SOCIOLOGY AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
January 24
First day of class.
January 29
Babbie, Earl. 1992. "Theory and Research." Pp. 39-65 in The Practice of Social Research. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
scientific method
theory
hypothesis
observation
empirical generalization
theory building
concepts, variables and indicators
operationalization
deduction vs. induction
falsification
objectivity
intersubjectivity
paradigm
SOCIAL INQUIRY AS A DAILY PRACTICE
January 31
Mills, C. Wright. 1959. "On Intellectual Craftsmanship." Pp. 195-226 in The Sociological Imagination. New York: Grove Press.
narration vs. analysis
description
explanation
understanding
causality
contextualism vs. noncontextualism
behaviorism vs. culturalism
positivism vs. interpretivism
individualism vs. emergentism
realism vs. constructivism
PROPOSING AND TESTING HYPOTHESES
February 5
Carter, Doing Sociology with Student CHIP: "A Primer on Critical Reading."
unit of analysis
independent variable (x)
dependent variable (y)
relationships between variables: positive, negative, linear, independent
intervening variable
categorical variables: nominal, ordinal
numerical variables: interval, ratio
February 7
Carter, Doing Sociology with Student CHIP: "A Primer on Elementary Data Analysis."
"The Joy of Stats" (2010 documentary, dir. Dan Hillman).
validity
reliability
error: random vs. systematic
measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode
correlation coefficient
statistical significance
crosstabulation
to control variables
relationships between variables: spuriousness, multivariate model, intervening variable, interaction effect
February 12
Meet in the library's electronic classroom (room 160, before the 24-hour space). Bring the Carter textbook or your online password to access the eTextbook.
Carter, Doing Sociology with Student CHIP: "A Primer on Critical Reading." Construct the tables and perform the calculations that this chapter asks you to do. Check your answers in the footnotes to this chapter.
Carter, Doing Sociology with Student CHIP: chap. 1.
SECONDARY DATA ANALYSIS ON RACIAL CONSCIOUSNESS
February 14
Meet in the library's electronic classroom (room 160, before the 24-hour space).
Benson, Janel E. 2006. "Exploring the Racial Identities of Black Immigrants in the United States." Sociological Forum 21: 219-47.
cross-sectional, trend and panel analysis
secondary data analysis
regression analysis
dummy variable
adjusted r2
index
scale
ETHICAL ISSUES IN STUDYING PEOPLE AT FIRST-HAND
February 19
Student CHIP assignment due.
Adler, Emily Stier and Roger Clark. 2003. "Ethics and Social Research." Pp. 39-68 in How It's Done: An Invitation to Social Research. Belmon, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
open vs. closed settings
covert research
voluntary participation
informed consent
honest reporting
WHO TO OBSERVE? SAMPLING
February 21
Schutt, Russel K. 1996. "Sampling." Pp. 147-85 in Investigating the Social World. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge.
Fitzgerald, Robert and Linda Fuller. 1982. "I Hear You Knocking But You Can't Come In: The Effects of Reluctant Respoonders and Refusers on Sample Survey Estimates." Sociological Methods & Research 11: 3-32.
sample
population
elements
probability vs. nonprobability sampling methods
sampling frame
availability sample
snowball sample
purposive sample
stratified random sample
STUDYING ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR WITH SURVEY RESEARCH
February 26
Neuman, W. Lawrence. 2001. "Survey Research." 246-89 in Social Research Methods. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
survey research
questionnaire vs. interview schedule
closed-ended vs. open-ended questions
response rate
February 28
Bring your original survey questions to class.
INTERVIEWING SINGLE MOTHERS ABOUT HOUSEHOLD ECONOMICS
March 5
Edin & Lein, Making Ends Meet: Foreword, chaps. 1-2, Appendix A.
March 7
Survey instrument evaluation due.
Edin & Lein, Making Ends Meet: chaps. 3-6.
CPI inflation calculator.
2009-10 federal poverty guidelines.
SPRING BREAK: March 9-24
March 26
Edin & Lein, Making Ends Meet: chaps. 7-8.
OBSERVING INFORMAL GROUPS ON THE STREET
March 28
This Saturday (March 30): administer surveys in Poughkeepsie for Hudson River Housing.
Duneier, Sidewalk: Introduction, Part 1. Read the footnotes!
qualitative research
ethnography
field research
participant observation
inductive research
exploration
triangulation
April 2
Duneier, Sidewalk: Introduction, Parts 2.-3 Read the footnotes!
April 4
This weekend (April 6-7): finish administering surveys in Poughkeepsie for Hudson River Housing.
Duneier, Sidewalk: Parts-4-5, Afterword and Appendix.
DOING OBSERVATIONAL FIELDWORK
April 9
Poughkeepsie survey essay due.
Lofland, John and Lyn H. Lofland. 1995. Pp. 16-69, 89-98 in Analyzing Social Settings. 3d ed. New York: Wadsworth.
Leonard Nevarez's fieldnotes, March 19, 2003.
unstructured interview
field notes
LITERATURE REVIEWS
April 11
Read two sociological journal articles that address the topic or hypotheses that you're developing in your research proposal (see Part Two of the instructions to that assignment).
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
April 16
Fieldwork exercise due.
Leavitt, Fred. 2001. "Experimenting: Two Groups." Pp. 90-107 in Evaluating Scientific Research. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
experiment
treatment
experimental vs. control group
field experiment
pretest vs. posttest measures
internal vs. external validity
posttest distortion
reactivity
Hawthorne effect
Solomon four-group design
posttest-only control group design
EXPLAINING RACIAL & CRIMINAL STIGMA USING SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS
April 18
Pager, Marked: Introduction, chaps. 1-2.
April 23
Class cancelled. Instead, make a 10-minute office hour appointment this week to discuss your progress on the research proposal.
Pager, Marked: chaps. 4-5.
April 25
Pager, Marked: chaps. 6-8.
EXAMINING MEDIA BIAS WITH CONTENT ANALYSIS
April 30
Berg, Bruce L. 2001. "An Introduction to Content Analysis." Pp. 238-67 in Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Adkins-Covert, Tawnya et al. 2000. "News in My Backyard: Media and Democracy in an 'All American City.'" Sociological Quarterly 41: 227-44.
Example of content analysis from Santa Barbara County: Two Paths.
content analysis
manifest vs. latent content
intercoder reliability
May 2 Research proposal due.
SOCIAL INQUIRY AS A DAILY PRACTICE
May 7
Take-home final exam handed out in class.
May 15 (finals week)
Take-home final exam due.
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