TOPIC
ARE MARRIED WOMEN HAPPIER THAN SINGLE WOMEN, AND IF SO WHY?

Summary
The purpose of this paper is to develop and answer a research question of sociological importance. You will develop a question and supporting hypotheses based on your reading of the previous literature on a topic of your choice. You will then test your hypotheses using data that you collect from qualitative and quantitative sources. Over the course of the semester, you will complete several smaller assignments that build towards the final paper. You will receive feedback on these smaller assignments and are required to incorporate the feedback into your final paper.
Organization
Your paper should be divided into the following sections and sub-sections:
I. Introduction
-This section must include your Research Question
II. Literature Review
III. Hypothesis
IV. Results
a. Qualitative Evidence
b. Quantitative Evidence
V. Conclusions
Specifications
Final papers should be about 10 pages in length, double-spaced, not including references. Use Times New Roman 12-point font and 1-inch margins. Place all references, figures, and tables in one document and submit as one file (.doc, .docx, or .pdf). You are required to cite a minimum of 5 scholarly references, but you can cite more as you see fit. Use the ASA citation style to format references: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/583/01/
Extra Help
If you are having difficulty identifying a research question, writing your paper, citing references, or completing other aspects of this assignment, I would be more than happy to help you during my office hours or by appointment. Just ask.
Grading
RubricsàYou can preview the grading rubric on the course website under Assessments

Checklist
Be sure you have done the following in your final paper:
Avoided plagiarism by correctly citing sourcesü
Incorporated the instructor’s feedback from previous assignmentsü
Formatted and organized the paper according to the specificationsü
Included in-text citations to 5 or more academic sourcesü
Included a References page with the full citations for all sourcesü

FIRST LEVEL

Instructions
The purpose of this assignment is to hone your ability to locate, read and understand scholarly research articles. For this assignment, the entire class will read the same article:

Dawn Baunach. 2012. “Changing Same-Sex Marriage Attitudes in America from 1988 Through 2010”. Public Opinion Quarterly 76(2): 364-378.

Step 1: Locate the article using a GSU library search engine.

Step 2: Read the article carefully. Note the words and sections you don’t understand, and use a dictionary to help you understand what you are reading.

Step 3: Write up the following in a typed, double-spaced paper. Label the sections clearly using the bolded section headings below.

Part 1: Research Question
What research question or questions is the author seeking to answer? (Note that it may not be explicitly stated as a question in the article). Write it in the format of a question and state it in your own words.

Part 2: Findings
Look for several (approximately two or three) sentences that best describe the main findings of the article. These sentences might be located in the abstract, the introduction, or the conclusion. Write these sentences up, in the author’s words. Put quotes around the sentences and cite the quote’s page number.

Part 3: Analysis
Identify the method that the researcher used to generate his or her findings. Describe this method. You must identify the independent and dependent variables. You can describe the methods in your own words, or in the author’s words using quotation marks and page citations.

Part 4: Translation
In several sentences, summarize the findings presented in the article in your own words. Do not use the author’s sentences and simply change a couple of the words. Instead, write the findings up as if you were a journalist preparing the findings for inclusion in a newspaper article.