Winter 2001-2002

 

Introduction to Sociology – Sections 003 & 004                                                          Professor:  Smith Scheffer

 

Location:                               To be determined

Class Meetings:                  Section 003 - 8:00am – 9:20am; Section 004 - 9:30am – 11:00am

Office Hours:                       by appointment only

Phone:                                   (215) 222-1113 (O); (215) 222-3668 (F)

E-mail:                                   grs23@drexel.edu

Required Text:                     Gelles, Richard J. and Levine, Ann, Sociology: an Introduction. 6th edition.

                                                Charon, Joel M., The Meaning of Sociology, A Reader. 6th edition.

Suggested Texts: Strunk, Jr., William and White, E.B., The Elements of Style. 4th edition

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 4th edition

 

Course Description:

Sociology provides an understanding of how societies, cities, neighborhoods, communities, organizations, professional associations, and families (all that is learned and shared) influences our daily lives.

 

Course Objectives:

ź         Apply the sociological perspective to their lives.

ź         Further personal development through knowledge and to the socialization process.

ź         Analyze present behavior in terms of cultural and sub-cultural environment.

ź         Assess present and possible future effectives of social change on your culture and basic values.

ź         Depict the effects of living in a modern complex society.

 

Expectations:

It is expected that students come prepared to class in order to participate in the activities and discussion.  It can be expected that the instructor will come prepared and on time for each class. 

 

Course Requirements:

                The following activities need to be completed in order to obtain a grade:

 

Attendance

Attendance is required.  Missed classes and lateness affect your grade negatively.

 

Class Participation

Students are expected to participate in all activities during the class period.  Completion of assigned readings and attendance is required in order to participate. You will need to bring your textbook The Meaning of Sociology, A Reader to each class.

 

Reading Assignments and Written Assignments

All reading assignments from your textbook Sociology, an Introduction are homework assignments due as noted on the syllabus.  All written assignments are expected to be typed, double-spaced, with 1” margins.

 

Mid-Term

                A mid-term examination may be administered.

 

Final Research Paper

You will participate in a group research project.  An 8-10 page research paper must be submitted in APA manuscript format without exception.  Each students needs to demonstrate mastery of the material in an in-depth fashion, meaning they need to demonstrate solid understanding of the issues involved from both a theoretical and personal point of view.  The criteria are located on pages 4 – 6.  A minimum of 5 references is required.  Final Research Papers are due Tuesday, March 5, 2002 without exception.

 

 

Grading:                Class Participation                                                               15%

Article Reviews/Assignments/Midterm                           40%

                                Final Research Paper and Presentation                            45%

 

 

Semester Outline:

 

Thursday, January 3rd                         Course Introduction

 

                                                                Part I – Introducing Sociology

 

Tuesday, January 8th                           Reading Assignment:          Chapter 1 The Sociological Perspective

                                In-class:                                 Article 2, p. 8

 

Thursday, January 10th                        Reading Assignment:          Chapter 2 Science and Theory in Sociology

                                                                Final Project – Criteria, Select Groups and Discuss Topics

 

                                                                Part II – Dynamics of Social Behavior

 

Tuesday, January 15th                         Reading Assignment           Chapter 3 Culture

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 36, p. 208

 

Thursday, January 17th                        Reading Assignment:          Chapter 4 Socialization through the Life Course

In-class:                                 Article 10, p. 38

 

Tuesday, January 22nd                         Reading Assignment:          Chapter 5 Social Structure

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 18, p. 82

 

Thursday, January 24th                        Reading Assignment:          Chapter 6 Social Interaction and Social Groups

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 15, p. 64

 

Tuesday, January 29th                         Reading Assignment:          Chapter 7 Deviance and Social Control

                                                                                                                Article 43, p. 246

Guest Speaker

 

                                                                Part III – Social Inequality

 

Thursday, January 31st                        In-class                                  Article 40, p. 230

                                                                Shadow of Hate

 

Tuesday, February 5th                         Reading Assignment           Chapter 8 Social Stratification

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 22, p. 106 & Article 23, p. 113

 

Thursday, February 7th                        Reading Assignment           Chapter 9 Racial and Ethnic Stratification

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 26, p. 133 & Article 29, p. 151

 

Tuesday, February 12th                       Reading Assignment           Chapter 10 Gender Stratification

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 35, p. 196

 

 

                                                                Part IV – Social Institutions

 

Thursday, February 14th                      Reading Assignment           Chapter 11 The Family

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 51, p. 300

 

Tuesday, February 19th                       Reading Assignment           Chapter 12 Education

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 56, p. 335

 

Thursday, February 21st                      Reading Assignment           Chapter 13 Religion

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 54, p. 315

 

 

 

Tuesday, February 26th                       Reading Assignments         Chapter 14 Politics

Chapter 15 The Economy and Work

                                                                In-class:                                 Article 47, p. 273

 

                                                                Part V – The Changing Shape of Society

 

Thursday, February 28th                      Reading Assignments         Chapter 16 Population, Global Ecology, and Urbanization

Chapter 17 Collective Behavior and Social Movements

In-class:                                 Article 58, p. 351

 

Tuesday, March 5th                              Research Project Presentations

 

Thursday, March 7th                            Research Project Presentations

Criteria for Final Research Project

 

The Process of Sociological Inquiry:

(adapted from Sociology by Appelbaum)

 

1.        Define your research question

 

Be clear about what you are studying.

Formulate a clear statement about what interests you – about what you hope to learn.

Your first task should be to clarify exactly what it is you hope to find out.

 

2.        Review the existing knowledge base

 

You’re the detective!!

Begin with an extensive review of the existing literature on your topic.  This includes, but is not limited to:  published studies, unpublished papers, books, government document, periodicals and newspapers.

