INTRODUCTION TO QUANTITATIVE SOCIAL RESEARCH

(GEOG 225;EDUC 225;POSC 225;SOAN 225)

Classroom and Meeting Time:

6 Persson, MWF 9:30 a.m.

Instructor:

Robert Elgie, Dept. of Geography, 15 Persson/ Office Hours: TuTh 1-2:30; Friday 2-3:30

Phone: 228-7258/Email:

This is a course on quantitative research methodology in the social sciences. The course will help you to become better consumers and producers of quantitative social research. By this I mean that it will help you to read reports of research and to design and conduct research studies yourself. These are skills that significantly improve the marketability of social science students. Consistent with these objectives, we read and evaluate quantitative research reports and engage in quantitative social research. As part of this process you will gain a familiarity and facility with statistics and with computer software to summarize data and perform statistical tests. Every attempt will be made to make the course relevant to students from education, political science and sociology/anthropology as well as geography.

Attendance Policy:

Regular class attendance is expected. Assignments will be given for most classes and should be completed and submitted on time. In addition, certain classes will require full class attendance for the course to run smoothly. From experience I can guarantee that students who do not attend class regularly do not do well.

Grading Elements:

Two Tests @ 20 points per test 40 points……….28.5 percent

Six graded projects @ 10 points per project 60 points……….43.0 percent

Two graded projects @ 20 points per project 40 points……….28.5 percent

All late projects will be penalized. The normal penalty will be one letter grade per class period late. No student may pass the course without submitting all projects within one week of the submission deadline.

Texts: (All are available in the bookstore)

·  David Dooley, Social Research Methods. Prentice-Hall, 1995.

·  Geography 225 Guide to Data Analysis Methods for Social Science Students.

·  Geog 225 Resource Packet

TOUR GUIDE TO THE COURSE.

Quantitative Social Research: an Overview

Read:

DOOLEY, chapters 1 and 2.

Elgie, Suskauer and Weyer, The structural bases of commitment to environmentally

responsible behavior among college students. (In RESOURCE PACKET)

The following two published examples of quantitative social research available on Case Library Reserve and on the course web site.

·  Daniels, Glynis, and Samantha Friedman, 1999. Spatial inequality and the distribution of industrial toxic releases: evidence from the 1990 TRI, Social Science Quarterly 80(2);244-262.

·  Ehrhardt-Martinez, Karen. 1998. Social determinants of deforestation in developing countries: a cross-national study, Social Forces 77(2):567-586.

Complete ASSIGNMENT 1

Theory Construction

Read: DOOLEY, chapter 4.

Read:The following unpublished research statements of purpose and conceptualizations available in the Geog. 225 Resource Packet.

·  Baser, Charles, Goldstein, Deborah, and Bertelson, Page. 1997. College student attitudes toward school-based condom availability programs.

·  Sparrow, Wendy, and McKinley O’Brien, 1998. Attitudes of college students toward the impeachment of a President.

·  Haranczak, Kim, Chris Kobos and Robert Elgie, 1999. Student attitudes toward capital punishment.

Read: The following published research statements of purpose and conceptualizations available on Case Library Reserve and on the course web site.

·  Quillian, 1995. Prejudice as a response to perceived group threat. American Sociological Review 60: PP. 586-592 ONLY.

·  Mouw, Ted, and Yu Xie, 1999. Bilingualism and the academic achievement of first- and second-generation Asian Americans: accommodation with or without assimilation? American Sociological Review 64(April): PP 232-240 ONLY.

·  Kaufman, Karen, and John Petrocik, 1999. The changing politics of American men: understanding the sources of the gender gap, American Journal of Political Science 43(3): PP. 864-877 ONLY.

Complete ASSIGNMENT 2.

Research Design

Read: DOOLEY, chapters 9, 10, 11, 12.

Measurement

Read: DOOLEY, chapters 5 and 6.

Complete ASSIGNMENT 3

Survey Research Concepts

Read: DOOLEY, chapter 7.

Read: Selected problem statement/questionnaire examples in Geography 225 RESOURCE PACKET

TEST ONE---emphasis on DOOLEY chapters.

Class Survey Research Project/The Design Component

Complete ASSIGNMENT 4

Describing Distributions using Tables, Graphs and Statistics

Read: GUIDE TO DATA ANALYSIS, chapters 1 and 2.

Complete ASSIGNMENT 5

Introduction to Hypothesis Testing and Statistical Inference

Read: GUIDE TO DATA ANALYSIS ,chapter 3.

Comparing Groups: T-Tests, ANOVA and Chi-Square

READ: GUIDE TO DATA ANALYSIS, chapter 4.

Complete ASSIGNMENT 6

Studying Relationships: Regression and Correlation

Read: GUIDE TO DATA ANALYSIS, chapter 5.

Complete ASSIGNMENT 7

Studying Relationships: Measures of Association for Nominal and Ordinal Data

Read: GUIDE TO DATA ANALYSIS, chapter 6.

TEST TWO--covers DATA ANALYSIS METHODS chapters.

Class Survey Research Project/The Analysis Component

Complete ASSIGNMENT 8

DUE: During the regularly scheduled final exam time for this course.

3