Sociology Research Methods Syllabus

Here's a syllabus for one of the semesters, Spring 2006, that I taught Methods of Sociological Inquiry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I used to post teaching and research materials on UW's website but didn't move those after I left. In the future, I'll re-create it, but I will post this syllabus for now in case someone is searching for some teaching ideas. Many of the links are no longer OK. (Not all of this is aligning correctly, so I'll try to fix it later.)

My version seems to be more hands-on with a variety of research activities and includes lots more historical examples, such as from The Philadelphia Negro by Du Bois because of his use of systematic observation and interviews in the study of race. Many of the readings in my sections of research methods ended up examining the topics of race and order using different methods. In addition to Du Bois on race, Duneier used mainly participant observation but also interviews, conversation analysis, a simple field experiment, and historical research. LaPiere ran a famous field experiment in the 1920s followed by a questionnaire, and there are the field experiments by Pager (black and white men, with and without criminal records, applying for jobs) and by Massey and Lundy (undergrads at Penn calling landlords about apartments).This Spring 2006 syllabus has less on order than what I assigned in previous semesters. That topic pops up in Du Bois, Duneier, as well as Zimbardo on street vandalism.

Sociology 357—Methods of Sociological Inquiry

Spring 2006, the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Lecturer: Chuck Ditzler

Office 7105 Social Science Building             Office Hours: Tuesday 11am-noon,

Office Phone:   262-7458                               Thursday 11am-noon, or by appointment

Email: cditzler@ssc.wisc.edu

Class Scheduled: TR   9:30am-10:45am        Class Location: 6232 Social Science Bldg.

Course Description

This is a hands-on course that introduces methods of sociological research. Two themes thread throughout much of this version of the course: recognizing facts inconvenient for one’s position and developing one’s imagination or ways of perception in research. 

The primary task of a useful teacher is to teach his students to recognize “inconvenient” facts—I mean facts that are inconvenient for their party opinions. And for every party opinion there are facts that are extremely inconvenient, for my own opinion no less than for others. I believe the teacher accomplishes more than a mere intellectual task if he compels his audience to accustom itself to the existence of such facts. I would be so immodest as even to apply the expression “moral achievement,” though perhaps this may sound too grandiose for something that should go without saying.  Max Weber “Science as a Vocation”

Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truth, while reality is fabulous. If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it with such things as we know, would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.  Henry David Thoreau “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” Walden

From the Undergraduate Catalog, 2003-2005:

357 Methods of Sociological Inquiry. (Crosslisted with Rur Soc) I or II or SS; 3-4 cr (I). Scientific methods and their application in the analysis of society; procedures in testing sociological theory: problem definition, hypothesis construction, collection and evaluation of data. P: So st; not open to stdts who have taken Soc 358.

Attendance

Students should attend class because the lectures assist with the understanding the readings and include material not covered in the readings. Material in lectures will be covered on the exams. Class participation makes up 5% of the final grade.

Special Needs

Please let me know as soon as possible of special needs for testing, assignments, note taking, or other aspects of the course.

Required Texts

1. Duneier, Mitchell. 1999. Sidewalk. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

2. Course pack

The book has been ordered through the University Book Store and at least one copy will be on reserve in the College Library. The course pack will be available at the Social Science Copying Center and will be put on reserve in the College Library. I will occasionally hand out in class photocopies of short readings or illustrations, and a few readings and audio files will be online.

Short Homework

Short homework assignments will include the following: short-answer reviews of the methods in research articles, simple research tasks, questions on the readings, and study guides for the exams.

Exams

There will be two exams. The second exam will be partially cumulative and held during the exam week time slot for this section, 12:25 pm Tuesday, May 9.  The exams will include multiple choice and short answer/essay questions that cover assigned readings, lecture material, and homework.

Major Research Projects

Participant observation: this project runs about 10 to 12 weeks and entails taking field notes in some activity that you participate in and then writing a five- to seven-page report.

