SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH TRADITIONS
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Sociology 4 |
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Winter 2006 |
Office hours: M, W 10:00 - 10:50, and by appt. |
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MWF 9:00 - 9:50 |
Ellison 2710, Ext. 3418 |
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Chemistry 1171 |
straits@soc.ucsb.edu |
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Introduction to the basic language,
logic, and techniques of major research traditions. Critical thinking in social
science, and relation of theory to research in, for example, experiments,
surveys, observational studies, historical and comparative approaches, and the
use of available data. (UCSB General Catalog)
Objectives:
This course is designed to help
you understand and critically evaluate basic research strategies, especially
those frequently encountered in upper-division sociology courses and in
everyday life.
Prerequisites:
Sociology 3 (or an equivalent
statistics course). No exceptions.
Requirements:
Students must attend the first class meeting and
regularly attend lectures to remain enrolled in the class. Reading assignments
should be completed before the indicated class meetings. The course grade will
be based on a midterm exam (25% of the total grade), weekly take-home
assignments (worth 35%), and a final exam (worth 40%). The assignment due dates
are firm: late assignments will be down graded one letter grade per day late.
There will be no early exams, no make-up exams, and no "extra credit"
ways to make up for poor or missed performance. Please check the dates of these
exams against your personal, athletic, and scholarly schedules; if there is
conflict you must drop the course now. Students with disabilities who qualify for
special arrangements must notify the instructor during the first week of class.
Texts and
Materials:
Therese L. Baker,
3d ed. Doing Social Research,
(McGraw-Hill, 1999).
UCSB Sociologists at Work
(Reader available at the Alternative,
Packet of weekly
assignments (also available at the Alternative)
Books
on Reserve:
Therese L. Baker,
3d ed. Doing Social Research,
(McGraw-Hill, 1999). [two copies]
Allan G. Johnson, Statistics, (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1988).
Royce Singleton, Jr. and
Bruce C. Straits, Approaches to Social
Research, 4th ed. (
http://www.holycross.edu/departments/socant/rsinglet/approaches2.htm
Web Sites:
General Social Survey homepage http://webapp.icpsr.umich.edu/GSS/
Java
statistical applets http://www.stat.duke.edu/sites/java.html
MicroCase homepage http://www.microcase.com/
Research methods links http://www.library.miami.edu/netguides/psymeth.html
Human Subjects Training http://hstraining.orda.ucsb.edu/training/
Part One - Design Choices
I. Approaches to Social Research
A.
Introduction. (January 9)
Baker, pp. 3-5 (Introduction), 8-43 (Varieties of Social-Scientific Research).
B.
Reading Research Reports (January 11)
Baker, pp. 45-72 (Science and Theory in Social Research),
87-95 (Whom or What to Study - The Units of Analysis; Time Dimension of the Study),
455-460 (major sections of a research paper).
Martin Luther King, Jr.
C.
Applications (January 13, 18, 20)
*C. Lee Harrington and Denise D. Bielby, "The
Mythology of Modern Love: Representations of Romance in the 1980s," Journal of Popular Culture 24
(1991):129-144.
*William T. Bielby and James N. Baron, "Men
and Women at Work: Sex Segregation and Statistical Discrimination," American Journal of Sociology 91
(1986):759-99.
Unit I Assignment Deadline (January 20)
II.
From Concepts to Measures
A. Concepts and Operational Definitions (January 23)
Baker, pp. 102-108 (Concepts; Operationalization and Measurement).
B. Reliability and Validity; Levels of Measurement (January
25)
Baker, pp. 108-131 (Validity; Reliability;
Types of Variables; Levels of Measurement).
C. Applications (January 27)
*Sarah Fenstermaker Berk and Donileen R. Loseke,
" 'Handling' Family Violence: Situational Determinants of Police Arrest in
Domestic Disturbances," Law and
Society Review 15(1980-81):317-346.
*Noah E. Friedkin, "Information Flow Through
Strong and Weak Ties in Intraorganizational Social Networks," Social Networks 3(l982):273-285.
Unit II Assignment Deadline (January 27)
A. Probability
and Nonprobability Sampling (January 30, February 1)
Baker, pp. 133-166 (basic principles, nonprobability
designs, probability sampling designs).
B. Applications (February 3)
*Richard P. Appelbaum, "Counting the
Homeless," Pp. 1-16 in Jamshid A. Momeni, ed., Homelessness in the
*Beth E. Schneider, "Coming Out at Work;
Bridging the Private/Public Gap," Work
and Occupations 13 (1986):463-487.
