Department of Sociology

Indiana University, Bloomington

S370: Sociological Methods

Spring 2006

Professor Wilde

Office: BH 774

Phone: 856-0480

e-mail: mwilde@indiana.edu

Office Hours:

Tuesdays: 11:00 – 11:30 a.m. (by appointment only)

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (Drop-in)

Thursdays: 2:30-3:30 p.m. (S370 only, by appointment only)

Lecture: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00 – 2:15 p.m., BH 205

AI: E-mail: Labs: Tues.

Kristin Geraty kgeraty@indiana.edu 4093 9:05-9:55 a.m. BH 342A 4094 10:10-11:00 a.m. BH 342A 4095 11:15-12:05 p.m. BH 342A

Overview: This course will give students an understanding of the common research methods social scientists use to conduct social research – in other words, we will be learning how “to do” sociology. Ethnographic, interview, survey, and historical research methods will be covered. Three themes will be explored: 1) the various advantages and disadvantages of those methods, 2) when the use of one method is appropriate or inappropriate for the research question, and 3) how to evaluate researchers’ claims on the basis of the evidence they present. These themes will be explored by reading examples of, and through papers using, each of these methods.

Required Books: The following three books have been chosen because they provide a good example of each of the research methods covered in the course. As the only example of each method that we will examine, all three of the books must be read thoroughly and completely. The exams will focus on the readings.

Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nausbaum. 1974. Salem Possessed. Harvard University Press.

Jay Macleod. 1995. Ain’t No Making It. Westview Press.

Christian S. Smith et al. 1998. American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving. University of Chicago Press.

Optional Reading:

Howard Becker. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists. University of Chicago Press. This is an excellent and fun read about common writing mistakes and pitfalls. If you are struggling with your writing or receiving low writing grades, you must buy this book.

Evaluation: The grade scale for this course is: A+ (100- 98), A (98-94), A- (93- 90), B+ (89-87), B (86-84), B – (83-80), C+ (79-77), C (76-74), C – (73-70), D+ (69-67), D (66-64), D – (63-60), F (<60). Course grades are determined by four criteria:

1. Exams: There will be three exams: two mid-terms and a final. Each of the exams will focus on the particular research method and book being studied, but will also be cumulative, in the sense that students will be expected to be able to make comparisons between the methods and books examined earlier and later in the course. The exams will consist of definitions, short answer questions and one essay each. In total the exams will be worth 40% of the final grade: 10, 10, and 20 percents respectively.

2. Papers: Students will complete two papers using two of five methodological options, AS THEY PERTAIN TO ONE TOPIC OF THEIR CHOICE. This means that students will have to focus in the first few weeks of class on finding a topic of interest to them, and figuring out which of the methods would be best suited to that topic. This will be done in conjunction with lecture and labs, and if problems arise, students are encouraged to visit office hours for one-on-one help. In total, the papers are worth 40% of the final grade, 20% each. Late papers will lose a partial letter grade (A to A- to B+, etc.) for every day they are late unless a valid excuse is provided (doctor’s note, death in the family or other emergency).

3. Class Participation: Class participation will be worth 20% of the final grade. Class participation includes:1.) attendance, which is mandatory for all lectures and for labs as noted, 2.) students’ familiarity with the readings and concepts covered in the course as demonstrated by class discussion (these two parts total 10% of your final grade), and 3.) on-time completion of un-graded assignments which pertain to the papers (these three assignments total 10% of your final grade, or 4, 3 and 3% each). Students are allowed two unexcused absences before they are penalized. All assignments and papers should be kept in a folder which students will hand-in, so that the instructors will be able to check for continuity and improvement between each paper and assignment. During the last third of the semester, students will have the option to present their research papers to the class for one extra credit percentage point.

