Intermediate Methods of Social Research SOCIO 823

M W 1:05 – 2:20

201A Waters Hall

Kansas State University Spring 2009

Instructor: Spencer Wood Office: 202-E Waters Hall Office Hours: T 2:00-3:00 (Feel free to make an appointment for other times.) Office Phone: 532-7178 Email: sdwood AT ksu DOT edu DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES:

Sociology 823 “Intermediate Social Research Methods” introduces students to the elementary components and key debates of research design. In this course we will learn about imagining good research questions, the strengths and weaknesses of various research approaches, the basic issues surrounding validity and measurement, and key strategies for effective conceptualization. Socio 823 continues in the familiar tradition of “eager anticipation” of studying social research methods among graduate students. Perhaps, however, you are not feeling so eager, and your anticipation is fraught with anxiety. Do not panic! This is an intellectually stimulating and fun class! Further, this material presents really important foundational matters pertinent to good social research. I am very confident that each of you can master this material, thereby strengthening your analytical and intellectual skills.

COURSE MATERIAL: The following books are required. Additional readings will be provided electronically.

Required Texts: Andrew Abbott. 2004. Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences. Norton Press.

Bruce L. Berg. 2008. Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences, 7th Edition. Allyn and Bacon Press.

Edward G. Carmines and Richard A. Zeller. 1979. Reliability and Validity Assessment. Sage Publications.

Robert DeVellis. 2003. Scale Development: Theory and Applications, 2nd Edition. Sage Publications.

Floyd J. Fowler. 2008. Survey Research Methods, 4th Edition. Sage Publications.

Floyd J. Fowler. 1995. Improving Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation. Sage Publications.

Paul Spector. 1991. Summated Rating Scale Construction: An Introduction. Sage Publications..

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REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING

Assignment Summary: Class Participation 10 percent Research Assignments 10 percent Midterm 25 percent Final Exam 25 percent Research Paper 30 percent

Grade Scale: A 90-100 B 80-89 C 70-79 D 60-69 F 0-59

CLASS PREPARATION, ATTENDANCE, ACADEMIC INTEGRITY, AND DEADLINES You must arrive for class on time, having done all the required reading for the day, and prepared to discuss class material.

NOTE: Material that is not covered or discussed in class is still fair game for written assignments and exams, so it is up to you to raise questions about material you wish to discuss if they have not yet been raised.

You may study together for daily classes and the exams, and you may consult one another on the problem sets and small assignments, but you are not to copy one another’s work. This is your opportunity to shine and I want to see you do it!

This is a graduate seminar. Your participation is key and part of your evaluation! Though not required, attendance is strongly encouraged.

Please note: I want to assist you in your efforts to succeed. Therefore, any student with a disability who needs an accommodation or other assistance in this course should make an appointment to speak with me as soon as possible.

Statement Regarding Academic Integrity: “Kansas State University has an Honor & Integrity System based on personal integrity, which is presumed to be sufficient assurance in academic matters one's work is performed honestly and without unauthorized assistance. Undergraduate and graduate students, by registration, acknowledge the jurisdiction of the Honor & Integrity System. The policies and procedures of the Honor & Integrity System apply to all full and part-time students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate courses on-campus, off-campus, and via distance learning. The honor system web site can be reach via the following URL: www.ksu.edu/honor.

A component vital to the Honor System is the inclusion of the Honor Pledge which applies to all assignments, examinations, or other course work undertaken by students. The Honor Pledge is implied, whether or not it is stated: “On my honor, as a student, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this academic work.” A grade of XF can result from a breach of academic honesty. The F indicates failure in the course; the X indicates the reason is an Honor Pledge violation.”

Grading and Course Requirements: Grades will be determined by five course requirements: (a) class participation; (b) mini-assignments; (c) two take-home exams; and, (d) a final research paper.

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Class Participation – Class participation is STRONGLY encouraged and rewarded! This includes speaking up as we discuss readings and issues in class. In substitute of some of the mini-research assignments, I may ask students to lead discussion on certain days. You must be prepared to answer questions about the readings and contribute each and every class period. You will be called on and expected to be prepared.

