Fourth Assignment

Due: May 23

For this assignment there are two articles.

One is entitled: "Assessing the Oppositional Culture Explanation for Racial/Ethnic Differences in School Performance, " [Oppositional Culture]

the other is "Work, Welfare, and Single Mothers' Economic Survival Strategies" [Welfare].

Read both articles.

Answer the following questions. Be concise!

Oppositional Culture

O1. What is the "oppositional culture explanation"?

O2. Is it supported by the data these researchers gathered? Explain how?

O3. What is the Attitude-Achievement Paradox?

Welfare

W1. According to the authors, do most welfare recipients want to work?

W2. Which cities did the authors chose as their research sites and which city is the most generous to its welfare recipients?

W3. Welfare recipients spend more than their official income. How do they make up for the difference?

Then choose one of the two articles and answer the following questions. Be concise!

1. State the basic research question in a single sentence.
2. Is the purpose of the study explanatory, evaluative, exploratory or descriptive?
3. List three key concepts of the research. Were they clearly defined?
4. Were any hypotheses stated? Did they follow from the discussion of the problem/theory?
5. What were the dependent and independent variables?
6. What was the ultimate unit of analysis?
7. Was the study design cross-sectional or longitudinal?
8. How was the data gathered? Was probability sampling used? Are the findings generalizable?
9. Was the response/participation rate reported?
10. Do you have any critical observations about the study?

Please be sure to present your responses in an organized, clear, grammatically correct, paragraph format (i.e. no sentence fragments, bullets, etc.). Be sure to proof read, spell check, and make appropriate paragraph breaks when necessary.

All homework must be handed in typewritten. Please use an 11-12 point font, double-space and number each page.