COURSE SYLLABUS
SOCL 223: Methods of Social Research
Spring 2007
Class: MW
Instructor: Royce A.
Singleton, Jr.
Office
Hours: W
Telephone
number: 508-793‑3474
e‑mail
address: rsinglet@holycross.edu
Course Web
site: http://www.holycross.edu/departments/socant/rsinglet/methods.htm
Textbook Web
site: http://www.holycross.edu/departments/socant/rsinglet/approaches2.htm
Course Goals
Sociology 223 is a required course
for sociology majors that is open to all students interested in learning about the
logic and methods of social research.
This course has several goals:
·
To spark your interest in sociology as a research
enterprise—as a process of learning about the social world.
·
To enhance your appreciation and understanding of
sociology as a science.
·
To introduce you to the elements of research design so
that you will have a good foundation for future learning, such as in other
sociology courses, more advanced courses in methods and statistics, and in
graduate school.
·
To develop your understanding of the strengths and
weaknesses as well as the essential complementarity of the basic approaches to
social research.
·
To enable you to learn firsthand about the problems of
research by participating in a research project.
·
To make you critical consumers of research, especially
research findings reported in the popular media.
·
To develop your awareness of the ethical issues
involved in social research.
Grading and Requirements
Your grade is based on the completion
of six homework assignments (10%), participation in a research project (25%),
and performance on three exams (65%).
Examinations are comprehensive, with each test replacing the previous
one. Just as the course builds on
learning from the beginning to the end, so do the examinations. What matters most is what you understand and
can do intellectually at the end of the course.
Thus, tests provide a check on your current understanding, and it is
crucial to use the feedback on your performance to improve your grasp of the
material. Consistent with this approach,
each successive examination counts more toward your final grade than the one
before it. Below is the percentage
breakdown and exam schedule.
First
Midterm (15%): Wednesday, Feb. 14
(chs. 1 – 4)
Second midterm (20%): Monday, April 2 (chs. 1 – 9)
Final (30%): Monday, May 7 at
Homework exercises
will be graded on two bases: (1) whether
you hand them in and (2) how well you answer the questions. Each exercise will be graded according to the
following scale:
A: All or nearly all answers are correct and
fully developed.
B:
Some incorrect answers but answers are reasonably well developed.
C:
Many incorrect and/or poorly developed answers.
In addition,
there will be a premium placed on completing all six homework exercises. If you do all six, you may drop your lowest
exercise grade. If you fail to hand in
one exercise, your overall exercise grade will be deducted one-third of a letter
grade from your average. And for each
additional exercise that you fail to hand in, your grade will be deducted an
additional two-thirds of a letter grade.
For example, if you receive a B on five exercises and a C on the sixth,
your overall exercise grade will be B; if you hand in five of six exercises and
receive a grade of B on all five, your overall exercise grade will be B-; and
if you hand in only four exercises and receive a B on all four, your overall
exercise grade will be C. To receive
credit on a given exercise, you must submit the homework at the beginning of
class on the day it is due, and your work must show evidence of a
conscientious effort; in other words, I reserve the right not to give credit
for exercises that are done in a very careless or superficial fashion. Late homework will be accepted only when
there is considerable justification for being late, and even then, only within
a short time after the original due date.
Mere absence from class is not sufficient justification, but you may
submit homework early in anticipation of an absence, such as to compete in a
sport event.
Holy Cross
Student Survey
An integral part of this course is
the class’s participation in a personal interview survey of Holy Cross
students. The Holy Cross Student Survey
(HCSS) is modeled after a well-known national study called the General Social
Survey (GSS). Like the GSS, the HCSS contains
a basic set of questions, which are repeated over time to facilitate an
assessment of social change. In
addition, each survey has a series of questions on a special topic. Previous surveys have focused on topics
ranging from sports participation to religious beliefs, health behaviors, and
political views. This spring the survey
will examine voluntarism and helping
behavior.
To prepare
for the survey the class will formulate hypotheses and develop questions to
test their hypotheses. With this input,
I will prepare the interview schedule.
Then, each student in the class will be responsible for interviewing 10 fellow
students drawn from a random sample of the student body. In this way, you will have the opportunity to
gain firsthand experience in a face-to-face interview study. To get full credit for participating in the
study, you must attend an interviewer training session (March 12), conduct the
requisite number of interviews, and write a paper addressing methodological
issues pertinent to the survey. Class
handouts will provide more detailed descriptions of these requirements. In the meantime, you may learn more about the
Holy Cross Student Survey by visiting the HCSS Web site: http://www.holycross.edu/departments/socant/rsinglet/survey.htm.
Procedural Matters
The subject matter of this course
requires an active rather than passive stance toward learning. The way to learn research methods is to work
problems, read and evaluate real research reports, and plan or carry out actual
research. Some of these activities are
built into the course requirements, as in the homework exercises and Holy Cross
Student Survey. It also is important,
however, to test your understanding of and ability to apply text material by
working problems on your own. You
can do this in several ways: by doing unassigned problems in the Workbook; by
answering the questions and problems at the end of each chapter in the
textbook; and by taking the online quizzes on the Web site for the textbook. Answers to all questions and problems in the
textbook and answers to selected problems in the Workbook, including all the
matching questions, are posted on the course Web site. But a word of caution here: it is better to
write out the answers to problems before checking to see if your answers are
correct.
