Final Project Guidelines
1
Quantitative Methods I
CARD 7090- COURSE
Fall 2022
Course Instructor Dr. Bastidas
Final Project Description
OVERVIEW
The final project’s objective is to demonstrate your understanding of the course material by
conducting an independent study that includes choosing a topic, formulating a research question,
gathering data, analyzing data, reaching conclusions, and writing an academic report. Since the
course focuses on giving you the necessary exposure to statistical tests, I am not expecting a
paper that focuses on an elaborate literature review and interpretation of the theory.
SELECTING A TOPIC
The general topic of the research project is the impact of the Impact of COVID-19 pandemic in
American Households. Through a class exercise, students will develop the study’s research
question and sub-questions.
FINAL REPORT OUTLINE
Introduction
Describe the study’s topic, provide context/background, why the study needs to be conducted,
and the potential positive social change implications. State the research problem for your group
topic and summarize evidence of consensus that the problem is current, relevant, and significant
to the discipline. Develop a purpose statement that connects the problem being addressed and
the study’s focus.
Research questions
The study will focus on descriptive statistics, which will help us describe the situation. The
measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion, presented in graphs and tables, will
paint a picture of the current situation of the selected topics.
Methods
The methods section explains the research design. Essentially this means describing:
the population,
your sampling technique,
operationalization of your variables, and the statistics you will use to measure your variables.
Sample selection and Delivery
Descriptions of the type of sampling employed. This does not mean just naming the
sampling technique. I expect you to briefly describe the process used to select
participants for the survey.
Describe how the survey was delivered and how answers were recorded.
Provide a report on the response rate sample and the quality of the data.
Include an assessment of the representativeness of the data for the target population.
Final Project Guidelines
2
Results
The results section of a quantitative research paper consists of a report on what the researcher has
learned from the data analysis of the descriptive statistics.
Step 1: Descriptive Statistics for Each Variable.
The first results reported are descriptive statistics for your variables.
Descriptive statistics do three things.
o
First, they describe the sample in terms of important variables, which helps
determine how representative the sample is of the target population (or to whom
the findings may be generalized).
o Second, they describe the respondents’ experiences with the phenomena of
interest to the researcher.
o Third, they help to frame how the analyses are reported. Use tables and charts
generated by SPSS to highlight this section.
Step 2: Tables& Graphs
After running your analyses, you must create tables or graphs that show the results to the reader.
Each table or graph must include a number and a title that describes the contents of the table or
graph. Use the APA Manual as guidance for developing your tables.
Step 3: Narrative Explaining the Results
After producing tables and graphs that show the statistical procedures’ outcomes, you should
write a narrative about the results. The narrative about the results typically highlights only the
most important numbers in the tables/graphs, guiding readers to what they should pay
attention to. However, readers can look at other stuff in the tables/graphs to explore the other
findings independently. When writing the results, add statements about whether the results match
your expectations based on the literature review supporting the study.
Conclusions and discussion
The last section of the paper is much shorter than the others. Summarizes major findings in plain
terms (telling the reader how our knowledge has changed or not changed), states implications of
the findings for the social world, assesses weaknesses of the study (such as limitations of the
sample or problems with question phrasing), and gives advice to future researchers of the topic.
In this assignment, you should use proper citations in the text and include a correctly formatted
references page. Use APA style.
Format
The report should be presented as an MS Word document, Times New Roman 12-point
font double space.
Insert graphs and SPSS tables into your document.
Number and caption of each figure and table.
Final Project Guidelines
3
Rubric
Section
Introduction
Describe the study’s topic
etc. From general (study topic) to
specific (group subtopic)
State the research problem
Develop a purpose statement
Research questions
Methods
The methods section explains the research design (survey
design).
The population.
Your sampling technique.
Operationalization of your variables, and the statistics you will
use to measure your variables.
Sample selection and Delivery
Descriptions of the type of sampling employed.
Describe how the survey was delivered and how answers were
recorded.
Provide a report on the response rate sample and the quality
of the data. Include an assessment of the representativeness
of the data for the target population.
Results
Step 1: Descriptive Statistics for Each Variable.
Step 2: Tables& Graphs
Step 3: Narrative Explaining the Results
Conclusions and discussion
Summarizes major findings in plain terms.
States implications of the findings for the social world.
Assesses weaknesses of the study and advice to future
researchers of the topic.
Format
The report should be presented as an MS Word
document, Times New Roman 12-point font double
space.
Insert graphs and SPSS tables into your document.
Number and caption of each figure and table.
use proper citations in the text and include a
correctly formatted references page. Use APA style.
Total Points
Observation
Start with general
topic, then focus on
your groups subtopic
Points
12
4
for your groups topic
for your groups topic
for your groups topic
4
4
Same for all
8
Same for all
Same for all
for your groups topic
3
5
10
Same for all
Same for all
4
5
for your groups topic
5
for your groups topic
for your groups topic
for your groups topic
for your groups topic
4
40
30
10
10
10
10
for your groups topic
for your groups topic
for your groups topic
4
3
3
4
100
Final Project Guidelines
4
Quant I-Review
Dr. Elena Bastidas
Fall 2022
Introduction
Describe the study’s topic, provide context/background.
State the research problem for your groups topic and summarize evidence of consensus
that the problem is current, relevant, and significant to the discipline.
The importance of the study and the potential positive social change implications for
conflict resolution.
Develop a purpose statement that connects the problem being addressed and the
study’s focus.