4. Intensive Writing Grade: As part of the intensive writing component of this course, students will receive a separate grade on all papers that assesses the style and clarity of their writing which will be used to determine whether you pass the writing intensive part of the course. Re-writes are allowed for papers that receive lower than a B. The grades on the two papers will be averaged. Students are allowed only one rewrite per semester. Your AI will look over drafts of papers if you want feedback before turning the paper in, but you must hand it in at least one week before the paper is due.

Class Schedule:

Part I: Watching People: Participant Observation/ Ethnography and Longitudinal Designs

Week	Date	Topic and Assignments
1	Tuesday, January 13	Class 1: Introduction to the Course and Ain’t No Makin’ It
	Thursday, January 15	Class 2: Chapters 1-3 of Ain’t No Makin’ It. Understanding the Sociological Enterprise, Figuring out Macleod’s research question and theory, and Meeting the Brothers and the Hallway Hangers.
2	Tuesday, January 20	No Class: Meet with Kristin about your project (sign-up sheets will be passed around for both of us Thursday, Jan. 15^th).
	Thursday, January 22	Class 3: Chapters 4 and 6 of Ain’t No Makin’ It. The independent, or explanatory, variables of the Family and School
3	Tuesday, January 27	Class 4: Chapters 5 and 7 of Ain’t No Makin’ It Independent variables of employment records Dependent variables of aspirations and expectations Assignment # 1 due.
	Thursday, January 29	Class 5: Chapter 8 – of Ain’t No Makin’ It. Social Reproduction Theory Reconsidered Visit from Lisa Kurz from the Writing Center. Assignment #1 returned.
4	Tuesday, February 3	Class 6: Part Two , Chapters 9 and 10 of Ain’t No Makin’ It. The Advantages of Longitudinal Research How do the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers fare? Assignment #2 due for option A or B.
	Thursday, February 5	Class 7: Methodological Appendix to Ain’t No Makin’ It. · Assignment # 2 is returned.
5	Tuesday, February 10	Class 8: Mid-Term Exam #1

Class Schedule: Part II: Talking to People: Interview and Survey Methods
5
	Thursday, February 12	Class 9: Introduction to Part II and Chapter 1 of American Evangelicalism “How would you study American Evangelicals?”
6	Tuesday, February 17	Class 10: Methodological Concepts Validity, Reliability and Bias.
	Thursday, February 19	Class 11: Appendix A The Research Methods of American Evangelicalism. Paper #1 is due for either option A or B.
7	Tuesday, February 24	Class 12: Appendix B Constructing a Self-ID measure of American Evangelicals
	Thursday, February 26	Class 13: Chapter 2 and Practice Reading Cross-tabs
8	Tuesday, March 2	Class 14: Paper # 1 is returned, and we spend the class talking about writing.
	Thursday, March 4	Class 15: Chapters 3 and 4 Theories in the Sociology of Religion Smith’s Theory about American Evangelicals
9	Tuesday, March 9	Class 16: Chapter 5 of American Evangelicalism. Measures of Evangelical Strength More practice interpreting Cross-tabs Assignment #3 due for option A, B, C, D or E.
	Thursday, March 11	Class 17: Chapters 6 and 7 of American Evangelicalism Religion in Modern Society Ironies of Evangelicalism
	March 16 and 18	Spring Break!
10	Tuesday, March 23	Class 18: Advantages and Disadvantages of: Participant Observation In-depth Interviews Survey Research
	Thursday, March 25	Mid-Term Exam # 2

