From doing this research project in sociology 345 with Dr. Pederson I have learned the proper ways how to create a solid survey. This course has taught me how to properly construct questions that allow the volunteers and other participants to understand to get the best results. At the being of this semester, I started out not knowing how to make sense of this entire project.
When it comes to the first time going over the project, I had no idea what this community assessment was. My progress with academic research has changed since the beginning because by learning the step-by-step process of how to put together the question. Whereas, when I first started learning about creating surveys, I thought he look at the problems at hand and come up with a question from there. We started this research by learning about the community and how we would be assisting two organizations in conducting their goals. The Steps and head start’s goal is to bring families closer together through child and parent. By creating the questions, I learned to be able to create the question involving doing research on the economy and lifestyles around the areas in focus.
When it came to choosing sources, I looked at articles that were conducted on similar research topics that I was studying. I would choose sources based on how well they were put together and how legitimate the authors are. If it seemed like the sites that the sources were on were sketchy, I would avoid them because the is a chance that the information is probably not accurate. I would stick to using the resources that were given to us by the university because they were a 90 percent chance that the information would more accurate and related to my topic. With the final product of my final paper, I did not change many of my sources because most of them fit in with the research question that I was evaluating. However, a couple of them were too vague and didn’t give the proper information on the subjects at hand.
One of the main problems that I found difficult was that when I was searching up economic status in the area, I had to find polite ways to insert that information into my research. One other issue that came up was to get your point across. My group and I had to find a way to say as much as we could with very few words, and keep it simplified so that people of any education status could understand what you are asking. We also spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the right words to use would be because if we use confusing wording then the result could have been altered in the way that the person felt about the tasks at hand. There were many times when the entire class would spend a lot of time going over each question and evaluating how each one sounds and if it pertains to the subject we are discussing.
Over the semester I have struggled to find proper information when it comes to legitimate sources. However, toward the end of my research, I got a lot better at conducting research and could understand the proper materials you need to use when conducting research. I now know that I can confidently gather proper resources and work alongside my peers to solve difficult situations. At first, I thought that working alone would be the best because I typically do well-finding information by myself however I realized that a single person could make a whole lot of mistakes and cause the data to get messed up. When it comes to being a researcher you realized that it takes a lot of thinking. The best part about that is you have to compare and contrast different results to find the answers and even when you think you have found your results it could always change. Being a researcher, you learn that there can always be new data that changes your view on things and your result, so you also have to look at other studies to make sure your results are accurate.
In conclusion, from starting off not knowing much about how to conduct a survey I slowly learned the right techniques to use. When constructing questions for surveys I learned that it is solely a group effort, and everyone’s opinion needs to be considered. By having everyone work together it opens up new gateways of ideas and problems to get the final results that everyone is seeking.