General Guidelines for the Internal Assessment
This section will provide students with a general guideline for the structure of their Internal Assessment. We have simply explained in a bit more detail how the marks are awarded and provided suggestions for how students should go about putting the IA together. Please note that students are not to use our guidelines as a substitute for Teacher guidance and counsel. We have simply provided a guide for students, which would help to make the research and compliation process a bit more manageable.
Section I. Introduction
This section is divided into three parts
1. Statement of Problem (3 marks) This is a statement, not a question. It is a statement about the issue the research paper/project is based upon. e.g. This paper seeks to examine: The socio-economic factors that contributes to the prevalence of female-headed households in the village of G ; located on the South Western Coast of Grenada.
2. Aims and Objectives (5 marks) This research paper attempts to determine the following:
- The social and economic factors, which contributes to the formation of female-headed households in G Village.
- The socio-economic consequences of the prevalence of such households for the community of G in particular and the Parish of St. George in general.
- Recommendations for policy makers and other social service groups to help alleviate the problems caused by the existence of such households.
3. Literature Review (6 marks) - Students should read at least six (6) sources on the issue they are conducting research. This includes books, magazines, newspaper clippings, electronic sources etc…. Avoid having only electronic sources, in as far as is possible use books. - The literature review should be no more than four-six paragraphs.
- A literature review is a brief overview of the available literature (print and electronic etc.) on the issue being researched. It also gives the reader an idea of the focus of the particular literature.
E.g. Ann Marsche in The Demasculinization of Men (1998) suggests that one of the major reasons for the growth and prevalence of female-headed households due to the ‘masculiniztion of women’ – women overtaking male responsibility, which parallels the marginalization of the male, forcing them to the’ sidelines’. “The ultimate response of the male: he reverts to ‘pimping, playing and partying’, while the female endures duress!” - Further the literature review also highlights the areas where much research may not have been done. - Finally, ensure that YOU state where your research would fit in in the wider scheme of things. E.g. this research project would add to the existing literature, since no empirical research has been conducted in G on the issue of female-headed households. In so doing the researcher hopes to provoke policy makers and social service providers to become pro-active at the community level in matters relating to family life which in turn affects community and national development. At the end of SECTION I the student will be marked on his/her communication (use of language – proper sentence construction and spelling) in a logical (good ordering of thoughts) way using correct grammar. ( 1 mark)
Research Design (18 marks)
1. The research design (6 marks)
In this section the student is required to explain how they put their ‘research tools’ together. This may include a brief outline of research methods used, timelines etc...
- In order to collect empirical data (statistics), printed questionnaires were used as a primary source. The questionnaire as a tool for collecting data has a number of advantages suited to the title of this research paper, these include the following:
a. It was useful for collecting large amounts of data in a short period of time.
b. Guaranteed confidentiality for the respondents
c. It was convenient for both the researcher and respondents alike – since respondents were able to respond to the questionnaire at their own convenience, without the monitoring of the researcher.
- A table showing the timeline – date and times of tasks performed can also be included (this is optional). However, it may be useful to show how research was conducted for more qualitative type/based research papers.
2. The sample (5 marks)
The research sample consisted of fifty (50) female-headed households in G village St. Georges. G village consists of ten (10) streets, five (5) female-headed households from each street were randomly selected, and questionnaires administered to them. The age group of this sample population ranged from 18 – 60 years.
3. The Data Collection Instrument (5 marks)
Attach all data collection instruments and copy of cover letters dispatched with the data collection instrument to instruct the respondents on how to answer the questions as well as the reason for the conducting of the research paper. E.g. Copy of Questionnaire and Cover Letter.
At the end of SECTION II the student will be marked on his/her communication (use of language – proper sentence construction and spelling) in a logical (good ordering of thoughts) way using correct grammar. (2 marks)
Presentation of Data
1. Presentation (9 marks)
- Present data in different formats e.g. pie, bar charts etc…
2. Analysis of data (6marks)
- Explain what your data shows
3. Discussion of Findings and Conclusions (6 marks)
- This refers to the trends, peculiarities (specific occurrences), recent phenomenon etc… as it relates to the area of research and the general applications that can be made in terms of the society, community etc.
Also make recommendations as it relates to the trends, peculiarities etc….
At the end of SECTION III the student will be marked on his/her communication (use of language – proper sentence construction and spelling) in a logical (good ordering of thoughts) way using correct grammar. (3 marks)
- There are differing styles for writing a bibliography.
- Since Sociology is a Social Science, the Bibliography should use a style commensurate with the Social Science standard.
- Traditionally this has been the APA (American Psychological Association) style.
Format Example for Bibliographic Citation:
General Rule: Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work unless the work has more than six authors. IN THE CASE WHERE THERE ARE MORE THAN SIX AUTHORS USE et.al. after the sixth author.
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Example: Underwood, Fane. 2004. Maleness and Masculinity in a Genderized World, Kingston: Jamaica, Ian Randle Publishers
B. Electronic sources
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Online Source, volume number(issue number if available). Retrieved month day, year, from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Example: Neyhart, D, & Karper, E. et.al. (February 17th 2009). APA Formatting and Style Guide. Owl Materials. Retrieved April 12th, 2009, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/09/
C. Non-Print Sources
(R. Sankar, personal communication, April 4, 2009)
D. Other Sources
Liszosky, F.T. (2000). Sociology. In The World Book Encyclopedia (Vol. 14, pp. 321-322). New York: World Book Inc.
E. Government Sources
Central Statistical Office. (2003). Household Income Averages (CSO No. 0025). Port of Spain: Trinidad. Government Printing Office.
For more detailed information on citation styles please refer to a Citation manual.