Survey: the project begins in the week on surveys and entails creating a short questionnaire on a topic selected by you, administering it, conducting simple data analysis, and then writing a report of three to five pages.

Grading

            Short Homework:                                                         15%

            Exams:                                                                          35%

                Exam 1                    15%

                Exam 2                    20%

            Major Research Projects:

               Participant observation                                              20%

               Survey                                                                        10%

            Short Research Projects:  (each worth 5%)                  15%

               Content analysis and Sampling

               Systematic observation and Experiment

               Semi-structured interviews

            Classroom participation                                                 5%

            Total                                                                           100%

Table of key assignment dates

Short Research Projects                                           Due Date

Content analysis and Sampling                                  March 9

Semi-structured interviews                                         March 23

Systematic observation and Experiment                     March 30

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Major Projects

Participant observation project report due                  April 25                                            

Survey project report due                                           May 4

Calendar

Week One

1/17     Introduction to class

           

1/19     Key themes in sociological research: The examples of Du Bois’ The Philadelphia Negro and Duneier’s Sidewalk

1. Du Bois, W. E. B. [1899] 1967. “Chapter 1—The Scope of the Study” and “Chapter 2—The Problem” Pp. 1-9, “The Seventh Ward, 1896 [from Chapter 5]   Pp. 59-65, and Selected Schedules Pp. 400-3, 408-9 in The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study. New York: Schocken Books.

2. Du Bois, W. E. B.1968. “Chapter 12—University of Pennsylvania” Pp. 194-204 in The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century. International Publishers.

3. Duneier, Mitchell. 1999. Sidewalk.  New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Pp. 1-42 [We will try to finish Sidewalk by the end of January. Page assignments given in class.]

Week Two

1/24     Introduction to observation and recording observations

1. Macrorie, Ken. 1976. “Chapter 7—Fabulous Realities.” Pp. 51-7 in Writing to Be Read, Revised Second Edition. Rochelle Park, NJ: Hayden Book Company.

           

2. Kaplan, Abraham.1964.  “The Process of Observation.” and “Observation in Behavioral Science.”  Pp. 126-141 (top) in The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science. San Francisco, CA: Chandler Publishing.

1/26     Sociological inquiry as science and as art

1. Mills, C. Wright. 1959. “Chapter 1—The Promise [first part]” Pp. 3-9 in The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.

2. Nisbet, Robert. 1976 “Introduction” and “The Sources of Imagination” (first part) Pp. 3-16 in Sociology as an Art Form. London: Oxford University Press.

           

3. Kaplan, Abraham.1964.  “‘Scientific Method’ in Behavioral Science.” Pp. 27-31 in The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science. San Francisco, CA: Chandler Publishing.

Week Three

1/31     Research design and strategies: Overview and Choice of Research Topics

1. Przeworski, Adam and Frank Salomon. 1995 “On the Art of Writing Proposals: Some Candid Suggestions for Applicants to Social Science Research Council Competitions.” http://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/art_of_writing_proposals.page

2. Harding, Sandra. 1987. “Introduction—Is There a Feminist Method?” Pp. 1-13 in Feminism and Methodology. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

2/2       Research design and strategies: Relationship between theory and research

           

           

Week Four

2/7       Conceptualization and measurement: Concepts and measurement

1. Schutt, Russell K. 2004. “Chapter 4—Conceptualization and Measurement.” Pp. 85-112 in Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

2. Hochschild, Arlie Russell. 1983. “Preface” Pp. ix-x, “Chapter 1-Exploring the Managed Heart.” Pp. 3-23 in The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

3. Levine, Robert V. 2003. “The Kindness of Strangers.”  American Scientist 91: 226-.

                        http://www.americanscientist.org/articles/03articles/Levine.html

4.Colwell, Renee. 2003. “Letters to the Editor: New York Sixth Sense” American Scientist 91: 288.

