Sociology 654 Fall 1997

Call # 05997 T/Th 10-12

Professor Ann R. Tickamyer

286 Lindley

voice: 593-1381

fax: 593-1365

email: tickamye@oak.cats.ohiou.edu

Office hours: T/Th 2-3, W 11-12, or by appointment

Course Objectives:

This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the multiple research methodologies used in sociological research. It is a survey course; thus emphasis is on breadth of coverage rather than depth.

Specific objectives include:

1) to provide exposure to basic methodological issues and controversies in sociological research;

2) to introduce a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods used in contemporary sociological research;

3) to assist in developing methodological approaches and strategies for use in your own research efforts;

4) to develop abilities to critically evaluate sociological research.

Course Content:

The course covers 4 related sets of topics. The first topic examines the philosophical and epistemological foundations of sociological research. The second area focuses on basic issues of research design. The third section covers different types of data collection strategies, research designs and analysis. The final area returns to the sociology of science as well as ethical and political issues of social research.

Required Texts:

Babbie, Earl. 1997. The Practice of Social Research, 8th ed. Wadsworth.

Davis, James. 1985. The Logic of Causal Order. Sage #07055.

Hult, Christine. 1996. Research and Writing in the Social Sciences. Allyn and Bacon.

Kirk, Jerome and Mark Miller. 1986. Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research. Sage Qualitative Research v. 1.

Lofland, John and Lyn Lofland. 1995. Analyzing Social Settings, 3rd ed. Wadsworth.

Additional Readings:

Diesing, Paul. 1991. How Does Social Science Work? Reflections on Practice. University of Pittsburgh.

Derkson, Linda and John Gartrell. 1992. "Scientific Explanation" Pp. 1711-1720 in Encyclopedia of Sociology v4. MacMillan.

Duncan, Cynthia M. and Nita Lamborghini. 1995. "Poverty and Social Context in Remote Rural Communities." Rural Sociology 59:437-461

Hung, Edwin. 1997. The Nature of Science: Problems and Perspectives. Wadsworth.

Meeker, Barbara F. and Gregory C. 1996. "Reward Allocations, Gender, and Task Performance." Social Psychology Quarterly 59(3):294-301.

Morrison, Denton E. and Ramon E. Henkel. 1970. "Significance Tests Reconsidered." Chapter 21 in Morrison and Henkel (eds) The Significance Test Controversy. Aldine.

Tickamyer, Ann R. and Teresa Wood. 1997. "Identifying Participation in the Informal Economy Using Survey Research Methods." Under review.

Course Expectations, Requirements, and Grading:

The course is conducted as a seminar in which all members of the class are expected to be active participants. It covers a lot of material and moves at a rapid pace. It is important to keep up with readings and assignments, to come to class, and to participate in discussion and group exercises. All assignments, exercises, and exams are due at the specified times and cannot be made up without prior approval (and only for dire emergencies or other extremely serious situations). Late assignments will be penalized 1/2 letter grade each day from the due date.

Each student will be expected to take turns leading class discussion jointly with other students and the instructor. Discussion leaders are responsible for preparing the formulating questions for discussion and meeting with the instructor prior to the class for which they are responsible.

Other requirements are a midterm exam, 2 small papers, and a term project. The 2 small papers should be used cumulatively to provide the foundation for the final term project which is a research proposal. This proposal should be suitable for a thesis or research grant proposal.

Grades will be based on the following:

Class participation and discussion leader: 20%

Midterm exam: 25%

Paper 1: 15%

Paper 2: 15%

Final project: 25%

Academic Misconduct. In accordance with university policy, as stated in the student handbook, academic misconduct, including cheating and plagiarism, will not be tolerated. Penalties can range from automatic failure to expulsion from the university, depending on the nature of the infraction.

Tentative Schedule and Assignments:

Note all dates and assignments are subject to change. Changes will be announced in class.

Week: Date: Topic: Assignment:

1 9/9-11 Philosophy/sociology of knowledge and science

Assign: Babbie Prologue, 1, 2

2 9/16-18 Foundations continued

Assign: Babbie 3, 4; Hung: 19-56; Diesing: 55-65

3 9/23-25 Research design, proposal writing, sources

Assign: Hult; Library

9/30 PAPER 1 DUE

4 9/30-1/2 Conceptualization, measurement

Assign: Babbie 5,6,7; Kirk and Miller

5 10/7-9 Sampling

Assign: Babbie 8; Morrison and Henkel

10/9 MIDTERM EXAM

6 10/14-16 Experiments, survey research

Assign: Babbie 9; Meeker and Elliott; Babbie 10; Tickamyer and Wood

7 10/21-23 Field research

Assign: Babbie 11; Lofland and Lofland; Duncan and Lamborghini

8 10/28-30 Unobtrusive methods, evaluation research, hermeneutics

Assign: Babbie 12, 13; Diesing: 104-145; article to be announced

10/30 PAPER 2 DUE

9 11/4-6 Quantitative methods, causation

Assign: Babbie 14,15, 16; Davis

10 11/11-13 Ethics, Politics, Uses

Assign: Babbie 18,19; presentations

11 11/24 FINAL PROJECT DUE