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UW-Madison SOC 357 - Syllabus

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1Sociology 357: Methods of Sociological Inquiry University of Wisconsin – Madison 2006 Fall Semester Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:30-10:45 Location: Social Science 6112 Instructor: Zhen Zeng Office: 4406 Social Science Office Hours: Wednesday, 10-12 Course Website: www.ssc.wisc.edu/~zzeng/soc357.htm Email: [email protected] Phone: 262-4436 Course Description This course teaches the basic research methods used by social scientists: survey, experimentation, field observation, and quantitative data analysis. We will discuss how to evaluate existing research, how to design informative research, how to collect, analyze, and interpret data. A special emphasis is placed on understanding the logic (as well as the “illogic”) of reasoning in social science. Basic statistics and statistical software (STATA) will be introduced. Background in research methods or statistics is not required. Textbook The following textbook is available for purchase at the University Book Store as well as on reserve at College Library. Schutt, Russell. 2006. Investigating the Social World (5th Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Additional readings are available on the course website. Requirements Readings: From the second class onward, a certain amount of reading is required for each class. Please complete the assigned reading before each class. Lectures will be given with the assumption that you have read the required readings and therefore will not go over basic materials that are adequately covered by the assigned readings. Valuable class time is reserved for critical analysis, synthesis, and discussion. Exercises: There will be seven exercises. Exercises are not graded but you must hand them in on the due dates to earn credits. The purpose of the exercises is to prepare you for the research project and the tests. I do read each exercise and sometimes give feedbacks.2Research Project: During the semester, you will have the opportunity to conduct a class project on a topic of your choice. You have two options as follows. Option A: You work with another student on a research project. You may wish to conduct your own survey, do a field study, or analyze an existing dataset such as the General Social Survey. Members of a research team may use identical results (such as tables, figures, and other summary information), but you are required to write your own paper. Option B: you may work alone on the class project. The possible range of research topics and styles is the same as in Option A, except that the scope of the study may be more limited. All projects will be presented to the class at the end of the semester. There will also be a research paper due on the last day of class. There is no page limit on the paper, but I recommend that you write a concise one (7-8 double-spaced pages). Specific instructions for the paper will be available on the course website. Tests: There will be two in-class tests and a final exam. All tests consist of multiple-choice questions and short open-ended questions covering material from both the lectures and the readings. The final exam is cumulative, while the two in-class tests are not. Example test questions and study guides will be available on the class website. Lecture notes, handouts, and exercises will be posted on the course website the evening before the class. Please print and bring your copy to class. Hard copies will not be distributed in class except in the first week. Grading Policies You final grade will consist of the following parts: Tests (2) 15*2 Final 25 Paper 25 Exercises (7) 2*7 Participation 6 ----------------------------- Total 100 Exercises are due at the beginning of the class on the dates given in the syllabus. No late work will be accepted. Research paper is due on the last day of class. A late paper will be penalized at 5 points (out of 25 points) per day. Copying somebody else’ homework will result in 2 points taken off the total grade (each incident). A plagiarized research paper will receive 0 point. In addition, the incident will be reported in writing to the Dean of Students. More information on academic misconduct may be found at the Offices of Dean of Students website http://www.wisc.edu/students/conduct/uws14.htm.3Schedule Class 1 September 5 Topic: Introduction Readings: None Class 2 September 7 Topic: Basic Concepts Readings: Chapter 1 Class 3 September 12 Topic: Theory and Research Readings: Chapter 2, Chapter 3 p. 69-79 Class 4 September 14 Topic: Basics of Research Design Readings: Chapter 6 p.177-189 Class 5 September 19 Topic: Causality in Social Science Readings: Chapter 6 Exercise 1 assigned Class 6 September 21 Topic: Conceptualization and Measurement 1 Readings: Chapter 4 p. 91-116 Class 7 September 26 Topic: Conceptualization and Measurement 2 Readings: Chapter 4, “Four Million Adolescents Smoke: Or Do They?” Exercise 1 due Exercise 2 assigned Class 8 September 28 Topic: The Process of Social Research Readings: Chapter 3, p. 53-68 Appendices B and C Class 9 October 3 Topic: Quantitative Data Analysis 1 Readings: Chapter 14 p. 441-466 Exercise 2 due Exercise 3 assigned Class 10 October 5 Topic: Quantitative Data Analysis 2 Readings: Chapter 14, “Criminal Violence of NFL Players”4 Class 11 October 10 Topic: Experiments Readings: Chapter 7; “Self-Experimentation” Exercise 3 due Class 12 October 12 Test 1 Class 13 October 17 Topic: Introduction to STATA (Lab) Readings: None Exercise 4 assigned Class 14 October 19 Topic: Sampling 1 Readings: Chapter 5 p. 132-160 Class 15 October 24 Topic: Sampling 2, Research Proposal Readings: Chapter 5, Chapter 3 p. 85-86, Chapter 15 p. 489-496 Exercise 4 due Exercise 5 assigned Class 16 October 26 Topic: Survey Research Readings: Chapter 8 Class 17 October 31 Topic: Examples using the General Social Survey Readings: “Gender and Environmentalism” Class 18 November 2 Topic: Indexes and Scales Readings: “Indexes, Scales, and Typologies” Class 19 November 7 Topic: Qualitative Field Research Readings: Chapter 9 Exercise 5 due Exercise 6 assigned Class 20 November 9 Topic: Evaluation Research Readings: Chapter 11, “Is Using a Car Phone like Driving Drunk?”5Class 21 November 14 Topic: Unobtrusive Research Readings: Chapters 12 13, “Who Wrote the 15th Book of Oz?” Exercise 6 due. Class 22 November 16 Test 2 Class 23


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UW-Madison SOC 357 - Syllabus

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