2/9       Conceptualization and measurement: Measurement, validity, reliability

1. Schutt, Russell K. 2004. “Chapter 4—Conceptualization and Measurement.” Pp. 112-25 in Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

2. Ruane, Janet M. 2005. “Chapter 5—If It Glitters Is It Gold?: Assessing Measures.” Pp. 62-73 in Essentials of Research Methods: A Guide to Social Science Research. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Week Five

2/14     Sampling

1. Henry, Gary. 1990. “Chapter 2—Sample Selection Approaches.” Pp. 17-32 in Practical Sampling. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

2. Fraenkel, Jack, Norman Wallen, and Enoch I. Sawin. 1999. Pp.24-47; 92-5 in Visual Statistics: A Conceptual Primer.  Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

3. Trochim, William M. The Research Methods Knowledge Base, 2nd Edition.

Internet WWW page, at URL: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/contents.htm

 (version current as of January 16, 2005).

Chapter on Sampling: Sampling Terminology, Statistical Sampling Terms, External Validity, Probability Sampling, and Nonprobability Sampling

2/16     Sampling [continued]

Week Six

2/21     Causation, mechanisms, and models

1. Trochim, William M. The Research Methods Knowledge Base, 2nd Edition.

Internet WWW page, at URL: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/contents.htm

                        (version current as of January 16, 2005).

            Chapter on Design, section on Internal Validity: Establishing Cause and Effect, Single Group Threats (to internal validity), and Social Interaction Threats” (to internal validity)

           

2. Ruane, Janet M. 2005. “Causal Analysis” Pp. 76-89 in Essentials of Research   Methods: A Guide to Social Science Research. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

3. Tufte, Edward R. 1997. “The Decision to Launch the Space Shuttle Challenger.” Pp. 39-53 in Visual Explanations: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

           

4. Stanovich, Keith E. 1992. “Chapter 5—Correlation and Causation: Birth Control by the Toaster Method” and “Getting Things Under Control” Pp. 70-87 in How to Think Straight About Psychology, Third Edition. New York: Harper    Collins.

2/23     Causation [continued]/Content analysis and coding

1. Bernard, H. Russell. 2002. “Content Analysis” Pp. 476-83 [top] in Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches, Third Edition. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

2. Starks, Rodney and Lynne Roberts. 1998. “Content Analysis.” Pp. 251-9 in Contemporary Social Research Methods Second Edition. Bellevue, WA: MicroCase Corporation.

3. Goldberg, Bernard. 2002. Pp. 56-61 in Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing.

4. Nunberg, Geoffrey. 2002. “Label Whores: Bernard Goldberg’s Bias Points in the Wrong Direction” The American Prospect 13: 32-5

5. Geoff Nunberg’s commentary, use of conservative and liberal labels by the press, on NPR’s Fresh Air March 19, 2002, 6 minutes [requires Real Player] 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1140172

Week Seven

2/28     Asking Questions and Interviews

1. LaPiere, Richard T. 1934. “Attitudes vs. Actions.” Social Forces 13 230-37.

2. Robson, Colin. 2002.  “Interviews” Pp. 269-91 in Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers.  Second Edition.  Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

3. Optional: “Mush Polling” story on procedures used for a poll done before the 2004 Wisconsin Presidential primary broadcast on “This American Life,” March 12, 2004 http://www.thislife.org/ [In archives go to 03/12/04, click on the Real Audio icon on left side of program summary. Starts 43 minutes into program and lasts 15 minutes.]

3/2       Mid-term

Week Eight

3/7       Systematic observation: In the field/Ethics in research

1. Bernard, H. Russell. 2002. “Chapter 15—Direct and Indirect Observation.” Pp. 390-426 in Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Third Edition. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press.