Although the class is set up with two “lectures” and one discussion section each week, all class sessions will emphasize discussion of problems and workshop‑type experiences that are designed to enhance your understanding of the material. I expect you to work with the textbook outside class by reading the material, sorting through it, digging out what is important, working on problems, making notes of difficulties, and developing questions for class. While in class, I expect you to participate in discussion and activities, and to help generate the work that goes on there. I anticipate that you may not understand everything the first time through, and may need to go back to the material after we have worked on it in class. My role as the instructor is to act as a guide and resource while you work to master course material.
This class
format makes it very important to complete the assigned reading before
class. It also makes it less necessary
to take copious notes. On the other
hand, it will be more difficult to make up missed classes by copying someone else’s
notes. Thus, perfect attendance is
fundamental; you cannot do well in this course unless you attend class
faithfully.
PLEASE BRING
YOUR WORKBOOK TO CLASS. Homework
exercises will be drawn from the Workbook, and we occasionally will do Workbook
problems in class.
Now, some
final words to the wise. Some students
do find this course difficult despite attending class regularly and working
hard. If you abide by the following
strategies, however, I am sure you will have a successful semester.
1. Bear down at
the start of the course. This seems like a cliche. It’s unlikely that you’ll
find many professors who tell you to “goof off” at the start of the
course. However, it’s particularly
important to get off to a good start in research methods, because most of the
later material builds on the material from the beginning of the course.
2. Ask
questions in class. If you don’t
understand the textbook, homework, or what I’m talking about, it’s likely that
you’re not the only one. Asking
questions helps everyone. It helps you
to better understand the material; often provides a new perspective for other
students; and gives me important feedback on your understanding.
3. Read each
chapter twice—before the class for which it is assigned and immediately
afterward. At times this may be
necessary simply to grasp the material; but even if you understand a concept
the first time, reviewing will enhance your retention.
4. Do the
homework exercises on your own.
While I encourage students to work together to learn the material, this
does not apply to homework exercises.
Homework must be completed on your own.
Getting the answers from someone else not only defeats the purpose of
the homework assignments; it is unethical and a violation of academic
honesty. If I suspect a student of
plagiarism or collusion, I will follow the College’s academic honesty policy as
outlined on pp. 12-14 of the College
Catalog.
5. See me
outside class. I see my job as
teaching all students, not just the A students. Don’t be too embarrassed to come for help if
you’re struggling.
Required books
Royce A. Singleton, Jr. and
Workbook for
Methods of Social Research, Spring 2007
Schedule of Topics and
Friday
discussion sessions are identified with capital letters. You should complete readings and homework
exercises by the dates indicated on the schedule.
|
Date |
Topic |
Assignment |
|
Jan. 17 |
Introduction. Why study research methods? |
|
|
19 |
IMAGES OF SCIENCE |
Chs. 1 and 2 |
|
22 |
Language of social research |
|
|
24 |
Relationships: statistical
properties |
|
|
26 |
UNDERSTANDING TABLES AND
STATISTICS |
|
|
29 |
Relationships: hypothesis
statements |
Ch. 3: 64-68 |
|
31 |
Establishing cause and effect |
Ch. 3: 57-64 |
|
Feb. 2 |
INTERPRETING RELATIONSHIPS |
|
|
5 |
Conceptualization and
Operationalization |
Ch. 4: 76-86 |
|
7 |
Measurement levels; reliability
and validity |
|
|
9 |
OPERATIONALIZATION IN PRACTICE |
|
|
12 |
Reliability and validity
assessment |
|
|
14 |
First Midterm Examination |
|
|
16 |
REVIEW |
|
|
19 |
Basic sampling concepts |
Ch. 5: 111-118 |
|
21 |
Two sampling principles |
Ch. 5: 118-124 |
|
23 |
PRETEST HCSS INTERVIEW SCHEDULE |
|
|
26 |
Sampling distributions and margin
of error |
Reread ch. 5: 118-124 |
|
28 |
Sampling designs |
Ch. 5: 124-132 |
|
Mar. 2 |
SAMPLE DESIGN AND SIZE
CONSIDERATIONS |
|
|
12 |
Interviewer training for HCSS |
Ch. 8: 251-256 (including |
|
14 |
Experiments: key features and
stages |
Ch. 6: 155-171 |
|
16 |
INTERPRETING EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS |
|
|
19 |
Threats to internal validity I |
Ch. 7: 187-192 Homework
#3: W 6.II.1 |
|
21 |
Experimental designs |
Ch. 7: 192-206 |
|
23 |
EVALUATING RESEARCH DESIGNS |
|
|
26 |
Survey research: key features and
designs |
Ch. 8: 219-232 |
|
Date |
Topic |
Assignment |
|
28 |
Survey modes and steps |
|
|
30 |
SURVEY INSTRUMENTATION |
Ch. 9: 263-295 |
|
Apr. 2 |
Second Midterm Examination |
|
|
4 |
Review |
|
|
11 |
Qualitative versus quantitative
research |
|
|
13 |
USE OF AVAILABLE DATA/ CODING |
Ch. 11: 345-364 Homework
#5: W 10.II.1 |
|
16 |
Data processing and elementary
data analysis |
Ch. 14: 445-456 |
|
18 |
Elaboration |
Ch. 15: 483-496 |
|
20 |
ELABORATION EXERCISE |
Reread ch. 15:489-496 |
|
23 |
Discussion of HCSS findings |
Homework #6: W 15.II.2-3 |
|
25 |
Research ethics |
|
|
27 |
RESEARCH ETHICS EXERCISE |
|
|
30 |
Open |
|