Sociology Background Research?

1) WHAT BACKGROUND DO YOU WANT TO EXPLORE: THE BACKGROUND FOR STUDENTS OF EVERY FACULTY?

2) I SUGGEST IN THIS INSTANCE YOU SELECT ONE FACULTY (SUCH AS SOCIOLOGY, OR COMPUTER ENGINEERING, FOR EXAMPLE) OTHERWISE YOU DO NOT HAVE A WORKABLE HYPOTHESIS.

3) DECIDE ON WHICH TYPE OF STUDENTS (SCHOOL LEAVERS, OR MATURE STUDENTS FOR EXAMPLE), OTHERWISE YOU DO NOT HAVE A WORKABLE HYPOTHESIS. YOU ARE NOT A BIG RESEARCH ORGANISATION: KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE.

4) DECIDE HOW MANY YOU WILL INCLUDE IN YOUR SAMPLE. IF IT IS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH, USING INTERVIEWS THAT REQUIRE THE PEOPLE TO SPEAK, AND PRODUCE LOTS OF DATA, A SMALL SAMPLE WILL BE REQUIRED. IF IT IS QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH, LIKE A QUESTIONNAIRE, WITH TICK BOXES, THEN A LARGER SAMPLE IS REQUIRED: LIKE ONE HUNDRED.

5) WHERE WILL YOUR TARGET POPULATION BE LOCATED.

6) MATURE SOCIOLOGY STUDENTS ARE ATTRACTED TO PROFESSIONAL CAREERS BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMIC REWARDS (DO YOU MEAN MONEY) RATHER THAN BECAUSE OF INTRINSIC SATISFACTION.

7) ONCE YOU HAVE DONE THIS THEN YOU CAN TYPE YOUR RESEARCH TERMS INTO GOOGLE. LIKE THIS FOR EXAMPLE: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=MATURE+SOCI...

8) I AM STILL WAITING FOR MY TEN POINTS.

Background research. Review Sociological Abstracts and AJS. A lot of ink has been spilled on this subject already and there exists a considerable amount of available data. It basically falls under "Occupations and Professions." There was a lot of work done asking exactly that question. It is readily available if you do a library search. I suggest looking for surveys on the issue. From those surveys a lot of reports have been written. But, one can create any number of new reports using data that has already been gathered and crunched.

What areas to explore. I would look at longitudinal studies. There have been some on this issue, i.e., James S. Coleman's High School and Beyond, the General Social Survey, the National Longitudinal Study. These all contain what are termed "amalgam" questions. Such questions can be used, [ in association] with other questions to formulate just about any hypothesis that you desire. I would review job satisfaction of the group that went into car sales versus the group that went into medicine or engineering. [One does not go into the latter for money, but, one can make a lot if you love your work.]

I would also look at divorce rates among and between groups. That should provide some measure of satisfaction. Divorce, while many may assume it has little to do with job or career satisfaction, has a strong influence on it, i.e., "...there is no romance without finance..."

I would also consider gender differences, ethnic difference, educational difference, etc. The possibilities are large. Good luck.