Requirements
How your final grade is calculated
Special note
Academic accommodations are available for students with disabilities who are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services. Students in need of disability accommodations should schedule an appointment with me early in the semester to discuss any accommodations for this course which have been approved by the Office of Disability and Support Services, as indicated in your DSS accommodation letter.
Attendance and class participation
Attendance in class is mandatory. Missing more than two classes will affect your final grade. Class participation involves (a) doing the readings by the day they are assigned, (b) joining in class discussions, and (c) bringing to class a set of sociological questions or interests that you will pursue through the assignments and class discussions.
Student CHIP assignment
Students will select one of chapters 2-12 in Carter's Doing Sociology with Student CHIP and answer all of its questions. They will hand in a paper with the answers and a final appendix containing the required crosstabulations and graphs. The assignment will be due by the beginning of class on September 26 .
Survey assignment
Students will pose a hypothesis and write a set of survey questions to test it. They will bring these to class on October 3 and exchange them with another student. Students will be graded for their written evaluations of other students' survey questions; the evaluations are due by the beginning of class on October 5.
Midterm
A take-home midterm and accompanying research article will be handed out in class on October 12. The midterm will be due by the beginning of the following class, on October 24 .
Fieldwork assignment
Students will conduct field research in an open public setting and turn in a report containing detailed field notes, several hypotheses based on their observations, and a discussion of their fieldwork's sociological relevance. The assignment is due on November 7. (Further instructions will be given out in the prior class.)
Methodological critique/comparison paper
In a 5-6 page paper, students will select a sociological research article of their choice from the library, evaluate its methodology, and propose an alternate research design to study the author's original research question. The paper will be due on November 23 .
For specific instructions on this assignment, click here.
Research proposal
In a 10-15 page paper, students will propose an original research project. They will discuss its sociological, review relevant literature (based on two sociological research articles), formulate testable hypotheses, discuss issues of objectivity, ethics, and sampling; and design a measurement instrument (e.g., a survey, fieldwork methods, content analysis) that could actually be used to carry out the research. The proposal will be due on the last day of class, December 7 .
For specific instructions on this assignment, click here.
Take-home final exam
A take-home final exam consisting of two essay questions will be distributed on the last day of class, December 7. It will be due on a date during finals week TBA. |