaw Scott – A 19th-century work arguing for a flat earth based on biblical
and scientific arguments. (1901)
4) “Zetetic Astronomy: Earth Not a Globe” by Samuel Birley Rowbotham – One of the
foundational texts of the flat earth movement, presenting observational evidence and
arguments against the spherical earth model. (1865)
5) “Flat Earth News: An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and
Propaganda in the Global Media” by Nick Davies – Although not directly about the flat
earth theory, it examines how misinformation and conspiracy theories spread. (2008)
Name:
Date:
SCENARIO: Your supervisor has approved your research question and plan for studying some
aspect of diversity and/or collaboration in a community group. Now it is time to conduct your
literature review and develop your hypothesis and research plan.
ASSIGNMENT: In the first Touchstone, you developed a research question and prepared a
preliminary bibliography for your literature review. You will now conduct your literature review,
formulate your hypothesis and research plan, and develop a set of notecards that summarize
your work.
SOCI1010 Unit 3 Touchstone Template
Complete the following template, including all parts, using complete sentences.
NOTECARD 1, Introduction: Your introduction card should introduce your audience to the
community group being studied. Remember, it should be a group in which membership is
voluntary and recreational.
In particular, be sure to answer the following questions:
●
●
●
●
What is the community group?
What are the attributes or characteristics of this community group? (e.g. What
activities does this group do together? What element of the members’ interests or
identities brings them together? How is membership in the group defined, if at all?)
Is there anything else listeners should know about this group that is relevant for your
research proposal?
Name and description of your community group.
NOTECARD 2, Research Question:
●
State your research question.
NOTECARD 3, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the
bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the
source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based
texts (URL).
Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could
answer about your source include:
● Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers
sociologists, or are they of a different discipline?
● Where was this article published?
● When was the research conducted?
● What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
● How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic?
● What methods did they use to study their question?
● What conclusions did they draw from their results?
● How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research
plan?
●
●
Bibliography information for your first source
Description and analysis
NOTECARD 4, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the
bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the
source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based
texts (URL).
Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could
answer about your source include:
● Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers
sociologists, or are they of a different discipline?
● Where was this article published?
● When was the research conducted?
● What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
● How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic?
● What methods did they use to study their question?
● What conclusions did they draw from their results?
● How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research
plan?
●
●
Bibliography information for your second source
Description and analysis
NOTECARD 5, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the
bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the
source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based
texts (URL).
Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could
answer about your source include:
● Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers
sociologists, or are they of a different discipline?
● Where was this article published?
● When was the research conducted?
● What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
● How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic?
● What methods did they use to study their question?
● What conclusions did they draw from their results?
● How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research
plan?
●
●
Bibliography information for your third source
Description and analysis
NOTECARD 6, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the
bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the
source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based
texts (URL).
Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could
answer about your source include:
● Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers
sociologists, or are they of a different discipline?
●
●
●
●
●
●
●
Where was this article published?
When was the research conducted?
What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic?
What methods did they use to study their question?
What conclusions did they draw from their results?
How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research
plan?
●
●
Bibliography information for your fourth source
Description and analysis
NOTECARD 7, Literature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the
bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the
source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based
texts (URL).
Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could
answer about your source include:
● Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers
sociologists, or are they of a different discipline?
● Where was this article published?
● When was the research conducted?
● What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
● How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic?
● What methods did they use to study their question?
● What conclusions did they draw from their results?
● How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research
plan?
Skip this card if you only have four sources.
●
●
Bibliography information for your fifth source
Description and analysis
NOTECARD 8, LIterature Review: Describe and analyze your source. Include the
bibliography information of author’s name(s); publisher and publication date; title of the
source, in quotation marks; page numbers (if applicable); and source’s location for web-based
texts (URL).
Describe the source and how it is relevant to your research proposal. Questions you could
answer about your source include:
● Who wrote this article? Do they have an academic affiliation? Are the researchers
sociologists, or are they of a different discipline?
● Where was this article published?
● When was the research conducted?
● What question were the researchers attempting to answer?
● How does this question/topic relate to my question/topic?
● What methods did they use to study their question?
● What conclusions did they draw from their results?
● How do their conclusions relate to my research question, hypothesis, or research
plan?
Skip this card if you only have four sources.
●
●
Bibliography information for your sixth source
Description and analysis
NOTECARD 9, Hypothesis: State your hypothesis. Remember, a formal hypothesis states
the relationship between two variables—one is independent and one is dependent. It should
be formatted as an If/Then statement, for instance:
● If people eat chocolate (IV), then they will get pimples (DV).
●
State your hypothesis
NOTECARD 10, Operational definitions: Include and explain any operational definitions you
developed for your study. Remember, operational definitions identify important concepts
related to the research. You may skip this card if you have none.
●
Explanation of operational definitions
NOTECARD 11, Proposed Research Method: Introduce your proposed research method
and explain how you propose to conduct your research. Some questions about your research
method you might want to answer include:
● Will you use qualitative or quantitative research or a combination?
● How will you engage subjects or find your data?
● What kinds of tools and assessments will be used to gather the data?
●
●
Description of your proposed research method
Explanation of how you propose to conduct your research
Completion Checklist
Complete?
Have you revised your research question and sources based on any
feedback you received on your first Touchstone?
𐄂
Have you read all of your sources and analyzed them for your
literature review, and identified how they might be relevant to your
research proposal?
𐄂
Have you included the basic bibliographic information for each
source, including author(s), publisher and publication date, title, and
URL?
𐄂
Have you filled out each relevant notecard fully and completely?
𐄂
Have you provided all of the information about your chosen
community group that your grader will need to know in order to
understand your research proposal?
𐄂
Have you reviewed the grading rubric to understand how your
Touchstone will be assessed?
𐄂
Have you proofread your work?
𐄂