Added Value Unit TOPIC SELECTION: Choose a topic to research that relates to something we have studied, or will study at NAT 4/5. Pick something you have found interesting. You could use something from last year. (Your topic will be the title of the assignment.) Participation in Society Influence of the media Causes of Crime Impact of Crime Response to Crime WRITING HYPOTHESIS: In the case of your own research it is not adequate to say ‘I want to look at protesting’. This is not a testable hypothesis. You need to make a statement that is testable or provable such as ‘Protesting has a big effect on decision making’. Other possibilities; ‘An individual can’t make a difference’, ‘Peaceful protesting doesn’t achieve anything.’ As you can see each of these hypothesises relates to one of the topics above. INTRODUCTION: Your introduction will be your first chapter where you explain what you have chosen to study, with a description. Why you have chosen to study this area. What research methods you are going to use (in other words, how you are going to gather the information.) You will need to explain why you have chosen these particular research methods, remember to refer to the advantages listed in the research methods booklet to help you out. COLLECTING EVIDENCE: You must collect evidence from at least two sources, one primary and one secondary. PRIMARY Survey Interview Official Statistics (Only from Government Websites) Postal /Email Questionnaires
SECONDARY Internet websites Books from library Articles (Don’t forget the issues magazines in the library) Newspapers
Before you begin to gather information you must think about what would be the best method to suit your investigation. For example, if you are researching something like – ‘violent protesting is the only way to achieve change’ – then an interview won’t be the best method, because it would be very difficult to find someone who would admit to being part of an illegal violent protest. Remember in your conclusion you will have to evaluate your chosen methods – what worked well and what didn’t. You will also be required to report on what decisions you have had to make during your investigation, so it would be worth taking a note of these. You will also be expected to identify any bias you discovered during your investigation. Again it would be a good idea to keep a note of this during your investigation. (In your bibliography you could note down what was biased and why you thought so.)
BIBLIOGRAPHY: A bibliography is the list of all the primary and secondary sources you have gotten your information from. You need to record where you are getting your information from as you go and hold it all in the one word document. (Remember Wikipedia is not an acceptable source, you need to find the original!) If you do not reference your information and claim it as your own this is plagiarism! MAIN BODY: In chapter two and three you are writing up and explaining your research findings. Make sure you identify whether your evidence is primary or secondary and remember to reference any secondary sources used. At the end of each explanation you need to write a mini conclusion that relates to your hypothesis. In other words a sentence explaining why you think this piece of evidence proves or disproves your hypothesis. CONCLUSION: In chapter four you need to state whether or not you think you have proved or disproved your hypothesis overall. You also need to evaluate your research. This is where you explain how well your research worked and how useful your findings were. You also need to consider if there was anything you would improve if you did it again. For example, if you conducted email questionnaires, one problem may have been that you didn’t get many back. Next time you might choose to conduct face to face surveys, which would mean you would get the results immediately. Remember to refer to the Research Methods Booklet on the school website to help with this. In this document you will get examples of the advantages and disadvantages. CHECK LIST (Each item, 1-6 must be addressed in the presentation of your findings): 1. Did you choose the best research method? If so explain why it was useful. If not what other method would you choose next time and why? 2. Did you get results that enabled you to draw a conclusion? If you didn’t, is there anything you could have done to change this? 3. Did you find any of the secondary sources you used were biased?
4. Did you find any of the information you gathered or used was exaggerated?
5. What decisions did you have to make through the process?
6. What conclusions did you draw?
Page 2
PRESENTING YOUR FINDINGS: You must conduct your research assignment using the process above, however you have freedom to choose how you would like to present these findings. You can use any of the following methods: Talk followed by questions Using digital media A learning log or journal A poster A piece of writing (like a formal report)
INTERMEDIARY DEADLINES TO HELP REDUCE STRESS: MONTH OF:
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE:
AUGUST
Choose topic, write hypothesis and introduction (this will be chapter 1). Choose research methods. Begin primary and secondary research (for example; organise access to computers if needed for internet research, organise interviews, draw up and complete questionnaires etc.)
SEPTEMBER
Complete primary and secondary research and write up your findings (this will be chapter 2/3).
OCTOBER
Write your conclusions and evaluation of your research methods (this will be chapter 4). Remember if you feel like you need extra support at any stage you need to ask EARLY, and hand in draft versions EARLY! FINAL DEADLINE
Page 3