SC2101

METHODS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

Semester 2 (2015/2016)
QUANTITATIVE PROJECT
Due: Lecture of week 13 (submit during lecture)

This project provides an opportunity to build hands-on experience with SPSS.

Our data source is our own IN-CLASS SURVEY, which I will design in due time. I
will communicate more details at the right time.
We will devote three tutorial lab sessions to learning and working on SPSS.
Once all the data is collected I will upload the dataset on IVLE in the workbin.
Download the dataset, save it in a thumb drive, and bring it with you to the tutorial
lab sessions.
The questionnaire will be posted on IVLE. Print a copy and bring it with you to the
SPSS tutorial lab sessions.
The project is organized into three parts:
PART I
1) Identify two concepts (from within the questionnaire) that might be meaningfully
connected in real life.
a) What are these two concepts?
b) How are these two concepts measured? (E.g., are they nominal, ordinal or
interval level measurements?)
c) What are the independent (X) and dependent (Y) variables?
d) What do scholars say about how these two variables are connected?
This is an opportunity to consult some of the literature. Remember a
literature review is not a mere summary of ideas, but a thoughtful
consideration of previous works. Let us know why this relationship is
sociologically important. Write a full single-spaced page of literature review.
e) State your hypothesis of how you think the two variables are connected, taking
into account this literature.
PART II
f) Summarize the information on your independent and dependent variables using
the most suitable diagrams (E.g., bar chart or histogram).

g) Choose the best measures of central tendency for each variable.

h) Construct a table in SPSS summarizing the relationship between your
independent variable (X) and dependent variable (Y). By computing column
percentages, describe how X and Y are related in the sample.
i) Test whether your independent variable (X) is associated with your dependent
variable (Y) in the population by conducting a chi-square test. Can the relationship
between X and Y be generalized to the population? How do you know?
j) Were you right about your initial hypothesis? Write a short concluding paragraph
of reflections.
The rule of the assignment is this: You have to find a significant association between
X and Y. This means that the p-value attached to the chi-square value must be less
than .05.
PART III
k) Think of a third variable (lets call it Z). Ensure that this variable exists in the
questionnaire. What is this variable? In SPSS, recode the variable into a dichotomous
variable (E.g., gender is a dichotomous variable with two values (or two levels): Male
and Female).
l) Construct tables summarizing the relationship between X and Y on both levels of
Z.
m) For the first level, can the relationship between X and Y be generalized to the
population? How do you know?
n) For the second level, can the relationship between X and Y be generalized to the
population? How do you know?
o) Write a concluding paragraph of reflections.
This project is worth 20% of the final grade.