           

2. McPail, Clark and John McCarthy. 2004. “Who Counts and How: Estimating the Size of Protests.” Contexts 3: 12-18.

3. Humphreys, Laud. [1970] 1976. “Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places.” Pp. 85-114 excerpted in The Research Experience, edited by M. Patricia Golden. Itasca, IL: F. E. Peacock Publishers.

4. American Sociological Association Code of Ethics. [skim to apply to Humphreys and Duneier]  

            http://www.asanet.org/galleries/default-file/Code%20of%20Ethics.pdf

3/9       Systematic observation: In the lab

1. Gladwell, Malcolm. 2005. “Chapter One—The Theory of Thin Slices: how a Little Bit of Knowledge Goes a Long Way.” Pp. 18-43 in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. New York: Little, Brown and Company.

2. “What Really Happens in Marriage? Story about John Gottman’s research broadcast on “The American Life,” March 26, 2004 http://www.thislife.org/ [In archives go to 03/26/04, click on the Real Audio icon on left side of program    summary. Story starts about 6 minutes into program and lasts for 23 minutes.]

           

3. Gottman, John Mordechai, James Coan, Sybil Carrere, and Catherine Swanson. 1998. “Predicting Marital Happiness and Stability from Newlywed Interactions.”       Journal of Marriage and the Family 60: 5-22.

--------------------------------------------Spring Break----------------------------------------------

Week Nine

3/21     Experiments: Overview and in the laboratory

1. Trochim, William M. The Research Methods Knowledge Base, 2nd Edition. Internet WWW page, at URL: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/contents.htm

                        (version current as of January 16, 2005).

            Chapter on Design:  Introduction to Design, Types of Designs, Experimental Design [Two-group Experimental Design, Classifying Experimental Designs, Factorial Designs, Randomized Block Designs, and Covariance Designs” (skim)]

           

2. Salkind, Neil J. 2006. “Experimental Designs” Pp. 218-228 in Exploring Research. Sixth Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

                       

3. Milgram, Stanley. 1963. “Behavioral Study of Obedience.” Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67:371-8.

4. Baumrind, Diana. 1964. “Some Thoughts on Ethics in Research: After Reading Milgram’s ‘Behavioral Study of Obedience.’” American Psychologist 19: 421-3.

           

5. Milgram, Stanley. 1964. “Issues in the Study of Obedience: A Reply to Baumrind.” American Psychologist 19: 848-52.

3/23     Experiments: In the field

1. Rosenhan, D. L. 1973. “On Being Sane in Insane Places.” Science. 179: 250-8. reprinted in  Stern, Paul C. and Linda Kalof. 1996. Pp. 156-72 in Evaluating Social Science Research. Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.

2. Stern, Paul C. and Linda Kalof. 1996. Pp. 172-6 in Evaluating Social Science Research. Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.           

3. Zimbardo, Philip G. 1969. “The Human Choice: Individuation, Reason, and Order versus Deindividuation, Impulse, and Chaos.” Pp. 237-307 in Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 1969. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. [read   middle p. 282-top of p. 293]

4. Massey, Douglas S. and Garvey Lundy. 2001. “Use of Black English and Racial Discrimination in Urban Housing markets.” Urban Affairs Review 36: 452-69.

5. Optional:  Pager, Devah. 2003. “The Mark of a Criminal Record.” American Journal of Sociology 108: 937-75. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJS/journal/contents/v108n5.html

Week Ten

3/28     Surveys

1. Davis, James A. 1976. “Are Surveys Any Good, and If So, for What?” Pp. 32-8 in Perspectives on Attitude Assessment: Surveys and Their Alternatives, edited by H. Wallace Sinaiko and Laurie A. Broedling. Champaign, IL: Pendleton Publications.

2. Michael, Robert T., John H. Gagnon, Edward O. Laumann, and Gina Kolata. 1994. “Chapter 2—The Sex Survey” Pp. 15-41 in Sex in America—A Definitive Survey. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.