Research Assignments – There will be approximately 5 research assignments. Each assignment will involve a preliminary foray into key components of your final research project. These research assignments must be typed and turned in on time.

Exams – There will be two take-home, open-resource exams -- a mid-term and a not explicitly comprehensive final. The exams will consist of a combination of essay questions and interpretation of the material covered in the lectures and readings.

Research Proposal – The research proposal can be on a topic of your choice. You are strongly encouraged to write a research proposal addressing problems you wish to investigate in your MA or PhD thesis. In these papers you should; a) Ask a reasonable and interesting sociological question; b) Produce a relevant literature review; c) Develop a thorough research design to guide your eventual investigation; and d) Discuss the likely outcomes of your study. A key step toward a successful project is the early identification of a dependent variable (which represents the “research topic” or focus of the research) and a set of independent variables believed to “influence” the dependent variable. A short, typewritten description of the topic for the research paper must be turned and approved by the professor no later than March 9th. All papers must be typed, follow a consistent professional stylistic guideline, and are due May 13 by 5 pm. Electronic copies not accepted.

Deadlines: Policy regarding final papers and incomplete grades: Incompletes are an unbelievable nightmare for graduate students and professors alike. They haunt students in terms of funding decisions and healthy experiences in graduate school. I will only grant an incomplete under extraordinary circumstances.

Important Dates to Remember: Mar. 4 Mid-term exam distributed Mar. 9 Short description of research paper topic is due Apr. 29 Final exam distributed May 4 and 6 Student presentations of research May 13 Research paper due

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SCHEDULE: Week Date Topic and Readings

1 19-Jan No Class (University Holiday) 21-Jan No Class METHODOLOGICAL OVERVIEW

2 26-Jan Introductions and Overview Heuristics and the Art of Social Research

Abbott, Methods of Discovery, Chapters 1 and 2. 28-Jan Abbott, Methods of Discovery, Chapters 3-7.

3 2-Feb Science and Sociology Lieberson, Stanley. 1992. “Einstein, Renoir, and Greeley: Evidence in

Sociology.” American Sociological Review 57:1-18. Latour, Bruno. 1987. “Literature,” Chapter 1 of Science in Action: How to Follow

Scientists and Engineers Through Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Gieryn, Thomas F. 1994. “Boundaries of Science.” Pp. 393-443 in Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, ed. By S. Jasanoff, G. E. Markle, J. C. Petersen, and T. Pinch. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

4-Feb No Class – Work on Research Question 4 9-Feb Causal Inference

Stinchcombe, Arthur. 1968. “The Logic of Scientific Inference.” Pp. 15-37 in Constructing Social Theories. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World.

Becker, Howard S. 1968. “Problems of Inference and Proof in Participant Observation.” American Sociological Review 23:652-660.

King, Gary, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. “Causality and Causal Inference.” Pp. 75-114 in Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

11-Feb Skocpol, Theda. 1984. “Emergent Agendas and Recurrent Strategies in Historical Sociology.” Pp. 356-389 in Vision and Method in Historical Sociology, ed. by T. Skocpol. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lieberson, Stanley. 1991. “Small N’s and Big Conclusions: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studeis Based on a Small Number of Cases.” Social Forces 70:307-320.

Gorski, Philip S. 2004. “The Poverty of Deductivism: A Constructivist Realist Model of Sociological Explanation.” Sociological Methodology 34:1-33.

Goldstone, Jack A. 2004. “Reasoning About History, Sociologically…” Sociological Methodology 34:35-61.

Gorski, Philip S. 2004. “A Brief Rejoinder to Goldstone: The Varieties of Deductivism.” Sociological Methodology 34:71-73.

METHODS OF INTERPRETIVE SOCIOLOGY

5 16-Feb Principles of Interpretive Understanding Weber, Max. 1968 (1949). “The Interpretive Understanding of Social Action”

and “Ideal Types and Theory Construction.” Pp. 19-33 and 496-507 in May Brodbeck (ed.), Readings in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences. London: MacMillan Press.

