select one of the topics listed 1-6 below and

Question

Select one of the topics listed 1-6 below and outline a programme of quantitative research for its investigation.  The assignment  should cover issues of sample design, instrument design and data coding but you MUST devote at least as much attention to the ways in which you will 'analyze' and interpret the data as to the processes of data collection. That is to say you should discuss methods of establishing patterns of data, associations and causal relationships using statistical and related methods.

A       For the purpose of this assignment you should assume that you are a social researcher with resources equivalent to a full-time salary for two years and additional finances to fund a social survey with a total sample size of 3,000, including piloting, data collection and data coding.  Your survey may take a different form if appropriate but resources are as indicated.  You may also use secondary data to supplement and extend the coverage of survey results.

1. The way cuts in public spending  in England as introduced in October 2010 have had an impact on the delivery of services in a local authority - pick any English London Borough, Metropolitan Borough or Unitary Authority as an example.
2. The experiences of Gypsies (Rom) of Romanian origin as immigrants in the UK.
3. The views of young adults who come from households with incomes in the bottom half of the household income distribution in relation to their intentions and expectations regarding higher education.
4. New UK and Irish immigrants in Australia in the 21^st Century.
5. Marriage and cohabitation as forms of couple relationship.

B      Identify sources of secondary data available to you which would enable you to carry out a secondary data  based project investigating one of the topics listed 1-6 below.  This may be an administrative data set or sets to which you could gain access.  Describe the sources you will utilize with particular reference to the ways in which variates are operationalized and potential limitations for the study.  The sources should enable you to handle multiple cases.  Describe the quantitative procedures which you would use in your study and outline the causal logic underpinning those procedures.  Pay particular attention to levels of measurement, issues of classification, and forms of causal modelling.

For the purposes of this assignment you should assume that you are a social researcher with funding for two years full time work and adequate resources to purchase secondary data sets if that is required.

1.    Why people are on incapacity benefit and what prospects there are of them returning to work.

2.    The dynamics of household formation and dissolution during a period of economic change.

3.    Social mobility between the ages of 18 and 35.

4.    Whatever happened to people who went to Grammar Schools?

5.    The impact of changes in housing benefit regimes on the social ecology of London.