Sponsored by the Association of Nazarene Sociologists and Researchers

A Research Competition Open to All Undergraduate Students at Nazarene Colleges and Universities and Others By Special Approval

To encourage scholarly research relevant to the Church of the Nazarene, the Harold Young Research Award is given annually to an undergraduate student presenting an outstanding paper to the Executive Committee of the Association of Nazarene Sociologists and Researchers (ANSR). This award is named for Dr. Harold Young, registrar and sociology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University, whose life and interests exemplified the attitude of a Christian scholar.

First Place Award

$1000 award provided by Nazarene Research Services and Mrs. Harold Young.

Transportation, room, and board for recipient and project adviser to allow participation in annual ANSR conference

Paper to be presented at ANSR conference, posted on ANSR Web site (along with recipient's picture), and publicized widely.

Plaque to be presented at ANSR conference; certificate to faculty adviser.

Second Place Award

$500 award provided by Mrs. Harold Young.

Paper will be posted on ANSR Web site (along with recipient's picture), and publicized widely.

A certificate will be sent to the recipient and faculty adviser.

Stipulations to Award Recipient

Assigned to host during conference (preferably faculty adviser or ANSR executive board member)

Invited (and expected) to attend all ANSR sessions

Eligibility:

Since the purpose of the award is to encourage scholarly research relevant to the Church of the Nazarene, eligibility is limited. Research reports completed by undergraduate students at Nazarene colleges/universities in the United States and Canada are eligible. Undergraduate students attending non-Nazarene colleges/universities or Nazarene ministerial education centers in the United States and Canada who are active Nazarene members and have the support of a Nazarene research mentor may apply for approval to participate. Please contact Jon Johnston at research@nazarene.org to apply.

Indication of Interest

Students are encouraged to indicate their interest in participating as early as possible in order to benefit from the support and advice of the ANSR chairman, Dr. Jon Johnston and award coordinator Patricia Killewald. Indication of interest may be sent to Dr. Johnston at research@nazarene.org or pkillewald@comcast.net. E-mail addresses, hometown and pastoral contact information will be requested from participants.

Judgment Criteria

Papers submitted will be evaluated by a panel appointed by the ANSR Executive Committee based on the Quality of Conceptualization of Social Research including problem definition, literature review, conceptual framework; Research Design including sample, methods, findings; Discussion of conclusions, relevance to the ANSR meeting theme, relevance to the Church of the Nazarene, strengths and weaknesses; Originality of implications for theory; Significance for implications for practice; and Quality of Writing relative to organization and mechanics. See Harold Young Research Award Rubric.

In the interest of multi-institution participation, when a second place award is given, it will go to a student from a different school than the one which the first place winner attends.  To insure this, once the first place winner is determined, any other papers from the same school will be eliminated from eligibility for the second place prize.

It is suggested that applicants visit the ANSR website for papers presented in previous conferences, visit the HYRA website to see previous winning papers, and contact Nazarene Research Services Projects office for data from ANSR polls.  In order to aid blind judgment, it is suggested applicants avoid specific references in the text of their papers to names and places identifying themselves or their school.

Format

Papers should follow the standard research report format: background; hypotheses; study design; presentation of the data; implications of the data (see previous winning papers on HYRA website). The preferred style is in-line parenthetical references (APA), one inch margins, double spaced, 10-15 pages, and Microsoft Word software.

Submission

Papers approved by the campus representative should be submitted via e-mail as an attached file to the Nazarene Research Services at research@nazarene.org. Papers must be received in the Nazarene Research Services by January 30.

Presentation

The award recipient will make a presentation of the research at the ANSR conference. This will encapsulate the research paper in a 20-minute presentation with a 10-minute question-answer discussion session conducted by the award recipient.

Calendar
(When a date falls during a weekend, it will take effect on the next working day.)

By January 30

The HYRA Representative or ANSR Representative will submit campus-approved paper(s) by e-mail as an attached file to Nazarene Research Services at research@nazarene.org.

By February 1

Submitted papers will be distributed via e-mail by the Nazarene Research Services to the Evaluation Panel.

By February 15

Evaluations of the panel will be sent via e-mail to the Nazarene Research Services where they will be tallied.  Dr. Johnston will be notified of the winner.

By February 17

Dr. Johnston will announce the winner to the HYRA coordinator, the recipient, the sociology/social work chair, the appropriate public relations department, Holiness Today, and the Research Center (for travel arrangements). If appropriate, the chair could be notified in advance to allow "surprise" public presentation on campus.