SOC 390R – Special Topics
Applied Social Research Methods, Winter 2009
TTH 1:30-2:45 pm. 2002 JFSB
Co-Instructors
Carol Ward Office: 2038 JFSB Phone: 422-3047 Office hrs: 12:00-1:30 pm
Patrick Panos Office: 2175 JFSB Phone: 422-1316
Other contributing faculty
Tim Heaton Office: 2033 JFSB Phone: 422-3280
Gary Bryner Office: 832 SWKT Phone: 422-3276????
Required Texts:
1. Francis Mulwa, 2008. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation of Community Projects. Nairobi, Kenya: Paulines Publications Africa.
2. Rabel Burdge, 2004. A Community Guide to Social Impact Assessment (3rd Ed.). Middleton, WI: Social Ecology Press.
Other Materials:
1. Lofland, John, Leon Anderson, Harold Snow, and Lyn Lofland. 2005. Analyzing Social Settings. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
2. American Indian Higher Education Consortium, 2008. “Indigenous Evaluation Framework Workshop Workbook.” Washington, DC: National Science Foundation.
3. Peter Rossi, Mark Lipsey and Howard Freeman, 2003. Evaluation: A Systematic Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
4. Ernic Stringer and Rosalie Dwyer, 2004. Action Research in Human Services. New York: Prentice Hall.
5. Michael Quinn Patton, 2002. Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
6. Bruce Berg, 2007. Qualitative Research Methods. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
7. David Fetterman, 1998. Ethnography: Step by Step. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Course Objectives:
1. Prepare students to enter a community or other social setting and conduct applied social research using appropriate methods, including needs assessments, social impact assessment, and program evaluation using approaches sensitive to the context, such as participatory evaluation and Indigenous Evaluation frameworks.
2. Code and analyze various types of collected data.
3. Report findings in formats appropriate for use by various audiences including development agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others.
Learning Outcomes - Diversity of research methodologies:
Objectives for this course support the following learning outcomes expected for sociology undergraduate courses (reproduced from Sociology department website):
· Graduates know the full range of methodologies, the basic epistemological assumptions associated with each, the criteria for evaluating quality research, and how to select and implement the appropriate method to test a hypothesis or address a research question.
· Graduates are able to estimate and interpret univariate and bivariate statistics and generalize their meaning to the appropriate population.
· Graduates know how to code and interpret qualitative data or how to code and prepare quantitative data for statistical analysis
· Graduates have the necessary skills to analyze data and summarize findings including
o basic familiarity with spreadsheet programs and statistical packages,
o the analytic process of comparing across categories,
o how to chart historical trends, and
· how to summarize findings for written or oral presentation.
General Skills Areas/Topics:
NOTE: The syllabus, assignments, announcements, special readings, etc. will be posted on Blackboard.
Course Grading Criteria:
1. Exams- 2 mid-term take-home essay exams (25% of your grade).
2. Applied social research applications/exercises - Students will form groups to use applied social research methods in local organizational settings, analyze the data and write about their experiences and results (25% of grade).
3. Project proposal – Each student will develop a proposal including applied social research methods for a particular research project. The proposal will be 7-10 pages, describing a study of your choice (actual or hypothetical) which should include the following: the research question, brief summary of relevant literature, the specific purposes, approaches and applied research methods planned or used, and plan for analyses of results (25% of grade)
4. Presentations on reading assignments, attendance and class participation - Each student will prepare a 1-2 page summary of several of the assigned readings and lead the discussion in class (your summary should be posted on Blackboard the day before we discuss the reading in class). The exact number of summaries for each student will depend on the size of the class. Everyone should be prepared to participate in discussions of the readings (25% of grade).
Class Schedule:
Week 1: January 6 and 8
Introduction to Course
Recommended readings: Stringer and Dwyer, Chapters 1-3.
· Overview of case study research: opportunities and limitations.
Week 2: January 13 and 15
Participatory Research Approach and its Relationship to Community Development
Readings: Mulwa, Chapters 1-3
· Community development and participatory evaluation research.
Week 3: January 20 and 22
Needs Assessment and Using Secondary Sources (Records and Document Collection)
Readings: Rossi et al., Chap 4; Mulwa, Chap 5 (pp. 99-102); Fetterman, Chap 3 (pp. 56-62).
· Needs Assessment
· Agency Records, Census data and UN data
· Secondary Analysis (Micro & Macro)
Week 4: January 27 and 29
Records and Document Collection
Preparation for applied research experiences: participant observation.
Readings: Mulwa, Chapter 5 (pp. 96-99); Fetterman, Chapter 3 (pp. 31-56).
Recommended readings: Lofland et al., Chapter 4, 6.
· Fieldwork – observation methods
· Observations in local settings
· Coding field notes (in-class exercise)
Week 5: February 3 and 5
Surveys and Interviews
Preparation for applied research experiences: interviews.
Readings: Mulwa, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 (pp. 104-122).
· Sampling
· Survey design (in-class exercise)
· Fieldwork – interviewing techniques: interview guides (in-class exercise).
Week 6: February 10 and 12
Individual Interviews and Coding Qualitative Data
Readings: Fetterman, Chapter 5; Berg, Chapter 11.
· Individual interviews in local settings.
· Transcribing and coding qualitative data
· Content analysis of qualitative data
· Manual analysis and use of NVivo
***Midterm exam 1: due February 19th
Week 7: February 17 (no class: Monday instruction) and 19
Social Impact Assessment
Readings: Burdge, Chapters 1, 3.
· Social impact assessment process
Week 8: February 24 and 26
Social Impact Assessment and Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation
Readings: Burdge, Chapters 4-6; Mulwa, Chapter 6.
· Social impact assessment exercises
· Participatory monitoring and evaluation
Week 9: March 3 and 5
Group Interviews and Use of Technology
Readings: Berg, Chapter 5; Mulwa, Chapter 5 (pp. 102-104; 123-43).
· Participatory Rural Appraisal
· Focus groups techniques
· Using video and audio technology
Week 10: March 10 and 12
Program Evaluation Design
Readings: Rossi et al., Chapters 2, 3, 7.
· Conventional program evaluation design
Week 11: March 17 and 19
Indigenous Evaluation Framework
Readings: AIHEC handbook chapters
· Indigenous evaluation design
Week 12: March 24 and 26
Web-based Assessment and Reporting
Readings: Mulwa Chapter 8; Fetterman, Chapter 6
· Web-based Assessment Program
· Reporting research results
***
Midterm exam 2: due March 31st
Weeks 13-15: March 31 – April 14
Using Applied Social Research for a Specific Project
Readings: Berg, Chapter 3; IRB tutorial
· Developing a research proposal
· Human Subjects Review process and ethical issues (handouts)
· International travel and field preparations
***Final Project Paper: Written Research Proposal (meeting all requirements for an IRB Application) due by Saturday, April 18th at 11:00 am.
NOTE TO STUDENTS:
While all students sign the honor code, there are still specific skills most students need to master over time in order to correctly cite sources, especially in this new age of the internet; as well as deal with the stress and strain of college life without resorting to cheating. Please know that as your professor I will notice instances of cheating on exams or plagiarizing on papers. See http://www.byu.edu/honorcode for specific examples of intentional, inadvertent plagiarism, and fabrication, falsification.
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