 

3.        Select appropriate methods of inquiry

 

Think about how your research question can best be answered.

Which of the many methods are best suited to your problem?

Which method (methods) will provide you with the best results for your particular research project?

Which one best suits your personal style of inquiry?

 

4.        Consider the ethical implications

 

5.        Conduct your inquiry

 

The central part of any research project.

This is the phase that you will acquire the base for making your own original contribution to the sociological understanding of your topic.

Be aware of your own biases and preconceptions.

Strive to be as objective as possible.

Try not to let your feelings get in the way of conducting good, solid research.

 

6.        Draw your conclusions by analyzing your data

 

If your project is quantitative, this will entail coding your data into a computer and using a statistical program to analyze it.

If it is more qualitative, this stage involves carefully reviewing and organizing field notes, documents, and other sources of information.

Be aware of the degree to which your data support your findings.

Avoid drawing conclusions that are speculative or unwarranted by your research.

Know if your results support or contradict your initial theory or hypothesis, or are simply inconclusive.

You should refer back to the theories on which your research was based, and consider how those theories are supported or might be modified in light of your results.

 

7.        Communicate your results to others

 

This is your completed research paper and in-class presentation during the week of March 4th.

The presentation grade is based on three categories: 

 

Verbal Skills – Articulation, Volume, Inflection, Pace, Noise, and Clarity

 

Visual aids – Appropriateness, Readability, Audibility, Professional, Operations, and Synchronized

 

General:          Structured, Transitions, Organized, Prepared, Content, Knowledge, Questions, Fear Control, Creative, and Enthusiastic

 

Major Types of Research:

 

Survey Research

 

§         The most common and most well known sociological research techniques are surveys.

§         First define the group of people for who generalizations are to be made – population universe.

§         From the population universe, a sample must be selected.

§         The sample is either random (probability) sampling or nonprobability sampling.

§         Once the sample is constructed and drawn, the questionnaire is administered.

§         Questionnaires are primarily closed-ended which forces the respondent to choose from among predetermined alternative responses (where the respondent checks a box indicating the preferred response)

§         Advantage of surveys

o        Permit the researcher to draw conclusions about large numbers of people o the basis of a much smaller number of interviews

o        Provide the researcher with exact responses that have known margins of error so they are easily coded into variables for analysis

o        They often permit the research to see patterns that would not be evident from other forms of research.

 

Fieldwork (Ethnography)

 

§         Rooted in a particular community or society.

§         Can be used to shed light on global processes.

§         Strongest roots in anthropology, where it remains the principal method of gathering data.

§         Its strength is that it can provide a deep, sympathetic, extremely rich and detailed understanding of the lives of others.

§         Its weaknesses include the fact that it can be extremely time-consuming, requiring years in the field to collect and analyze information.

§         There’s an ever present danger of researchers becoming so identified with people they are studying that objectivity is lost

§         Highly interpersonal type of research requiring intense involvement with other people and finely developed “people-oriented” skills.

§         Consist of:

o        Interviews

o        Detached observation

o        Participant-observation

 

Participatory Research

 

§         Designed to involve the subjects of the research in the research process itself

§         Usually tied in with community action

§         Conducted when a group or community wants to engage in some form of social change but lacks the expertise to do so

§         Researcher is invited to become a fully engaged member of the social change process, helping the members of the group to conduct necessary research and training them in the techniques for doing so.

§         Appropriate strategy when a primary goal is to empower people in a community or organization to acquire the necessary expertise to conduct their own research.

§         Its principal shortcoming lies in the highly engaged approach to research, which may make detachment and objectivity difficult.

 

Experiments

 

§         Laboratory studies

§         In sociology, a typical experiment includes volunteer subjects how are randomly assigned to two groups – experimental and control.

o        Experimental group – receives some special attention base on the cause being studied.

o        Control group – does not

§         The subjects do not know to which group they have been assigned, and seldom know the true purpose of the experiment.

§         The advantages are:

o        Permit precise control of the experimental conditions, enabling the researcher to isolate such specific causes (such as exposure to violent images in the media).

o        This is also a weakness in that the laboratory setting fails to duplicate a more natural setting.

 

Working with Available Information

 

§         Working with data collected by other people, almost always for purposes other than research at hand.

o        Statistical Data:

§         Includes numerical information obtained from government agencies, businesses, and other organizations that collect data for internal or external use.

§         Advantage is that it’s already available since someone else has collected it.

§         Disadvantage is that statistical data may be of questionable validity and reliability, and since it was not originally collected with a researcher’s specific purpose, it may not provide the exact information this is required.

o        Documentary Analysis

§         Analysis of written material – studies that have been done, records of meetings, newspapers, and other forms of test, produced by individuals, government agencies, private organizations, and other sources.

§         Look at materials with a critical eye, double-checking other sources for accuracy where possible.

o        Comparative-Historical Research

§         Studies of several different countries, as well as examination of changing historical patterns in a single country.

§         Conclusions drawn are based on similarities and differences between countries, as well as on changes over time.

§         Seek to identify patterns common to the different times and places.

§         Disadvantages are that the data may be incomplete, inaccurate, and sometimes deliberately biased; gaps in historical records; and it may be difficult or impossible to obtain access to crucial information.

 

 

List of Publications in Sociology:

 

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but is meant to provide you with a starting point as to where to find ideas and research for your final projects

 

American Journal of Sociology

American Sociological Review

International Journal of Comparative Sociology

Journal of Poverty Research

Race and Society

Public Opinion Quarterly

Social Science Research

Sociological Inquiry

Sociological Quarterly

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology

The Sociological Review

International Journal for the Sociology of Law