Developing a Research Plan
SCENARIO: Imagine that you work for a nonprofit organization that is focused on increasing diversity in community groups in your area. Your supervisor asks you to develop a sociological study concerning topics of diversity and collaboration in a specific community group of your choice. Eventually you will prepare to share your research with colleagues.
For this Touchstone, you will begin by formulating a question about diversity in a community group that you have access to. Then you will use the steps of the scientific method to prepare a research plan, including a bibliography for a literature review. As you learned, sociologists follow the scientific method so that their results are both scientifically valid and useful to the greater sociological community. A literature review allows researchers to learn from completed studies and to build upon their conclusions.
Use the following Touchstone template to fill in your research plan as you develop it. When you have finished, submit this template to move on to the next unit.
Touchstone 1 Template
Lesson 1.3.3: Asking Questions and Lesson 1.3.5: Formulating a Hypothesis for help.)
Google Scholar that specifically searches scholarly literature. However, keep in mind that much of this literature may have limited or paid access. Another good place to search is in a public or university library catalog or database. Whichever way you choose to search, make sure that you are selecting credible sources.
What makes a source credible? Credible sources are written by authors who are well known in their field. They are based on scientific data—not opinions or with biased observations. Sources should be from reliable outlets, like major publishers, universities, think tanks, and credentialed current practitioners. (HINT: Refer back to Lesson 1.3.4: Researching Existing Sources for more guidance.)
How to format sources in your bibliography: Sociologists use American Psychological Association (APA) format for their research. However, you will use a more simplified method to format sources for your bibliography. You will include five key elements for each source, with each element separated by a period:
Sample Solution
A research plan is a short document that logically and concisely lays forth initial thoughts on a research project. It’s a concept paper that can be discussed with peers and possible collaborators in confidence. Before a study plan can be regarded complete, it may need to go through several iterations. In laboratory medicine, a research plan provides the author’s reasoned judgment on a research topic of his or her choosing. Evidence from the scientific and/or medical literature backs it up. It can be put together in the following way: The hypothesis – the research question
