Methods of Social Research I
Sociology 281
Class Times: M, T, W 9:10-10:00pm. Room 117 Berkey Hall
Instructor: Dr. Mullan, Room 406 Berkey Hall.
Tel: 353-8127.
Email:
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:15am to 12:00noon (or by appointment)
Teaching Assistants:To Be Announced
Office Hours: To Be Announced
The sociologist, then, is someone concerned with understanding society in a disciplined way. The nature of this discipline is scientific. This means that what the sociologist finds and says about the social phenomena (s)he studies occurs within a certain rather strictly defined frame of reference
Peter Berger, An Invitation to Sociology, p. 16.
INTRODUCTION
Social research methods are essential techniques for social scientists. The study of social research methods will sharpen your powers of critical thinking and evaluation and enable you to become a more intelligent gatherer and judge of information. One of the purposes of this course is to develop your critical decision making powers. Many social programs are shaped and evaluated by social research and businesses constantly rely on consumer/social research for decision making. This course will help you understand the logic and limitations of social research so that you can evaluate such research more effectively.
A clear understanding of the techniques necessary to develop sometimes vague ideas and hunches into relevant and testable hypotheses and questions is essential for all serious students of social science. Methods are available which permit social scientists to formulate testable questions and compile or collect information to enable us to answer such questions and to determine and assess the quality of the results. It is these methods, their ‘invention,’ implementation, and interpretation which are the focus of this course. In addition to learning how to theorize, conceptualize, and operationalize ideas and hypotheses and to evaluate results we will also concentrate on communicating those results in a convincing and competent manner.
Like the author of your textbook(s) I am convinced that students should learn that the activity of social research does not take place in a vacuum. Real people engage in social research, and they do so in a social and historical context that can affect their actions. The producers and consumers of social research need to reflect on how the larger context shapes research activities and how the knowledge created can, in turn, affect social and political relations. A second and related concern is that social researchers need to be on guard against ethnocentric perspectives or being confined by the assumptions, values, and beliefs of their own particular society. New, creative ways to do social research lie in exploring the interplay between perspectives and research techniques that can apply to only one culture and those that are more universal. With greater global communication and contact, students should become more sensitive to how and when the activity of social research does and not cross borders. Finally, students must appreciate that not only are both quantitative and qualitative styles of social research of value, but that the greatest benefit lies in combining them.
In addition to introducing you to the methods of social research, this class will also introduce you to basic descriptive and inferential statistics. The lectures and assignments making up the statistics component of this class follow three basic principles:
- Statistics is not about mathematics. Instead, it is a learned way of thinking about things.
- Mastery of the basic elements of statistical reasoning facilitates mastery of the more complex elements; therefore the learning process is cumulative.
- Statistics is learned by doing.
The first principle emphasizes that statistics is not about mathematics per se but about proportional thinking: the visualization of a part to the whole. This view on reality has been called the statistical imagination, a concept that parallels C. Wright Mills’ idea of the sociological imagination, which defines the relationship of the individual to the larger society (see The Statistical Imagination by Ferris Ritchey, McGraw Hill 2000). Similarly, the statistical imagination calls for viewing data in a number of larger contexts. First, observations of individual behavior are viewed within the context of the larger social structure. Second, conclusions about a large population of subjects based on a sample of those subjects are viewed as only one of many sets of conclusions, because a second sample will produce slightly different results. Third, interpretations of statistical data must take into account practical circumstances and cultural realities that provide the essential meaning of the numbers.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
It is assumed that you possess basic computer familiarity and keyboard skills. Computers are routinely used in research methods; data collection, coding, cleaning, analysis, and interpretation can be improved through the judicious use of computers. This course will introduce you to the SPSS package for Windows, a package of computer programs specifically designed for use with social science data. Data from a variety of sources will be used for in-class examples, homework exercises, and computer lab demonstrations. We will also incorporate research methods and research sources using the World Wide Web component of the Internet.
