Research in the social sciences

Length: 1000-1200 words
Format: APA (Refer to the style guidelines presented in the appendix of the textbook)
Sources: 8 or more scholarly, peer-reviewed sources found through the UF Library (NOT Google or Google Scholar). You will already have 5 sources from your annotated bibliography(I ATTACHED IT FOR YOU). These can be used. You need to add 3 more, but those do not have to be annotated. UF Library website: https://uflib.ufl.edu/

TASK
Research in the social sciences relies on knowing the state of current research on a particular matter. To do this, many researchers read and write literature reviews.

For this assignment, you will develop a research question within the realm of one of these social science themes:

intergenerational communication

These are broad topics filled with a number of options for studying human behavior and interaction and the systems and social structures we create.

For the Annotated Bibliography assignment, you should have already selected one of the themes above and narrowed it down to a question that directed your research of secondary sources.

COMPLETING THE TASK
1. Gather your scholarly, peer-reviewed sources. Read them carefully and develop a source synthesis chart that helps you visualize where the sources overlap and what signficant information needs to be communicated in your review.

2. When beginning to draft, you can start with whichever section you want. Since this is a review, the text will be broken up into sections that cover the most important information about each sub-topic or aspect of your synthesis.

Introduction – The introduction should examine the topic and the current status of research regarding specific points you develop. As you have practiced in the activities, find two or three areas to examine.

Body – The body of your paper should be a synthesis of what researchers have said about your specific points. Remember, you paper should not present your topics source by source; rather it should be organized by issue or by concept in regard to your topic.  For instance, if you are writing about hazing, you could organize your essay on specific elements of hazing–broad topics are where it happens, when it happens, and how it happens, but narrowed down could be where it happens: schools and workplaces.

Conclusion – In the final paragraph(s), your conclusion, you should reiterate your findings, point out any gaps in the research, and point to directions of future research.

Language/Style – Use objective language, technical terms (with definitions/explanations where necessary), and summary or paraphrasing rather than quotations.

3. Make sure to cite every piece of information that comes from a source following APA citation style. If you feel like you’re citing every sentence, you’re doing it right.

NOTE: Plagiarism is taken very seriously in this course. Some of the most common forms of plagiarism are using work you’ve done for other classes, insufficient paraphrasing, and copying text directly. Using past work and copying directly are easy to avoid–just don’t do that. Insufficient paraphrasing requires effort. To start, take notes or annotate your sources using your own language, keeping only technical terminology that cannot be changed. Then try to write those notes in complete sentences or synthesized paragraphs. Only at the end of drafting should you look back and double-check that your sentences and phrasing do not mimic the original.