18-Feb The Case Study Berg, Chapter 10. Walton, John. 1992. “Making the Theoretical Case.” Pp. 121-138 in C. C. Ragin

and H. S. Becker (eds.) What is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Burawoy, Michael. 1991. “The Extended Case Method.” Pp. 271-300 in M. Burawoy (ed.), Ethnography Unbound: Power and Resistance in the Modern Metropolis. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

6 23-Feb Ethnography Berg, Chapter 6. Whyte, William Foote. 1955. “Appendix: On the Evolution of ‘Street Corner

Society.’” Pp. 279-358 in Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian Slum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Dunier, Mitchell. 1999. “Appendix: A Statement on Method.” Pp. 333-357 in Sidewalk. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

25-Feb Wacquant, Loïc. 2002. “Scrutinizing the Street: Poverty, Morality, and the Pitfalls of Urban Ethnography.” American Journal of Sociology 107:1468-1532 [esp. pp. 1471-86].

Dunier, Mitchell. 2002. “What Kind of Combat Sport is Sociology?” American Journal of Sociology 107:1551-1576.

7 2-Mar Interviewing Berg, Chapters 4 “A Dramaturgical Look at Interviewing,” and 5 “Focus Group

Interviewing.” 4-Mar Review for Exam I

**Examination I Distributed at the End of Class** **Due Mar. 9**

8 9-Mar No Class Proposal Topics Due With Examination I

11-Mar Tips on Writing a Research Proposal Berg, Chapter 12 Becker, Howard S. 1998. “Tricks,” pp. 1-9 in Tricks of the Trade: How to Think

About Your Research While You’re Doing It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

9 16-Mar Spring Break 18-Mar Spring Break SYSTEMATIC COMPARISON

10 23-Mar Experiments Shadish, William R., Thomas D. Cook, and Donald T. Campbell. 2002. Chapters

1, 3, 8, and 9 in Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Generalized Causal Inference. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

25-Mar Markovsky, Barry and Shane R. Thye. 2001. “Social Influence on Paranormal Beliefs.” Sociological Perspectives 44:21-44.

Pager, Devah. 2003. “The Mark of a Criminal Record.” American Journal of Sociology 108:937-975.

SURVEYS AND SAMPLING

11 30-Mar The Ritual of the Survey Reinharz, Shulamit. 1979. “The Ritual of Survey Empiricism.” Pp. 50-125 in On

Becoming a Social Scientist. San Franicisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Fowler, 2009. Survey Research Methods, Chapters 4-9.

1-Apr Fowler, 1995. Improving Survey Questions, Chapters 1-6. 12 6-Apr Validity and Reliability

Carmines and Zeller, Reliability and Validity, All. Devellis, Scale Development, Chapters 3 and 4.

8-Apr Scale Construction DeVellis, Scale Development, Chapters 5 and 6. Spector, Summated Rating Scale Construction, All.

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MEASUREMENT AND DATA COLLECTION ISSUES IN SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

13 13-Apr Sampling Becker, Howard S. 1998. “Sampling.” Pp. 67-108 in Tricks of the Trade: How to

Think About Your Research While You’re Doing It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Fowler, 2009. Survey Research Methods, Chapter 3. 15-Apr Sample Selection Bias

Berk, R. 1983. “An Introduction to Sample Selection in Sociological Data.” American Sociological Review 48:386-398.

14 20-Apr Analyzing Conditional Relationships with Crosstabs Rosenberg, Morris. 1968. The Logic of Survey Analysis. New York: Basic Books.

Chapters 5 and 6. 22-Apr Rosenberg, Morris. 1968. The Logic of Survey Analysis. New York: Basic Books.

Chapter 7. 15 27-Apr Multiple Regression

Schroeder, Larry D. 1986. Understanding Regression Analysis: An Introductory Guide. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Chapters 1-3.

29-Apr Schroeder, Larry D. 1986. Understanding Regression Analysis: An Introductory Guide. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Chapters 4 and 5.

Review for Exam II

**Examination II Distributed at the End of Class** **Due May 6th**

16 4-May Student Presentations of Research Ideas 6-May Student Presentations of Research Ideas

17 11-May No Class 13-May Final Research Proposals Due by 5 pm.