Kuechler

BASIC RESEARCH METHODS
Section 01 Monday & Thursday 9:45-11:00 HW 407
Section 51 Monday & Wednesday 5:25-6:40 HW 522
Office Hours Monday 4:00-5:00 and by appointment (call 772-5588) HW 1628

Objectives: This course will provide an overview on various research methods in sociology (but also used in political science, public administration, education, and similar fields). It will deal with general plans to carry out empirical social research and with different ways of obtaining and utilizing data.

Most students do not seek a career as a social researcher. Yet, many will be in a position where they will make use of social research. Therefore it is important to understand how sociologists gain their knowledge: How they find out why marriages fail, what effect a divorce has on the children, how the public feels about the homeless, what effect the spread of AIDS has on the sexual behavior of singles, what causes urban unrest, or exactly how ethnic neighborhoods differ from mainstream middle-class settings. In most sociology courses, results of social research are discussed and you focus on the substance of the matter. Here you will gain knowledge of the 'inner workings' of social research.

Approach: The course has been redesigned to better serve the needs of the large majority of sociology students at Hunter taking into account the average level of preparedness and the significant time constraints many students face due to work and/or family obligations. The class survey project, central to the course in previous semesters, has been dropped. Student with a stronger interest in methods and/or with plans to pursue graduate studies are encouraged to take additional research-oriented classes beyond this basic course. However, the course maintains its emphasis on the "practical side of research" in contrast to a discussion of more abstract issues in methodology and philosophy of science. Fortunately, a new textbook has become available that follows the same practice and substance oriented approach. Methods will be discussed in close connection to real, substantive sociological questions.

Prerequisites: Students must have taken SOC 101 ('Introduction to Sociology'), no exceptions. The course is open to Sociology majors only and no more than 30 students will be accepted into each section.

Requirements: Students must complete all reading assignments prior to class, and they must submit all assignments on time. I mean it! Don't take this class, if other obligations will keep you from devoting quite a bit of time to this course every week. There will be frequent homework assignments. Though the homework assignments are optional, experience shows that it is very difficult to do well in this class without spending sufficient time on the homework assignments.

I will base your course grade on three components:

To obtain a passing grade for the course, you must obtain a grade of "D" or better for at least one of the classroom exams. The course grade will be the average of the two classroom exam grades. By doing homework assignments (correctly) you can earn bonus points which will improve your course grade by up to one full grade. Example: If you make a "D" and a "B" in the classroom exams, your average is "C". However, if you have worked successfully on homework assignment throughout the semester, you will receive a "B" for the course. However, you need to do all homework assignments by the deadline specified to receive credit. This stipulation is necessary to provide timely feedback to students completing their homework on time. Same rules and same opportunities for everybody! Finally, as a matter of principle, I do not assign the grade of 'incomplete' at the end of the semester.

Midterm/Final Exam: These exams will mostly consist of 'short answer' questions though they may also contain a multiple choice section.

Homework assignments: There will be a series of homework assignments throughout the semester, for the most part "chapter exercises" taken from the textbook and other assignments related to the textbook chapters. Typically, you will have a week to do an assignment.

Textbook: Unfortunately, textbooks has become more and more expensive. The one we will use is not cheap either, but with a suggested retail price of $42.95 it is about $10 lower than the text I have used in previous semesters (Babbie). In addition, with the new course format, only one single textbook is required:

Russell K. Schutt: Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1996. (ISBN 0-8039-9010-3)
Given that the book was recently published, there will be no used copies (at a slightly lower price). The textbook contains a diskette with computer-assisted exercises that students can do on their own. However, use of this diskette is strictly optional.

Weekly Schedule: As in previous semesters, the Senate of Hunter College has made up an academic calendar that has classes follow a Monday schedule on September 17 (a Tuesday) and October 9 (a Wednesday). In contrast to previous semesters, these "Mondays" occur in weeks where there is also a regular Monday -- not in week where the regular Monday is an observed holiday. What better way to make it really difficult for students to reconcile their work obligations with their studies. What are these "senators" thinking and why don't the student representatives speak up? So, if the weekly schedule below looks kind of weird, it's not my idea.

Weekly Schedule
SECTION 01 SECTION 51 TOPIC READING
Sep 5 Sep 4 Course Overview ---
Sep 9, 12 Sep 9, 11 Science, Society, and Social Research Chapter 1
Sep 16, 17, 19 Sep 16, 17, 18 The Process and Problems of Social Research Chapter 2
Sep 26 Sep 25 Conceptualization and Measurement Chapter 3
Sep 30, Oct 3 Sep 30, Oct 2 Causation Chapter 4
Oct 7, 9, 10 Oct 7, 9 Sampling Chapter 5
Oct 17 Oct 16 Research Design and Validity: Case Studies Chapter 6
Oct 21, 24 Oct 21, 23 Experiments Chapter 7
Oct 28 Oct 28 Review Session Chapters 1-7
Oct 31 Oct 30 MIDTERM EXAM
Nov 4, 7 Nov 4, 6 Survey Research: Questionnaire Design Chapter 8/part 1
Nov 11, 14 Nov 11, 13 Survey Research: Modes of Administration Chapter 8/part 2
Nov 18, 21 Nov 18, 20 Field Research Chapter 9
Nov 25, Dec 2 Nov 25, 27, Dec 2 Multiple Methods: Case Studies Chapters 10
Dec 5, 9 Dec 4, 9 Reporting Research Results Chapters 12
Dec 12 Dec 11 Review Session Chapters 8-12
Dec 19
11:30-1:30 		Dec 18
5:20-7:10 		FINAL EXAM