SOCIOLOGY 300 - METHODOLOGY OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

                                                  Spring 2005 (M,W 3.30-5.15, ITE 229)

 

 

 

Professor:        Marina Adler, Ph.D.                                                     TA:  Ms. Rebecca Goldring

Office:              232 Public Policy                                                         Office:  255 Public Policy

Phone:             455.3155                                                                       Phone:  455.2089

Office Hours:    W 2-3, Th 3-4, email,                                                    Office Hours:  W 1-3, Th 2-4

                        by appointment                                                           email hours 8-5pm M-F

E-mail:             adler@umbc.edu                                                         E-mail: rgold1@umbc.edu

Homepage:      http://www.research.umbc.edu/~adler/

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course is intended to give you an overview of the social research process, to introduce you to the various methodological strategies used by sociologists, and to familiarize you with actually 'doing' social research.  Furthermore, the practical emphasis of the course includes a laboratory, which will give you hands-on experience via exercises, the use of computers, and data analysis strategies.  Thus, this course will not only teach you how research is done, but also how to do research.

 

REQUIREMENTS

Readings        

 

           Required Text:  Babbie, Earl. 2004. The practice of Social Research. (10th ed.) Wadsworth.                                                            [bundled with SPSS 11.0, GSS data, Guided Activities]

                                                Additional required readings available on Blackboard.

Assignments

Readings.  Readings are assigned for each class meeting, including text chapters and/or articles.    Each student must be prepared to discuss all the assigned readings. 

Homework.  On several dates on the schedule I will collect “Homework Exercises” (HW), most of which are in the Guided Activities (GA). Late work is strongly discouraged and results in point reduction.

Research Project.  You will also complete one research project, due at the end of the semester.  The assignment involves a lot of computer work.  You are encouraged to start thinking about this project as early as possible.  Late work is strongly discouraged and results in point reduction. Details on the assignment are forthcoming. 

Exams and Quizzes

Two (2) Quizzes and two (2) Exams will be given on dates indicated on the syllabus.  They cover the assigned readings up to that point in the semester.  All exams will be administered in class.  

Lab Exercises

The laboratory component of this course is mandatory and attendance is required and earns lab points.  Students who miss lab will not have the opportunity to make up the work of that lab.  The Lab sessions are designed to teach new skills and help with the completion of the homework and the project.  Some labs involve computer work.  Lab exercises are turned in at the end of lab.  In the event that the work was not completed during lab time, students are expected to complete it at home and turn it in the next class period (not later!).  Use wadsworth.com help with studying and exercises.

Extra Credit

Extra credit may be earned throughout the semester, for a total of 20 points.  You may bring in newspaper articles dealing with social science methodology issues, including a brief paragraph on why the article is relevant to what we are learning in class.  Each article with paragraph is worth 4 points.

 

 

EVALUATION

Final grades are determined by the total number of points earned in the course based on two (2) exams, two (2) quizzes, one (1) research project, homework exercises, labs, and regular attendance in class.  The latter is used for the determination of "borderline cases" in the calculation of final grades.  If, at any time during the semester you encounter difficulties or special circumstances, contact the instructor or T.A. immediately in order to work out solutions as soon as possible. 

            The points for the final grade are calculated as follows:

 

            2 Exams                       @         100 points         =          200

            1 Research Project        @         100 points         =          100

            2 Quizzes                     @         50 points          =          100

            Homework                     @         variable             =          100

            Labs                             @         variable             =          100

                                                                                                -----

                                                                                    Total     600

 

POLICIES

General

Excessive absences or tardiness will affect your final grade negatively. You are expected to attend class regularly and inform the instructor of any scheduling problems. You can communicate with us and other students via e-mail.  You are required to register with Blackboard (BB), which will also have relevant materials and announcements posted.  It is your responsibility to check Blackboard and your e-mail frequently.  You are responsible for being informed about any scheduling changes or announcements about assignments mad in class or via email.  Plan ahead in completing the assignments.  For your own protection, photocopy all assignments before turning them in.  Always make sure you have a duplicate file of your work on disk. 