Assignments, Tests, and Students’ Responsibilities.
You are expected to attend all lectures (M, T, & W) and the associated appropriate computer lab session (on either Th or F) and to complete all reading assignments. All assignments will be drawn from the required texts and from the class lecture notes. Students are expected to check their email accounts regularly for news/information about this class. This is your responsibility; information distributed via email will be assumed to have been read by all students enrolled in Soc281. The instructor’s email address is and you are requested to put only the number 281 in the subject line of any email messages. Failure to put 281 in the subject line of any email communication will result in your email not being read by the instructor.
A WWW site ( for this class has been created and we will make extensive use of this web site. Please make sure that your www browser can access this site.
Required Texts:
W. Lawrence Neuman, Social Research Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches, 4th Edition, Allyn and Bacon, 2000. (ISBN: 0-205-29771-4).
Joseph F. Healey, Statistics: A Tool for Social Research, 6th Edition, Wadsworth, 2002. (ISBN: 0-534-55785-6).
Marija J. Norusis, SPSS 10.0 Guide to Data Analysis, Prentice Hall, 2000 (ISBN: 0-13-029204-4)
Homework:
There are two elements to the homework requirements for this class:
1)Read the assigned chapters in the required texts. I strongly recommend that you complete the review questions at the end of each chapter to consolidate your knowledge of the material.
2)There will be 10 (ten) required homework assignments. Each homework assignment will be graded out of 10 (ten) points. The first five homework assignments and their respective due dates will be distributed in class later this week. Completed homework assignments are to be handed to the Teaching Assistants in the computer lab sessions on the date specified. LATE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. The 10 homework assignments will count towards 33.3% of the final grade.
Computer Laboratory Sessions.
These lab sessions are an integral part of the class and attendance is mandatory. The lab sessions during the first half of the fall semester will focus on preparing for the homework assignments, reviewing the homework assignments, elucidating the material covered during lectures, and introducing you to the basics of the SPSS 10.0 statistical package. You are expected to have read the relevant chapters in the Norusis SPSS10.0 book prior to the lab sessions and, when assigned, to have completed the assignments from that book.
Tests
There will be a mid-term exam on Wednesday, October 10th, 2001 at 9:00am in the classroom in which the lectures are held. This exam will be multiple-choice format and will cover all materials assigned prior to that date. This mid-term will count towards 33.3% of the final grade.
The final exam will be a take home exam and will be distributed in class towards the end of the semester. The completed final exam must be submitted during class session on Wednesday, December 5, 2001. The final exam will count towards 33.3% of the final grade.
All tests items and questions on both examinations will closely parallel the home exercises, in-class examples, and lab examples. If you complete the homework assignments, correct any errors, and ask for clarification of the material you do not understand in lab and class, you have no undue difficulty with the examinations.
Miscellaneous Information:
Academic Honesty:
The College of Social Science/Department of Sociology adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades, and in the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades which are included in Spartan Life: 2000 Student Handbook and Resource Guide and on the MSU Web site.
Plagiarism: (from the Latin plagiarius, an abductor, and plagiare, to steal): Plagiarism is defined as presenting another person’s work or ideas as one’s own. You are expected to do your own work on all assignments. Students who plagiarize will receive a 0.0 on the assignment or will fail the course.
Accommodation for Disabilities:
If you are a student with a disability, who requires reasonable accommodations, please call the OPHS Disability Resource Center at 353-9642 or 355-1293 (TTY).
Dropping the Course:
The last day to drop this course with a 100% refund and no grade reported is September 20, 2001. The last day to drop this course with no refund and no grade reported is October 16, 2001. Make a copy of your amended schedule to verify that you have dropped the course. MSU’s calendar of academic dates can be found at
Missing Class:
If you miss class to observe a religious holiday, make arrangements in advance with the instructor. If you miss class to participate in a required activity for another course, provide the instructor with adequate advance notice and a written authorization from the faculty member of the other course.
