Q. Do I need to be in college to enter the competition?
A. Yes—the competition is for undergraduate students.
Q. Do I need to be a sociology major to enter the competition?
A. No—your major doesn’t matter; in fact, you don’t even need to have declared a major.
Q. Do I need to be a member of the Church of the Nazarene?
A. Not if you are enrolled as an undergraduate student at a Nazarene institution. If you are enrolled at a non-Nazarene school you do need to be an active member in a Church of the Nazarene.
Q. Do I need to be enrolled at a Nazarene institution?
A. No—undergraduate students at any institution may participate.
Q. Who do I contact to enter the competition?
A. Please start by contacting the HYRA representative on your Nazarene campus (see “Campus Representatives” link at left). If you are enrolled at an institution that is not Nazarene you may contact Pat Killewald at pkillewald@comcast.net.
Q. When is my paper due?
A. Generally by the end of January, but please see the “Procedures” link at left.
Q. How will my paper be evaluated?
A. ANSR has established a rubric to help guide the judges. You may see it here, http://www.nazarene.org/files/docs/YoungResearchAwardRubric.pdf.
Q. Who judges the submitted papers?
A. Papers are judged by a panel (typically 3 people) appointed by the ANSR Executive Committee.
Q. Does my paper need to be about the theme of the ANSR conference?
A. No—but the evaluation criteria gives a little more credit if it is related to the conference theme.
Q. I see that part of the HYRA rubric is based on a literature review. Where can I get help with doing a good literature review?
A. Here are two links that provide help for doing a good literature review:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html
http://info.wlu.edu/literature_review/literature_review.html
Q. Are there any sources of data that I can use for my research paper?
A. Yes—the “Databases” link at left gives instructions for obtaining datasets.
Q. Can I collect my own data? What is the best way to do this?
A. Yes—you may collect your own data. The second part of your question is too involved to answer here, but we suggest you contact an advisor for help with survey design and sampling techniques. Also, here are some recommended books on the topic:
• Dillman, Don A. Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. 2nd ed. New York: J. Wiley, 2000.
• Converse, Jean M. Survey Questions: Handcrafting the Standardized Questionnaire. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage, 1986.
• Thomas, Susan J. Designing Surveys that Work!: A Step-by-Step Guide Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, 1999.
• Nesbary, Dale. Survey Research and the World Wide Web. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.