 

Make-up exams are only given with a valid reason and evidence thereof (such as a doctor's note, dated accident report, obituary notice, etc.) for missing the scheduled exam, and consist exclusively of essay questions.  It is the responsibility of the student to prepare assigned materials on time and to discuss problems with deadlines with the instructor.  Deadlines missed without promptly (contact the instructor on the same day as the missed deadline) presenting a valid excuse and conference with the instructor will be counted as "0" points for the scheduled or make-up exams (no exceptions).  Students who arrive late for quizzes or exams will not be given extra time to complete the tests. 

 

Academic Misconduct

By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an active participant in UMBC’s scholarly community in which everyone’s academic work and behavior are held to the highest standards of honesty.  Cheating, fabrication, plagiarism, and helping others to commit these acts are all forms of academic dishonesty, and they are wrong.  Academic misconduct can result in disciplinary action that may include, but is not limited to, suspension or dismissal.  To read the full Student Academic Conduct Policy, consult the UMBC Student Handbook, the Faculty Handbook or the UMBC Policies section of the UMBC Directory.

Academic misconduct may include but is not limited to the following (adapted from UMBC’s policy):

SCHEDULE

The following schedule is flexible and will be adapted according to the pace of the class.  Please bring your work books to every class.  Readings are due on the date they are mentioned on the schedule, i.e., read Chapter 1 in Babbie by February 2.

 

Week 1                        Introduction to the course

Jan 31               Goals of the course, introduction to social science research

                        [Start reading today!]

Feb 2                Foundations of social science

                        Chapter 1 and 2

                        [make sure you have an active UMBC computer account with password – OIT help desk]

 

Week 2                        The social research process                           

Feb 7                Research questions, theory and hypotheses

                        Chapter 2 cont’d; check out wadsworth.com, the companion webpage for your text

            F         LAB 1: Writing hypotheses (5pts)

Feb 9                Basic elements of social research and ethics

                        Chapter 3; go to Blackboard and print out assignments etc.

            F         LAB 2: Ethics; GA, p.47. Ex. 3.1  (5pts)

                       

Week 3                        Research design and conceptualization

Feb 14              Purposes of research, causality and research design

                        Chapter 4

Feb 16              Conceptualization and operationalization

                        Introduction to SPSS and GSS

                        Chapter 5, Appendix B (GSS questionnaire) and GA Appendix I (GSS codebook)

            F         Homework (HW) 1 due: GA, p.69, Ex. 4.3 (10 pts)

F     LAB 3: Levels of measurement (5pts)

 

Week 4                        Measurement Issues

Feb 21              Indexes and Scales

                        Chapter 6

            F         QUIZ 1  (covers Chapters 1-5)  




Feb 23              SPSS Computer Analysis

F                  HW 2 due: use your SPSS disk and run the SPSS tutorial (or go to 104 ECS, start SPSS in the lab and run the tutorial); Do GA Ex. 1.5 on p. 18; print your output and attach to your exercise sheet with answers; include levels of measurement for variables (10 pts)

 

F                  LAB 4: SPSS Lab 1 (we will meet in our classroom and go to the ECS 122/A together); Bring computer lab handout from BB and CDs (print with interpretation, bring to next class) (15pts)         

 

Week 5                        Sampling

Feb 28              Probability and nonprobability sampling

            Chapter 7, homework 4 instructions and South and Spitze article: On BB – bring to class

Mar 2                Sampling continued

F                  LAB 5: Sampling; GA, p. 124, Ex. 7.1 (5pts)

                       

Week 6                        Experiments

Mar 7                The classical experiment and other experimental designs

            Chapter 8

Mar 9                Computer analysis

            F         HW 3 due: GA p. 125, Ex. 7.2 (10 pts)

            F         LAB 6: SPSS Lab 2 (bring computer lab handout from BB and a blank diskette)(15pts)

 

Week 7                        Survey research

Mar 14              Types of survey research

                        Chapter 9

            F         HW 4 due: Article Analysis (HW 4 questions and Schieman article: on BB; 20 pts)

Mar 16              Questionnaire construction

                        Reading: Frary, Robert B.  “A brief guide to questionnaire development.” On  Blackboard

F                 LAB 7: Questionnaire construction (5pts)

 

Week 8                        SPRING BREAK March 21-25

 

Week 9                        Qualitative Methods                            

Mar 28              EXAM 1, covers all material up to and including Week 7

            F         HW 5 due: GA p.182, Ex. 9.4; this should look like a professional questionnaire (20pts)

