Module 15

Module 15

 

Once your paper is complete and you have sent the final version to me by email, you’re ready to present your findings. Pandemic life being what it is, this year’s research will have to be presented by recorded presentation. You do not need to create a PowerPoint for this. You do need to record a video of yourself presenting your results. 

 

Your presentation is due by 11pm Saturday. It is my hope that enough of you will complete your presentations by that time so we can have an effective real-time Q&A via Zoom meeting. Our Zoom meeting would have to take place on Sunday. Please email me your availability for a Sunday late afternoon Zoom meeting for this Q&A.

 

 

Presentation Format

 

Your presentation must be a recording of you presenting your research. You can use any format you’d like for this, but it must be possible to post a link to it on your blog and other people must be able to view it without logging in or downloading any new apps.

 

Your presentation of research should include all of the first 8 components of your paper: Introduction to Conclusion.

 

PowerPoint properly used can enhance your presentation by showing your graphics, photos that illustrate your topic, and a few key words you want your audience to remember. However, just like in a classroom, you can also show your graphics on a poster board, by displaying them directly from your statistical analysis package, by saving them as PDF files and showing them full-screen on your laptop, and in many other ways. 

 

However you choose to display your graphics and other display items during your presentation, please keep the following guidelines in mind:

 

* Please do not use slides as if they were note cards. Instead, use real note cards or a digital display which you can keep in front of you so you maintain eye contact with your audience.

 

* Please do not read from your paper during your presentation. Instead, use note cards and know your topic well enough that you can speak about it confidently.

 

* Both you and your display items should be facing your audience. 

 

* Please do not use slides to display sentences that you also plan to say orally… i.e. do not read from your slides. Instead, know your material well enough that you can speak about it.

 

* No slide should have more than about 12 words on it. The only exception is if you want to show one of your questions on a slide along with your graphical display of the responses to that question… in that case, your question and/or the legend on your graphic may have more than 12 words and this is OK. 

 

* If asked, you should be able to say how each slide or other display item enhances your presentation and why your presentation would be incomplete without it. If you can’t say that, you should re-think that slide. If you can’t justify a slide, take it out.

 

* Remember, YOU are the star of your presentation. 

 

Your final, the week of December 14, will be a one-on-one oral exam via Zoom, revolving around your final paper and presentation. If you haven’t completed your materials by then, you may need to submit an Incomplete for the class.

Module 14

Module 14

 

This week, you’ll bring all your semester’s activities together into one final paper. Next week, you’ll have an opportunity to share your research formally with your classmates via recorded presentations. Once we’ve all had a chance to watch the presentations, we will have real-time Q&A via Zoom meeting. Your final, the week of December 14, will be a one-on-one oral exam via Zoom, revolving around your final paper and presentation.

 

Please send me a draft of your paper by Sunday 11pm. Here are the 10 required sections which MUST be included, verbatim, as section titles in your paper.

 

Introduction & Statement of Research Question

Assume your reader doesn’t know who you are or what your research is about.

 

Review of the Literature

A condensed version of your lit review, including only the portions most relevant to your research. No more than 3 pages.

 

Survey Method

A detailed description of the method you used to conduct your survey. At least 1 full page.

 

Survey Instrument & Graphical Results

An image / picture of your survey in its final form, and survey results in graphical format (i.e. bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, whatever graphical format you found most suitable).

 

Method of Analysis of Results

A detailed description of the method you used to analyze your results. At least 1 full page.

 

Analysis & Interpretation of Results

The analysis itself – what do your data reveal within the context of your research question? And your interpretation – what are the meanings, significances and/or implications of your results?

 

Directions for Future Research

Do your data reveal new questions not fully addressed in your research? Did an error of scope or method lead to incomplete results? Where should future researchers go deeper or explore tangents?

 

Conclusions

Broad concluding thoughts on your research and results.

 

References

Bibliographic entries for all quoted or otherwise referenced materials. These can be annotated entries if you wish.

 

Appendix 1 – Tabulated Survey Results

Include your raw tabulated data in whatever form it’s in. You do not need to clean it up to make it presentable. You may include additional Appendices if you wish.

Module 13

Module 13

 

You’re almost there. And that means it’s time to start wrapping up your survey-related data collection and begin the process of analyzing your data. As a first step, please gather your results in numerical form… tally the numbers: how did your respondents answer your questions? You will include these numerical tallies in your final paper, either within the body of the paper or as an appendix.

 

Then, use your data analysis tool to display your results graphically. This can be in the form of a pie chart, bar chart, line, etc. For this step, you’re just displaying the results. You must include these graphical displays of your results in the body of your paper.

