Course Overview

We live in an information society. In 21st  century America, the average person’s brain processes as much information in a day as the brain of someone living 500 years ago processed over an entire lifetime. To navigate this environment successfully, it is vital that we be able to critically evaluate the information we are exposed to, as well as claims and arguments based on it. As consumers of knowledge, we need to distinguish bad information from good, valid claims from invalid ones, and trustworthy sources from untrustworthy ones. As producers of knowledge, we need to ensure that our claims are sound, verifiable, and grounded in valid data. This is especially true for those of us  in the business of doing scientific research, which plays an increasingly central role in our society.

This course is designed to introduce students to the logic and methods of sociological research. It lays the groundwork for future methods courses without presuming that students have any prior research experience. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the conceptual tools and knowledge to think critically about and evaluate the many statistics and research findings reported in media, read and understand sociological research articles, conduct literature reviews, formulate answerable research questions and testable hypotheses, and design a basic research prospectus.

The course is divided into two parts. The first part of the course focuses on critical thinking about the practice and interpretation of research. It also offers an overview of popular research methods and theoretical frameworks and teaches basic statistical literacy. The second part of the course concentrates on the fundamentals of research design and methodology. Here we will cover a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, including ethnography, interviewing, conversation analysis, surveys, and experiments. We will consider which methods are best suited to which types of research questions, the strengths and limitations of each method, and how to conceptualize and develop a sociological research project.

Required Reading

There is no textbook for this course. All required reading will be posted on Canvas.

Accommodations

If you are in the Disabled Students Program and require in-class accommodations or assistance, please notify me  and your  TA  during  the  first  week  of classes.  Note that  alternative  exam accommodations should be arranged through DSP. Please make the arrangements far enough in advance that a proctor and alternate test location can be found.

Email Communication

Please include the subject heading “SOC 10 question” in all emails. I receive many emails and cannot guarantee that yours will get a timely response if it is not clearly labelled. Also, please keep questions short and specific. I am happy to discuss more involved questions in person during office hours or by appointment.

Evaluation

Your grade in this course will be based on four assignments, two exams (a midterm and a final), and section participation (note that section attendance is mandatory).

Assignments: Students will be given four short assignments over the quarter. The assignments are designed to develop your skills in reading research papers, critically evaluating arguments, formulating research questions, and conceptualizing research projects.

Exams: The midterm and final exams will cover the first and second halves of the course, respectively. They are non-cumulative. Each exam will consist of 50 multiple choice/true-false/fill- in-the-blank questions and will be written in class on the day indicated on the syllabus.

Late Assignment Policy: 2 percentage points will be deducted for each day an assignment is late. If an assignment is more that 7 days late, it will not be accepted, and the student will receive a grade of 0.

Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct

Plagiarism is a serious form of academic misconduct. Per University policy, if a student is caught plagiarizing, we will report them to the college, which may then take disciplinary action up to and including expulsion. Note that plagiarism covers not only human sources from which you borrow or lift material without proper citation, but also nonhuman sources, i.e., generative AI such as Chat GPT. Even if you put Chat GPT’s output in your own words, you are still plagiarizing. To avoid charges of plagiarism, therefore, DO NOT USE CHAT GPT (or other AIs) FOR ANYTHING RELATED TO THIS CLASS.

Grade Breakdown and Scale

Grades will be assigned using the following point distribution:

A+ = 97-100                C+ = 77-79                  F = 60 or less

A   = 93-96                  C   = 73-76

A-  = 90-92                 C-  = 70-72

B+ = 87-89                  D+ = 67-69

B   = 83-86                  D   = 63-66

B-  = 80-82                 D-  = 60-62