Mar 30              Field research, participant observation and in-depth interviewing

                        Chapter 10

            F         LAB 8: Interviewing (5pts)

 

Week 10           Unobtrusive research

Apr 4                Unobtrusive research

                        Chapter 11

            F         For research project: Dependent variable, 3 possible hypotheses, 3 article abstracts due

Apr 6                Content analysis

F                 LAB 9: Content analysis of TV  (5pts)

 

Week 11           Data analysis I

Apr 11               Univariate and bivariate analysis

                        Chapter 14

            F         HW 6 due:  GA p.171, Ex.9.3 – for 5 interviews and 1 page typed report (10 points)

Apr 13               The elaboration model

                        Chapter 15

            F         LAB 10: The Elaboration Model (5pts)


Week 12           Data Analysis II           

Apr 18               Introduction to basic statistics

                        Chapter 16

Apr 20               Computer analysis

            F         HW 7 due: GA p.279, Ex. 15.2  (10pts)

            F         LAB 11: SPSS Lab 3; bring handout from BB (finish, print with interpretation, bring next class) (15 pts)

 

Week 13           Multiple methods

Apr 25               Triangulation, Evaluation research, and meta analysis

                        Chapter 12

            F         QUIZ 2  (covers weeks 9-12)

Apr 27               Computer analysis

            F         LAB 12: SPSS Lab 4; work on research project

                        (finish, print with interpretation, bring next class) (15pts)

 

Week 14           Results and Conclusions

May 2               Discussion of computer output and interpretation

                        Chapter 17

May 4               Writing up results

            F         LAB 13: Writing up results and creating tables (5pts)

 

Week 15           Reviewing research

May 9               Reporting research results and conclusion

            F         HW 8 due: GA p.281, Ex. 15.3 (10pts)

May 11             Review for Exam 2 and Statistical readiness test/work on research project

                                   

Week 16           Last day of class

May 16             EXAM 2, covers all material from Week 8 through the end

F                 Research project due

 

SOCY 300 – Adler

Homework Schedule (100 points total)

 

Assignment                              Due Date          Special Instructions                                                                

 

HW 1    GA, p.69, Ex 4.3           2/16                  review p. 48 in Babbie and Lab 1 (10 pts)

 

HW 2    GA, p.18, Ex 1.5           2/23                  do SPSS tutorial first (SPSS and GSS with book or in Lab), then do the exercise and include the levels of measurement for the variables.  Print the output with your name on it and attach it to your exercise sheet. (10 pts)

 

HW 3    GA, p.125, Ex 7.2          3/9                    review what we did in Lab 5 as a guide before doing this (10 pts)

 

HW 4 Article Analysis               3/14                  using the questions for the South and Spitze article (article and Example Article Review on BB) as a guide, analyze the Schieman article (on BB) the same way (also in Q&A format). This should be typed.  (20 pts)

 

HW 5    GA, p. 182, Ex 9.4         3/28                  (modified)  Review the assigned readings on questionnaires first.  This should look like a professional, complete questionnaire (typed nicely).  It should have an introduction, instructions on answering the questions, and attitude questions in a large matrix. You should have a contingency question and an open-ended question.  Put a thank you on the bottom. (20 pts)

Research Project Start             4/4                    Select a dependent variable from GSS; copy and review 3 related research articles; 3 possible hypotheses for research project; turn in with 3 article abstract.  Instructions on BB.

 

HW 6    GA, p.171, EX 9.3         4/11                  you only have to do 5 interviews.  Make sure you follow the rules systematically as learned in class.  Turn in the 5 completed surveys and a 1 page typed report as specified in the exercise. (10 pts)

 

HW 7    GA, p.279, Ex 15.2        4/20                  review what we did in Lab 10 as a guide for doing this (10 pts)

 

HW 8    GA, p.281, Ex 15.3        5/9                    Select one IV, one DV, and one CV (dichotomous) for your elaboration.  Try to use 2x2 or 2x3 tables for this.  Recode the variables you are using so that they only have 2 or 3 categories and make sure there are no missing data.  Set up your tables properly (IV=column head; DV=Row head).  Using the computer, proceed the same way as in Ex 15.2.  (10 pts)