Soc. 920:501, Sociological Research Methods I
Patricia A. Roos
Rm. A-342, Lucy Stone Hall
Phone: (732) 445-5848
Email: roos@rci.rutgers.edu
Office Hours: Thursday 1-2:30 p.m. (or by appointment)

I. Goals: The focus of this course is on the basic methods sociologists use. I also introduce descriptive statistical techniques to illustrate the logic of the research process. Throughout the semester, we will review the processes whereby researchers in the social sciences investigate theoretically informed hypotheses about the behavior of individuals and the organization of social institutions. The course will address the major components of the research process, including hypothesis testing, conceptualization and operationalization of theoretical concepts, modes of data collection, sampling, the elaboration paradigm, and the presentation and interpretation of research results. You will gain expertise in the practice of social research, learn elementary statistical analysis, learn the elements of SAS, and gain preliminary skills necessary to read and evaluate published work.

The course readings will consist of material from assigned books, SAS manuals, and reserve readings (on IRIS electronic reserve). The major focus will be on learning by doing. You will use SAS to investigate hypotheses you generate from the 1998 General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS codebook needed to use these data is available online. If you'd like to extract additional years, or special topical modules, check out the GSS web site.

II. Books: The following books are required (and available at the Livingston bookstore):

Alford, Robert T. 1998. The Craft of Inquiry: Theories, Methods, Evidence. New York: Oxford University Press.

Babbie, Earl. 2001. The Practice of Social Research. 9th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.

Lieberson, Stanley. 1987. Making it Count: The Improvement of Social Research and Theory. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Delwiche, Lora D., and Susan J. Slaughter. 1996. The Little SAS Book: A Primer. Second edition. Cary, N.C.: SAS Publishing. [I recommend you buy this book, but if you want to save money SAS manuals are available in the Sociology Computer Lab]

Other readings will be available online through IRIS, or at Kilmer Library reserve.

Other SAS volumes are located at the Sociology Computer Lab for your use, should you need additional information. If you want, you can follow the link to work your way through a SAS Tutorial.

III. Course Requirements: You will be evaluated in four ways:

1) An in-class open-book exam on the first two-thirds of the course material (November 7th; 30 percent).

2) A set of assignments that will test your comprehension of course material/readings and develop your analytic writing abilities (30 percent). Most of these assignments will involve using PC's in the Sociology Computing Lab. Assignments not turned in on the day they are due will automatically lose a grade each day they are late.

Tentative due dates:

Assignment 1: September 19th
Assignment 2: October 3rd
Assignment 3: October 17th
Assignment 4: November 21st

3) A final paper that will involve library research, data analysis, and interpretation; the final paper will build on the assignments; due December 12th (30 percent). I don't like incompletes, and you shouldn't either!

4) Course participation (10 percent). Each of you will "lead the discussion" on course readings one or more times during the semester, and will also present your ongoing work (October 3rd and December 5th). For proposals, class members should come prepared with comments for other presenters (e.g., suggestions for references, critical commentary). For both the mid-semester and final presentations, presenters will send around email copies of their preliminary writeups/tables two days prior the presentation. Class discussion will focus on comments and suggestions for revisions.

IV. Miscellaneous:

1) All assignments and the final paper must be typed. Use Word or Excel to prepare tables.

2) We have only 14 meetings, 3 of which are given over to exam/presentations. Attendance and participation is critical. The norm for graduate courses is: thou shalt not miss class!

V. Course Outline (see attached schedule of readings and due dates):

Unit 1: Research Design

Week 1 (September 5): Introduction to Social Science Inquiry

Week 2 (September 12): Research Design

Week 3 (September 19): Logic of Causation I

Week 4 (September 26): Logic of Causation II

Week 5 (October 3): Proposal presentations

Unit II. Collecting and Analyzing Data

Week 6 (October 10): Multivariate Arguments I: Classical Experiments and Quasi-Experimental Designs/ IRBs and Human Subjects Research

Week 7 (October 17): Multivariate Arguments II: Survey Research and Sampling

Week 8 (October 24): Interpretative Arguments: Field Research, Participation, Ethnography

Week 9 (October 31): Historical Arguments and Multiple Paradigms

Week 10 (November 7): In-class, open-book exam

Week 11 (November 14): Descriptive Techniques: Analyzing Crosstabs and Differences in Means

Unit III. Thoughts on Theory and Method

Week 12 (November21): Challenging Empirical Social Research

Week 13 (Tuesday, November 26): Toward a Solution? Integrating Theory and Method

Week 14 (December 5): Final paper presentations

FINAL PAPERS DUE: DECEMBER 12TH

Citations for Reserve/Other Articles:

Abbott, Andrew. 1988. The System of Professions: An Essay on the Division of Expert Labor. Chicago: University of Chicago. (Ch. 10 on electronic reserve; book on reserve)

Agresti, Alan, and Barbara Finlay. 1986. Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences. San Francisco: Dellen. (parts of Chs. 7 and 8 on electronic reserve; book on reserve)

Babbie, Earl. n.d. "Notes on Percentaging Tables. Unpublished notes. [click here]

Berk, Richard A. 1986. Review of Stanley Lieberson's Making it Count, and Otis Dudley Duncan's, Notes on Social Measurement. American Journal of Sociology 92:462-465. Available through JSTOR.

Clarke, Lee. 1989. Acceptable Risk? Making Decisions in a Toxic Environment Berkeley: University of California Press. (Appendix B on electronic reserve; book on reserve)

Collins, Randall. 1989. "Proscience or Antiscience." American Sociological Review 54:124-39. Available through JSTOR.

Conley, Dalton. 1999. Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth, and Social Policy in America. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Chs 1-2 on electronic reserve)

Hirschi, Travis, and Hanan C. Selvin. 1973. Principles of Survey Analysis. New York: Free Press. (Chs. 3-5 on electronic reserve; book on reserve)

IRB Readings:
1) NSF's Division of Contracts, Policy, and Oversight, Human Subjects Protection for the Social & Behavioral Sciences: [click here]

2) Rutgers Human Subjects Research Annual Memo: [click here]

Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press. (Appendix on electronic reserve; book on reserve)

Shea, Christopher. 2000. "Don't Talk to the Humans: The Crackdown on Social Science Research." Lingua Franca 10 (6). (click here)

Tilly, Charles. 1984. Big Structures, Large Processes, Huge Comparisons. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Waters, Mary. 1999. Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Chs. 1, 4, Appendix on electronic reserve; book on reserve)

Research and Writing Citations:

Becker, Howard S. 1998. Tricks of the Trade: How to Think About Your Research While You're Doing It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Clarke, Lee. 2000. "On Writing and Criticism"
[click here]

Rosenfield, Sarah. 1998. "Some Things to Think About While Reading Papers"
[click here]

Strunk, William Jr., and E.B. White. 2000. The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. New York: Allyn & Bacon.