LECTURE OUTLINE
I: An Introduction to Inquiry: Foundations
Week of:Readings
08/27
MondayIntroduction
TuesdayHuman Science & InquiryNeuman, Ch. 1
WednesdayHuman Science & InquiryNeuman, Ch. 1
09/03
MondayLabor Day: No Classes
TuesdayTheory and ResearchNeuman, Chs. 2 - 4
WednesdayTheory and ResearchNeuman, Chs. 2 - 4
09/10
MondayTheory and ResearchNeuman, Chs. 2 – 4
TuesdayTheory and ResearchNeuman, Chs. 2 – 4
WednesdayThe Ethics of Social ResearchNeuman, Ch. 5
II: The Structuring of Inquiry: Planning and Preparation
Week of:Readings
09/17
MondayResearch DesignNeuman, Ch. 6
TuesdayResearch DesignNeuman, Ch. 6
WednesdayResearch DesignNeuman, Ch. 6
09/24
MondayResearch DesignNeuman, Ch.6
TuesdayMeasurementNeuman, Ch.7
WednesdayMeasurementNeuman, Ch. 7
10/01
MondayMeasurementNeuman, Ch. 7
TuesdaySamplingNeuman, Ch. 8
WednesdaySamplingNeuman, Ch. 8
Norusis, Ch. 9
10/08
MondaySamplingNeuman, Ch. 8
Norusis, Ch. 9
TuesdaySamplingNeuman, Ch. 8
Norusis, Ch. 9
WednesdayMID-Term Examination
III: Statistics: Basic Descriptive Statistics
Week of:Reading
10/15
MondayBasic descriptive statisticsHealey, Chs. 1 – 4
Norusis, Chs. 1 - 4
TuesdayBasic descriptive statisticsHealey, Chs. 1 – 4
Norusis, Chs. 1 - 4
WednesdayBasic descriptive statisticsHealey, Chs. 1 – 4
Norusis, Chs. 1 - 4
10/22
MondayThe Normal CurveHealey, Ch. 5
Norusis, Ch. 10
TuesdayThe Normal CurveHealey, Ch. 5
Norusis, Ch. 10
WednesdayThe Normal CurveHealey, Ch. 5
Norusis, Ch. 10
IV: Statistics: Inferential Statistics
Week of:Reading
10/29
MondaySampling DistributionsHealey, Ch. 6
TuesdaySampling DistributionsHealey, Ch. 6
WednesdayEstimation ProceduresHealey, Ch. 7
11/05
MondayEstimation ProceduresHealey, Ch. 7
Norusis, Ch. 11
TuesdayHypothesis Testing IHealey, Ch. 8
Norusis, Ch. 11
WednesdayHypothesis Testing IHealey, Ch. 8
Norusis, Ch. 11
11/12
MondayHypothesis Testing IHealey, Ch. 8
Norusis, Ch. 11
TuesdayHypothesis Testing IIHealey, Ch. 9
Norusis, Chs 12-13
WednesdayHypothesis Testing IIHealey, Ch. 9
Norusis, Chs. 12-13
11/19
MondayHypothesis Testing IIHealey, Ch. 9
Norusis, Chs. 12-13
TuesdayHypothesis Testing IIIHealey, Ch. 11
Norusis, Ch. 16
WednesdayHypothesis Testing IIIHealey, Ch. 11
Norusis, Ch. 16
Week of:Reading
11/26
MondayHypothesis Testing IIIHealey, Ch. 11
Norusis, Ch. 16
Final Exam Distributed in Class
TuesdayHypothesis Testing IVHealey, Ch. 10
Norusis, Ch. 14
WednesdayHypothesis Testing IVHealey, Ch. 10
Norusis Ch. 14
12/03
MondayHypothesis Testing IVHealey, Ch. 10
Norusis Ch. 14
TuesdayHypothesis Testing IVHealey, Ch. 10
Norusis Ch. 14
WednesdayFinal Exam Due in Class