Unit III Assignment Deadline (February 3)
Part Two - Data Collection Methods
IV. Experiments
A. Introduction (February 6)
Baker, pp. 170-182
(logic of experimentation; examples), 186-190 (staging experiments).
B. Internal and External Validity (February 8)
Baker, pp. 182-186 (Internal Validity;
External Validity).
C. Designs (February 13)
Baker, pp. 190-198 (True Experimental Designs; Preexperimental
Designs; Quasi-Experimental Designs).
D. Applications (February 15)
*Bruce C. Straits, Paul L. Wuebben, and Anthony J.
Crowle, "Confession of Prior Knowledge about Experimental Procedures as a
Function of Evaluation Apprehension and Commitment," Social Science Research 11 (1982):227-244.
*Fay
Lomax Cook, Tom R. Tyler, Edward G. Goetz, Margaret T. Gordon, David Protess,
Donna R. Leff and Harvey L. Molotch, "Media and Agenda Setting: Effects on
the Public, Interest Group Leaders, Policy Makers, and Policy," Public Opinion Quarterly 47 (1983):16-35.
A. Introduction (February 17)
Baker, pp. 201-206
(introduction and examples).
B. Design and Administration (February 17)
Baker, pp. 207-237 (Design
of Questionnaires for Group or Self-Administration; Design of Face-To-Face
Interviews; Designing a Telephone Survey).
Unit IV Assignment Deadline (February 17)
Presidents’ Day
C.
Analysis and Interpretation (February 22)
Baker, pp. 372-378 (Strength of Relationship in Bivariate
Analyses; Data Analysis in the Causes of Delinquency Study), 378-390 (Elaboration).
D. Applications (February 24)
*John D. Baldwin and Janice I. Baldwin,
"Factors Affecting AIDS-Related Sexual Risk-Taking Behavior Among College
Students," The Journal of Sex
Research 25 (1988):181-196.
*Denise A. Segura, "The Interplay of Familism
and Patriarchy on Employment Among Chicana and Mexicana Women," Pp. 35-53
in Renato Rosaldo Lecture Series 5:
1987-88, Mexican American Studies and
Unit V Assignment Deadline (February 27)
A. Varieties of Field Research (February 27)
Baker, pp. 240-256 (Introduction; Forms; Art and Science;
Observation and Interviewing; General Components).
B.
Data Collection and Analysis (March 1)
Baker, pp. 256-265 (Design; Collecting Information).
*Mitchell
Duneier, "Slim and Bart". Pp. 3-22, 173-176 in Slim's Table,
*Sethard Fisher, "The Rehabilitative
Effectiveness of a Community Correctional Residence for Narcotic Users," The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology
and Police Science 56 (1965):190-196.
C. Conversation Analysis (March
3)
*Gene
H. Lerner, "Assisted Storytelling: Deploying Shared Knowledge as a
Practical Matter," Qualitative
Sociology 15 (1992):247-271.
Unit VI Assignment Deadline (March 3)
A. Sources of Available Data (March 6)
Baker, pp. 267-268 (Introduction); 284-286 (Unobtrusive Measures); 286-293 (Secondary Analysis).
B.
Data Collection, Analysis, and Interpretation (March 8)
Baker, pp. 269-277 (Content Analysis;); 293-298 (Analysis of
existing statistics; measurement issues).
*John Mohr, “Soldiers, mothers, tramps and others:
Discourse roles in the 1907
*Simonetta
Falasca-Zamponi, "The Aesthetics of Politics: Symbol, Power and Narrative
in Mussolini's Fascist
C. Historical and Comparative
Approaches (March 10)
Baker, pp. 278-284 (Historical Studies).
*John R. Sutton, "Social Structure,
Institutions, and the Legal Status of Children in the
*John Foran, "A Theory of Third World Social
Revolutions: Iran, Nicaragua and El Salvador Compared," March 1991
revision of paper presented at the 1990 Meetings of the International
Sociological Association, Madrid, Spain.
Unit VII Assignment Deadline (March 10)
Epilogue
VIII.
Multiple Methods (March 13)
Singleton and Straits [on
reserve], Chapter 12, "Multiple Methods", pp. 381-408.
IX. Ethics
(March 15)
Baker, Chapter 14, "The Ethics of Social Research", pp. 425-448
Final Examination (Wednesday, March 22, 8 – 11 a.m.)