This assignment provides you with the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned about research design. Your task is to design a scholarly research project that investigates a social issue in Toronto. You will come up with a research question that would allow a social science researcher to investigate an issue relating to some aspect of life in this city and detail how you would go about answering this question. This must be a qualitative research project that investigates how the structures we discussed in week two (gender, class, race, education, neighbourhood) shape different groups’ experiences of life in the city.

In terms of what to research, anything is possible. You are invited to follow the path that your curiosity takes you down. You can investigate something you’ve heard about in the media.  Or you can draw on your own personal experience to come up with your topic. You are free to choose whomever you wish as your participants–from the financiers who are fueling the financialization of housing in the city, to the food delivery gig workers who have brought food to home bound residents throughout the pandemic, to the residents of neighbourhoods with little access to parks and tree cover. All you need is a topic and a question that fires up your intellect and curiosity.

The purpose of this assignment is to help you consolidate your learning about qualitative research design as well as to improve your research and writing skills.

The first step is to do a literature review of the topic you want to research. That is a fancy way of saying: do some research on your topic and find out what other people have already found out about it! Use the skills taught to you by Kevin Manuel to explore the databases available through the Ryerson library. You will do a literature review of scholarly materials only — that is, scholarly books and peer reviewed journal articles. Websites like Buzzfeed and online reports from the real estate industry are not scholarly sources.

Because you are researching a topic related to urban issues, you will find other sources helpful too. For example, you can use Statistics Canada data, reports from reputable organizations such as the City of Toronto and the United Way. Reports produced by institutions and organizations are known as ‘grey literature.’ You may even cite newspaper articles–but only to establish a phenomena, rather than as a source of facts. We will talk about this in class to make sure we all understand the differences between sources and when a certain kind is an appropriate source over another. I strongly recommend coming to talk to me before/after class, during break, or in my office hour if you have any doubts or need help focussing your idea. Also, the writing centre offers all sorts of workshops and one-on-one sessions — even virtual ones — to help you with your assignments.

Next step: Write your assignment! It is always best to write a first draft and then work on it some more. Edit it. Re-read it. Finesse it. When you have a completed final draft, with all the required elements (a list of what is required is below), submit it on D2L.

Your final assignment must include:

1. A research question (or up to three related questions)

2. An explanation of why this is an important topic–the context of your research (up to 500 words). This section will rely on scholarly research that you have conducted (peer review journal articles, academic books) into your topic. All writing must be cited. Tell your reader why this is an important question to study beyond it being interesting to you. What can we learn from your question?

3. A description of the research methods you will use to investigate your topic and question(s). (Up to 1200 words). Please do not select all the research methods! It’s not an all you can eat buffet. Rather, choose one research method that makes sense for your research question. You can choose: qualitative survey OR focus groups OR interviews OR ethnography/participant observation. Then justify why you have chosen that research method, drawing on scholarly writing about research methods, including the textbook and any course material. A good source to consult is a database available through the Ryerson Library (click on Databases, then Sage Research Methods) that provides easy-to-access scholarly material on research methods. You can — and should — also cite the textbook when providing a justification for the research method you have chosen for your study. It is imperative that you provide this scholarly rationale for choosing your method.

In this section of your assignment, you will also identify who are your participants and explain how you will recruit these participants. When you describe your sampling strategy (choose one of the three we’ve covered in class only), you will also need to justify why this is the best way to recruit people to your study. Again, it would be good to choose to consult the research methods literature when you justify your research design choices.

4. Include a positionality statement. This 500 word max section will revisit the themes of the  positionality exercise we did in week two. You will explain your social location, disclosing only what you feel comfortable sharing, and articulate your positionality. Once you’ve described your social location, consider how your positionality may shape the way you come to this particular research question? How will who you are advantage you if you were to engage in researching the question you are proposing in this research design assignment? What about who you are will disadvantage you? Remember skills and interests are not the same as social location. (Don’t write about skills and interests.) Rather, think about how your social location will shape the way you come to this particular piece of research–the questions you ask, the way you might interact with the participants, the cultural insights you may or may not have, the way you command knowledge of the topic, etc.

5. Your concluding paragraph will outline the ethical considerations you must consider in this project. Make sure to cite your sources here too. (Max 300 words.)

The word count is the MAXIMUM words you can write per section. So focus on quality of what you are writing as opposed to the quantity.

This assignment should be divided under three subheadings:

Introduction and Context

Research Methods

Positionality

Ethical considerations

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Submission checklist: Before you submit your assignments please go over the checklist

* Did you read the assignment instructions carefully and make sure you are doing everything you were asked to do?

* Did you title your work? You do not need a cover page, but you do need a title.

* Do not put your name on your assignment. D2L will know who you are. Your work is to be assessed anonymously.

* Did you cite all sources properly?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can hand in the assignment in D2L.

List of Topics and Sub-Modules for Research Design Assignment