Fall, 2005 (Roos, Soc. 501)

Assignment 1: Conventional Wisdom and Thinking Causally (readings due September 21st, written assignment due September 28th)

The point of this assignment is to get you thinking about conventional wisdom and how it's sometimes right, but also sometimes wrong. Thinking through causal relationships in a logical way can help us determine the veracity of conventional wisdom.

To accomplish this assignment, read each chapter/article noted below (#'s 1 through 4 are from Freakonomics; the last was written by the same authors, and published in Slate Magazine). These readings are due September 21st, when we begin to address causality.

Written assignment:

Choose at least two of the readings noted below (#2 through 5 only) and summarize the causal relationships described in essay format. Sometimes these articles mention more than one causal relationship. If so, choose one of the major ones (i.e., one that illustrates the article's major point). Each causal relationship must have three variables. In each essay point out: your three variables; the bivariate relationship; the trivariate relationship; how the variables are conceptualized and operationalized; your units of analysis.

To illustrate your essays, summarize both your bivariate and trivariate relationships in figure form (circles and arrows).

Readings:

Levitt, Steven D., and Stephen J. Dubner. 2005. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything. New York: William Morrow.

1) Introduction: The Hidden Side of Everything

2) Ch. 4: Where Have All the Criminals Gone?

3) Ch. 5: What Makes a Perfect Parent?

4) Ch. 6: Perfect Parenting, Part II; or: Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet?

5) Dubner, Stephen J., and Steven D. Levitt. 2005. The Search for 100 Million Missing Women. Slate Magazine, May 24, 2005.

Assignments must be typed. Keep your writeup to a maximum of about 3 to 4 double-spaced pages.