Introduction
The research problem
Begins with narrative hook
Easily understood by many readers
Clearly identify the issue(s) or problem(s) that lead to a need for the study
Indicate why the problem is important by citing the literature
Introduction
Purpose statement establishes the intent of the entire study
Most important statement in the entire study
In articles, final statement in introduction
Indicates why you want to do the study
Indicates what you intend to accomplish (Use words such as purpose, intent, or objective )
It contains:
The variables
The population
The research site
Descriptive questions Inferential questions
Research questions
Descriptive research questions
aim to provide a description of
the variable under consideration.
Specify descriptive questions for
each independent and dependent
variable
How do the students
rate on critical
thinking skills?
How does critical
thinking ability relate
to student
achievement?
What are the
students
achievement levels
(or grades) in science
classes?
How does critical
thinking ability and
prior grades
influence student
achievement?
Methods
Research Design
Survey design
Provide a rationale for using survey research
Indicate why the survey method is preferred
Indicate the type of survey design
Cross-sectional (data collected at one point in time)
Longitudinal (data collected over time)
Specify the form of data collection telephone, mail, Internet personal/group
interviews, social media) and rationale
Methods
The population and sample:
Identify the population including size and sampling frames
Specify the sampling design
Single-stage
Multi-stage (clustering)
Type of sampling
Probability (Random, stratified random sampling, etc.)
Nonprobability (convenience, justified, snowball, etc.)
Methods
Operationalization of variables
List variables and identified their level of measure
Basted on level of measurement identify the statistics to report
Measures of central tendency (mode, median, mean)
Measures of dispersion (rage, variance, standard deviation, percentile, etc.)
Sample selection and Delivery
Provide a report on the response rate sample and the quality of the data.
Estimate minimum response rate
Include an assessment of the representativeness of the data for the target population.
Results
Step 1: Descriptive Statistics for Each Variable.
Descriptive statistics do three things.
They describe the sample in terms of important variables, which helps determine how
representative the sample is of the target population (or to whom the findings may be
generalized).
They describe the respondents’ experiences with the phenomena of interest to the
researcher.
Third, they help to frame how the analyses are reported.
Results
Step 2: Tables& Graphs
After running your analyses, you must create tables or graphs that show the results to
the reader.
Each table or graph must include a number and a title that describes the contents of
the table or graph.
Use the APA Manual as guidance for developing your tables.
Results
Step 3: Narrative Explaining the Results
The narrative about the results typically highlights only the most important numbers in
the tables/graphs, guiding readers to what they should pay attention to.
When writing the results, add statements about whether the results match your
expectations based on the literature review supporting the study.
Conclusions and discussion
Summarizes major findings in plain terms (telling the reader how our knowledge has
changed or not changed)
States implications of the findings for the social world
Consistent with, refute, extent previous studies
Limitations and gives advice to future researchers of the topic.
Quantitative Methods I
Evaluate Quantitative Journal Articles
While you develop your research project, you will immerse yourself in journal articles related to
the area of study you have selected. For this assignment, I am asking you to select 4 journal
articles that use a quantitative methodology and follow the table below to evaluate each article.
When reading a research article, you can start by reading the title and the abstract to orient
yourself to the article. You might also examine the headings in the article to see how it is
structured, then proceed to read the entire article.
points
3
Rubric
What was the research study about? What the researcher(s) wanted to learn
by conducting the research study?
3
List two theories used by the researchers and describe how each theory
helped explained a specific concept, relationship or process in the study.
2
What were the specific hypotheses of the study?
3
How was the research conducted? How the researcher collected the data used
to answer the research questions. (What was the sample of the study? Was
this survey research?)
3
What did the researchers find? What were the specific and detailed findings
of the research study?
3
What conclusions the researcher drew from the research study and what steps
were suggested for future research.
1
Provide the APA citation for the article.
2
Evaluate the research article. Do you think this was a good article? Yes, No,
Why?
When you answer the questions, please avoid quoting unless necessary. Paraphrase, use your
own words, and avoid copying and pasting sections from the journal article.
Please include an electronic copy of the articles with the evaluations.
1
Modified From: http://www.sagepub.com/bjohnsonstudy/howtoarticle.htm
Group 2
General Question:
What impacts has COVID-19 had on your household’s mental health?
Focused Questions:
Did your household experience increased levels of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Did your household experience increased levels of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Survey Questions
1. Did you experience anxiety or depression before the COVID-19 pandemic?
a. Yes
b. No
2. Have you experienced heightened anxiety levels due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
a. Yes
b. No
3. Rate your level of anxiety as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic:
unchanged 1——————————————10 severely increased
4. Have you experienced heightened levels of depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
a. Yes
b. No
5. Rate your level of depression as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic:
unchanged 1——————————————10 severely increased
6. Where did you receive the most COVID-19-related information?
(Rate these sources by the level of influence from 1 being the most influential to 7 being the least
influential.)
Television News Sources (Local or National
Newspaper (Local or National)
Social Media
Government Briefings
Television Advertisements
Radio Broadcasts
Internet Searches
7. Did your levels of anxiety decrease after COVID-19 vaccinations became available?
Remained unchanged 1———————————10 restored to pre-pandemic levels
8. Did your levels of depression decrease after COVID-19 vaccinations became available?
Remained unchanged 1———————————10 restored to pre-pandemic levels
9. Are you still experiencing heightened levels of anxiety/depression due to COVID-19?
a. Yes
b. No
10. Did you seek any mental health services as a result of heightened anxiety or depression due
to COVID-19?
a. Yes
b. No
11. If you did seek mental health services because of COVID-19, did you experience any
improvement in your anxiety/depression levels?
a.Yes
b.No
12. Did the COVID-19 outbreak influence your preparedness to handle anxiety or depression in
the future?
a. Yes
b. No
13. What is your level of preparedness to handle anxiety or depression if the COVID-19
pandemic worsens, on a scale of 1 to 10? (use a cross to pick your level)
[ 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 ]