3. Readings to be announced on the US Census and the General Social Survey

3/30     Survey questionnaires

1. Payne, Stanley L. 1951. Pp.16-31 in The Art of Asking Questions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

           

2. Fowler, Floyd J. Jr. 1998. “Design and Evaluation of Survey Questions.” Pp. 343-74 in Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods edited by Leonard Bickman and Debra J. Rog. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

3.  Bradburn, Norman M., Seymour Sudman, and Brian Wansick.2004. “Chapter  12—Asking Questions FAQs.” Pp. 315-33 in Asking Questions: The Definitive Guide to Questionnaire Design—For Market Research, Political Polls, and Social and Health Questionnaires, Revised Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey- Bass

Week Eleven

4/4       Questions and composite measures

1. Alreck, Pamela L. and Robert B. Settle. 1995. “Chapter 5—Creating Item Scales” Pp. 113-41 in The Survey Research Handbook, Second Edition. Boston, MA: Irwin McGraw-Hill.

2. Sewell, William H., Archibald O. Haller, and Alejandro Portes. 1969. “The Educational and Early Occupational Attainment Process.” American Sociological Review 34: 82-92.

4/6       Focus groups

1. Berg, Bruce L. 2001. “Chapter 5—Focus Group Interviewing” Pp. 111-31 in Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. Fourth Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Week Twelve

4/11     Field research, ethnography, and participant observation

1. DeWalt, Kathleen M. and Billie R. DeWalt. 2002. “Chapter 1—What Is Participant Observation?” Pp. 1-13 in Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers. Lanham, MA: AltaMira Press.   

2. Spradley, James P. 1980. “Chapter One—Ethnography and Culture” and “Chapter Two—Ethnography for What? [first part]” Pp. 3-21 in Participant Observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

3. Gans, Herbert J. 1982. “The Virtues of Participant Observation.” Pp. 414-7 in  The Urban Villagers: Group and Class in the Life of Italian-Americans. Updated and Expanded Edition. New York: Free Press.

4. Duneier. “A Statement on Method.” Pp. 333-57 in Sidewalk.

4/13     Field research, ethnography, and participant observation [continued] 

1. Wacquant, Loic. 2002. “Scrutinizing the Street: Poverty, Morality, and the Pitfalls of Urban Ethnography.” American Journal of Sociology 107: 1468-1532. [read pp.1468-86]

2. Duneier, Mitchell. 2002. “What Kind of Combat Sport Is Sociology?” American Journal of Sociology 107:1551-76.

Week Thirteen

4/18     Historical and comparative methods

1. Diamond, Jared. 1999. “Why Is World History Like an Onion?”; “Prologue: Yali’s Question [first part]”; “Epilogue: The Future of Human History as a Science.” Pp. 9-11, 13-7, 405-25 in Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies.  New York: W. W. Norton and Company.

2. Mills, C. Wright. 1959. “Chapter 8—Uses of History [first part] Pp. 143-51 in  The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.

4/20     Mixed or multiple methods/Choice of methods

1. Sampson, Robert J. and Stephen W. Raudenbush. 2004. “Seeing Disorder: Neighborhood Stigma and the Social Construction of ‘Broken Windows’.” Social Psychology Quarterly 67: 319-42.

Week Fourteen           

4/25     Data analysis: Introduction, analysis of survey results, & GSS data1. SDA: Survey Documentation and Analysis [instructions on use handed out]

            http://sda.berkeley.edu:7502/index.htm

Optional for reference:

a. Lane, David M. 2003. HyperStat Online Textbook

http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html

b. StatSoft, Inc. 2004. Electronic Statistics Textbook. Tulsa, OK: StatSoft

                        http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html

4/27  Data analysis: Continued

Week Fifteen

5/2       Other methods

1. Rauch, Jonathan. 2002. “Seeing Around Corners.” The Atlantic Monthly 289: 35-48.

           

5/4       Wrap-up and review

5/9       Final exam 12:25 pm, Tuesday [location to be announced]