HOW 

TO DO A SOCIOLOGY IA

The sociology IA can be done on any topic as long as it is within an institution such

as a school, college, or any other educational institution, church or any other
religious organization, political group, youth club, sports club. It cannot be done
on a community or a family.

SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION- PAGE 1

> **This is a full page document that gives synopsis of the research.

> **It should define the key terms used in the hypothesis or any other key terms
relevant to the research.

> **It should also explain why this topic is important and why the researcher
decided to explore it.

> **Like all other pages in the research it should be typed size 12 font double
space.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM– PAGE 2

> **This is where the research topic/question is stated, it is no more than two
lines and explain exactly what is being studied.

By: Georgia Crawford

> It must include and independent and a dependent variable. i.e It must
explore how one thing affects another. For example one could explore the impact
of dancehall on academic achievement on the boys at JC. Here dancehall music is
the independent variable and academic achievement is the dependent variable
and JC is the institution being studied.

> **The hypothesis must name the specific institution being studied.

AIMS
> * The aims are written below the Statement of The Problem on the same page

Minimum 4 maximum 5 aims

> * The aims are listed in bullet form and it gives the information the researcher
must acquire if he is to answer the overall research question. 

> *Each aim must begin with the words to ascertain or to understand or to
uncover etc. 

OBJECTIVES
> The objectives are written below the aims on the same page

> **Minimum 3 , maximum 4 objectives.

By: Georgia Crawford

> **The objectives tell the general purpose of the study, i.e what can this
research be used for once it is completed

> **One objective is always to give a historical background of the institution.

LITERATURE REVIEW – PAGES 3 - 7

> **This is three to four pages long

> **It begins with a historical background of the institution which should be no
more than one page

> **The remaining pages should include theoretical information on the topic
being studied i.e what other researchers/theorists have said about your research
topic

> **At least 3 theorists used must be from the Caribbean

> **Where one is unable to find Jamaican theories articles from newspapers and
journals can be used as substitute

> **Theories given must highlight both sides of the hypothesis

SECTION 2 – RESEARCH DESIGN

By: Georgia Crawford

 RESEARCH DESIGN- PAGES 8 -9

> **This is also called the research plan and it explains in detail how the research
will be conducted

> **It should include the research methodology and so should explain whether
the research is a quantitative or qualitative study and why

> NB. All students should do a quantitative study or a research that is both

quantitative and qualitative, a study that is only qualitative is not allowed

> ** It also states the following:

What is the sample size and sampling method used

What research instrument was used
What was the duration of the study
What were the limitations of the research

> It should be one to two pages long

By: Georgia Crawford

 PAGE 10 – SAMPLE

> This page gives the sample size and sampling method and why this particular
sampling method was chosen

> One should fully describe the sample, i.e how many persons of different age
groups, gender and any additional category that might be relevant to your study

> Please note that a sample should be representative, i.e It should accurately
reflect all the groups that are present in the society

Examples of Sampling Methods That Can Be Used

> Systematic random sampling method – randomly choose every nth (2nd, 5th, 6th
or 3rd, etc) person from the population to join the sample
> 

Stratified Sampling (Best) – Split the population in groups according to similar

characteristics (eg age, gender, social class etc) and then ensure that members of
each category are represented in the sample, in the same proportions they exist
in the population. Hence if the population has 50% girls and 50% boys, then a
sample of 10 would have 5 girls and 5 boys.

> Snowballing - the use of personal contacts to find sample members, as persons
may not readily join the sample. So if the researcher is studying criminality, he
By: Georgia Crawford
finds one criminal asks that he or she finds other criminals to join the study. This
is done only for taboo topics
 
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE – PAGE 11

> Here, the student chooses a sociological perspective he believes best fits his
topic i.e which perspective us most likely to do such an examination/study

> The page must begin by explaining the major views of the perspectives/the
essence of the perspective and then continue by saying what the perspective
would say about the specific topic chosen

The final 2 paragraphs explains that the type of research chosen is due to the
sociological perspective chosen, for example the functionalist perspective would
lead to a quantitative research as it is a macro perspective which advocates
positivist scientific research methods.

DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTS/QUESTIONNAIRES – PAGE 12

> On this page you one should why the data collection instrument you chose was
chosen (Most of you will choose a questionnaire although a structured interview
can be done as well) 

> The instrument should be fully described, i.e how many questions, how many

were open/closed ended, were there any different categories, 

By: Georgia Crawford

> N.B The questions on the questionnaires should stem from your aims

> Please note that a sample questionnaire must be included in the appendix at

the back of the IA

SECTION 3 – PRESENTATION OF DATA

PRESENTATION OF DATA – PAGE 13 -18

> This section shows your key findings in pictorial (chart form)

> Minimum 6, maximum 8 charts

> At least 3 different types of charts should be used

> Each chart should have its own title

> The chart title is not a question, it tells us what the chart is about. It should be
written above the chart

> Charts should use percentages must add up to 100%

> Only include charts that are relevant to your findings, for example, there should
be no chart showing the ratio of males to females in the sample
By: Georgia Crawford
> Charts should answer your aims

All value labels must be shown on the charts

ANALYSIS OF DATA – PAGES 19-20

 This is 1 -2 pages long and describes the charts presented in the pages prior
 It reads like a statistics report and so should include words like trends,
decline, majority etc
 However most importantly it should have a statistical description of the
charts (give the percentages)
 It should be clear to the reader at all times which charts are being described
(use name – figure 2 and title of the chart when describing it for maximum
clarity)

SECTION 4 – DESCRIPTION OF FINDINGS

FINDINGS & RECCOMENDATIONS – PAGES 21- 24

 At least 6 key findings must be detailed in this section

 The findings should answer your aims and one should be able to easily
identify what question or combination of questions from your
questionnaire would lead to that finding or conclusion

By: Georgia Crawford

  Each finding must be backed up by statistics and should be compared/
linked to theoretical knowledge presented in the literature review
 For example : The research found that boys that used marijuana at Jamaica
College were negatively impacted by its use. This as over 80% of those who
admitted to smoking ganga regularly had academic averages below 45%,
while the vast majority of those who did not smoke marijuana (78 %) had
averages over 70%. This is congruent with the arguments of John Tom
(theorist from Lit Review) who theorized that marijuana use at a young age
will negatively impact the brain and cognitive development of young boys.
 The final page of the findings should have the sub-heading –
Recommendations
 At least 5 recommendations must be given in bullet form
 The recommendations should be based on the findings and should be
geared at making the institution and situation better

BIBLOGRAPHY

By: Georgia Crawford