 

Finally, you’ll do some analysis and use your data analysis tool to help reveal and demonstrate significant trends you find in your data – what does your data mean in the context of your original research question? Use statistical analysis to highlight and document correlations, tendencies, variabilities, averages, etc. that reveal themselves as you study your own data. These statistical analyses will also be included in the body or appendices of your paper, depending on their relevance.

 

You may send me a draft of this week’s work for feedback if you wish, but it is not required. 

 

I hope you all find some time this week to connect with all you are thankful for, including your own selves… be grateful for your breath and for the very body that supports your physical, mental and spiritual life. You may not always be happy with that body – especially after you stuff it full of turkey and mashed potatoes – but it’s still there for you and that’s something to be grateful for. 

 

Module 12

Module 12

 

It’s time. If you are behind on your survey, please catch up this week so we can get it approved and you can conduct it and begin to gather your results. 

 

For those of you who are caught up, please continue to gather your results with the goal of having this done by the end of the week. You will be displaying and analyzing your results using a statistical tool of your choice. In the pre-covid world, you would be doing this on campus using SPSS, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. In the covid world, you will choose a statistical tool based on the equipment available to you in your home work environment. There are many free tools online to choose from, with the most basic and accessible, perhaps, being Excel or one of the free online versions of Excel. Your tool of choice must enable you to enter, sort, analyze and graphically display your data. PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR STATISTICAL TOOL BY THE END OF THIS WEEK. Describe it in your blog post and explain how you will gain access to it (already have it, located free online version, etc.) 

 

Next week, be ready to use your statistical analysis tool, along with  Essentials of Political Analysis  as a reference when reviewing and analyzing your data.

Module 11

Module 11

 

Continue to work on finalizing your survey instrument this week. By “survey instrument” I mean the actual survey you will use to conduct your survey research. It should be in the form of a Word or PDF document that includes an introductory statement, as described in Module 10, and the questions you propose to ask, using the exact words and answer options you plan to use. In other words, your “survey instrument” should be exactly what you propose to present to people. You will need to send this to me in an email as a file attachment.

 

In addition to sending me your proposed survey instrument, please describe how you plan to administer your survey, as requested in Module 9.  You can send me this description in the body of your email.

 

Please send me this email with your original or revised survey instrument, along with the description of your method, by 11pm Thursday. Do not conduct your survey until it has been approved. 

 

We can arrange for a phone or Zoom meeting if that would be helpful. Please let me know if you would like to do this.

 

You do not need to make a blog post this week.

Module 10

Module 10

 

You’ll be sending me your draft survey soon… as soon as I get that, I’ll review and either approve or offer suggestions. Please do not start conducting your survey until I have reviewed it and replied. Remember to refer to your resources, especially  Questionnaire Research,  to resolve questions you have about how to prepare your survey. If you have unresolved questions, you can also include those for me when you send me your draft survey.

 

Since this survey is part of our class exercises and training activities, we do not need to go through the Institutional Review Board (IRB) before proceeding, but you do need to prepare a statement to provide your respondents which informs them in a systematic manner about what you are doing, why you are asking them to take your survey and other details. Below is a sample statement from the University of Maine website (https://umaine.edu/research-compliance/human-subjects/guidelines-class-projects-involving-human-subjects/).

 

Please include your draft statement when you send me your survey for review. Once your survey is ready to go, you’ll spend the rest of your Research Methods time this week getting started conducting your survey.

 

Here is an example of a posting for a survey:  NOTE:  If you use Qualtrics, SurveyMonkey, etc., the consent information should also be the first page of the survey.

This survey is for a class research project in (Course #/Name.) Our names are XXXXX. We are conducting a survey about XXX for a report and a class presentation.

Participation: You need to be at least 18 to participate. Participation is voluntary. You can stop the survey at any time or skip questions.  The survey should take only about 10 minutes to complete.

Risks: Risks for participating are minor—just your time.

Confidentiality: We are not collecting any names, so the survey is anonymous.

Presentation: We are going to use the information for a class presentation and then destroy survey data.

Contact Information: Please contact us if you have any questions: names/emails

Instructor: name and contact information)

Module 9

Module 9

 

Sorry I am posting a bit late this week. But this week’s assignments are pretty straightforward… please go ahead and draft your survey instrument. Keep in mind that you will need to display your data graphically. This will dictate the format of your questions. Do not administer your survey yet… I will need to sign off on it first. 

 

In addition to drafting your survey, please draft a description of your proposed method for administering the survey… Who will be your survey-takers? How many do you need? How will you approach them? Will they write on a piece of paper? Will you ask them questions and put tick marks on a tally sheet? Will you email the survey to them? Be as detailed as you can in describing your proposed method for conducting your survey.

 

If you want background reading for this segment, Questionnaire Research has good segments on developing and administering the Survey Instrument.

 

Since I am posting this assignment late, Module 9 work will not be due until Tuesday of next week: November 3. You can send it to me earlier if you’d like to.