Class Schedule: Part III: Understanding the Past: Historical-Comparative Research
11	Tuesday, March 30	Class 19: No Class: · Meet with Kristin about your Final Paper. Discuss Assignment #3
	Thursday, April 1	Class 20: Watch The Crucible, and meet the main actors in the Witch Trials.
12	Tuesday, April 6	Class 21: Intro to Historical Comparative Methods · How do we figure out why the Salem Witch trials happened? · Primary and Secondary Materials Data Issues Comparisons with One Case
	Thursday, April 8	Class 22: Prologue and Chapters 1 and 2 of Salem Possessed: Sampling in Historical Research Counter Factuals Salem Village before the Trials.
13	Tuesday, April 13	Class 23: Chapter 3 and the first half of Chapter 4 of Salem Possessed: Salem Village right before and after the Trials Correlations between the divisions in Salem Village
	Thursday, April 15	Class 24: Second Half of Chapter 4 of Salem Possessed: What Caused the Division in Salem? What was at Stake?
14	Tuesday, April 20	Class 25: Chapters 5, 6 and 7 of Salem Possessed The Porters versus the Putnams. Samuel Paris First Draft of Final Paper due in Lab
	Thursday, April 22	Class 26: Conclusion of Salem Possessed and a discussion of History versus Historical Comparative Sociology Final Paper due For A, B, C, D or E.
15	Tuesday, April 27	Class 27: Review of the Entire Course – Defend Your Favorite Method.
	Thursday, April 29	Class 28: Review of Entire Course – Which Method is Best, When, and Why? Final Paper returned in class.
Tuesday, May 4^th 12:30-2:30 p.m.		Final Exam

Lab Schedule:

Part I: Watching People: Participant Observation/ Ethnography and Longitudinal Designs

Week	Date	Topic
1	Thursday, January 14 Room BH 342A	Discuss topics for research paper Mandatory for all students (This first lab is being held on Thursday, rather than the normally scheduled Tuesday If you can, attend the lab at your normally scheduled time, or any other lab. We will also schedule a lab for Thursday evening and pass around a sign-up sheet.)
2	Tuesday, January 20 Room BH 342A	Discuss the independent/dependent variables, and research questions of your research project
3	Tuesday, January 27 Room BH 342A	Lab 1: PO: practice field notes (Mandatory for all students). Lab 2: Interviewing: practice interviews, pre-test questions, introduction to Qual lab, check out equipment (Mandatory for all students). Lab 3: PO: practice field notes (Mandatory for all students).
4	Tuesday, February 3 Room BH 342A	Lab 1: Interviewing: practice interviews, pre-test questions, introduction to Qual lab, check out equipment (Mandatory for all students). Lab 2: PO: practice field notes (Mandatory for all students). Lab 3: Interviewing: practice interviews, pre-test questions, introduction to Qual lab, check out equipment (Mandatory for all students).

Lab Schedule: Part II: Talking to People: Interview and Survey Methods

5	Tuesday, February 10 Room BH 342B	Learn how to use GSS Mandatory for all students conducting or thinking about conducting analysis of the GSS – Option D (at any point during the project).
6	Tuesday, February 17 Room BH 342A	Go over Exam #1
7	Tuesday, February 24 Room BH 342A	Tutorial on reading and interpreting cross-tabs.
8	Tuesday, March 2 Room BH 342A	No Labs: Meet with Kristin about developing your Assignment 3 and Final Paper. Sign-up sheets will be passed around in class.
9	Tuesday, March 9 Room BH 342B	Learn how to code and enter data into SPSS. Get feedback on your survey questions. Mandatory for all students administering their own survey – Option C (at any point during the project).

Lab Schedule: Part III: Understanding the Past: Historical-Comparative Research

	Tuesday, March 16	Spring Break – No labs
10	Tuesday, March 23 Meeting place TBA	· Visit to the archives
11	Tuesday, March 30 Room BH 342A	· Go over Exam #2
12	Tuesday, April 6 Room BH 342A	Examining the story of Salem through the primary archival materials Mandatory for all students
13	Tuesday, April 13 Room BH 342A and B	Help Entering Your Own Survey Data, or Analyzing Your GSS Cross-Tabs, or any other questions about your analysis.
14	Tuesday, April 20 Room BH 342A	Mandatory Writing Workshop for Final Paper. Students will exchange papers with the intention of achieving three goals: General feedback on your argument presentation of evidence Feedback on the organization of your paper. Careful proofreading and editing (finding and eliminating passive voice, grammatical errors, etc.).
15	Tuesday, April 27 Room BH 342A	Final Exam Review