The student applies a process approach to a research topic, applying the ideas, theories, and modes of inquiry drawn from the social sciences in the examination of persistent issues and social questions. The student is expected to:
Understand the basic requirements and philosophical foundations for qualitative and quantitative methods of inquiry, including inductive and deductive reasoning, to determine the most effective research approach from a variety of alternatives.
Collect information from a variety of sources (primary, secondary, written, and oral) using techniques such as questionnaires, interviews, and library research.
Use current technology such as library topic catalogues, networks, online information systems, academic journals, primary sources on the Internet, email interviews, and video interviews to collect information about the selected topic.
Develop a bibliography in a format appropriate to the social sciences such as Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA) and Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) to document sources and format written materials.
If doing qualitative research, the student employs the processes of critical social science inquiry to understand an issue, topic, or area of interest using a variety of sources, checking their credibility, validating and weighing evidence for claims, and searching for causality. The student is expected to:
Apply key social science concepts such as time, chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity.
Create a matrix applying research methodologies that employ survey research, ethnography, primary documents, and statistical analysis to given subject areas.
Define and compute statistical information using various statistical approaches such as means testing and correlation, measures of central tendency and distribution, the development of categorical systems, and logical analysis.
Develop a bibliography with ideas and information attributed to source materials and authors using accepted social science formats such as Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA) and Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) to document sources and format written materials.