Soc 350-002                                                                              Wendy A. Weiner, Ph.D.

Introduction to Research Methods II                                          Office: 610-825-1444.

Summer, 2007                                                                           Beeper: 610-517-4469 (Press 5)

                                                                                                  email: wendy.weiner2@verizon.net

 

 

Syllabus

 

Classes:  T-TH 2:00p – 3:20p                                      Academic Building 107

 

Course Objectives:

The objective of this course is to apply the basic principles of social science research learned in the first half of the course (Soc 250). Through text and lecture you will be exposed to various methods of research. A major focus of this course is to allow you a Òhands-onÓ approach to gain experience in implementing the research process through a step-by-step design of a research project.

 

Text:

Babbi, E. (2007). The Practice of Social Research (11th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Huff, D.  (1993).  How to Lie with Statistics. New York, NY: Norton.

 

Course Requirements:

Class Lecture from Huff text – Group Project:  Each group will present the material from a chapter in HuffÕs book. This will be a short presentation. A short written synopsis will be required as well.

Research Project Papers – Group Project:  You will be responsible for developing and implementing a research study, from selecting a topic, to questionnaire design, running subjects, analysis, and final write-up. All development and running of the studies will be done in class, using the other students as subjects. We will work in teams, and the papers will be submitted as a team.

 

You will be responsible for a series of 4 papers including 3 shorter write-ups and 1 longer final paper, each paper representing a stage of the research process. Each team will administer their questionnaire during class time, and then present a summary of the findings during another class.

 

In Class Project:  This will be a critique of any advertisement or study you select. You can work in pairs to do the assignment. You must be in class to receive the credit.

 

Tests:  There will 1 Quiz given to test your knowledge of the text and the lectures.

 

Course Evaluation/Grades:

 

Grades will be based on the plus/minus system. They will be based on a total of 100 possible points:

 

Quiz:                           10

Huff lecture:               15

Class Project:             15

Research Project:       50 points total as follows:  P1-P3: 10 points each; P4: 20 points

Attendance:                10

 

Class participation may help to increase your grade. What is important here is the quality of the participation, not the amount.

 

Topic Order:

(All chapters from BabbiÕs text unless otherwise noted)

 

Huff                                                                Chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10

Review:                                                           Ch 5 (136-140; 143-149); Ch 14 (404-410);

Ch 16 (450-451; 455-458; 459-470)

Note: this is NOT an exhaustive list

Questionnaire Design                                       Chapter 9 (243-257)

Survey Research                                              Chapter 9 (257-end)

Experiments                                                     Chapter 8

Field Research                                                  Chapter 10

Reading and Writing Social Research               Chapter 17

Twenty QuestionsÉ                                         Appendix G (A24)

 

Skim the following:                                         Chapters 11, 12 (Unobtrusive Research, Evaluation Research)

Important Dates:

 

Huff Presentations                                          07/05/2007

Huff Presentations                                          07/10/2007

QUIZ 1                                                            07/12/2007 (Huff & Review Chapters ONLY)

Paper 1: Design of study                                  07/17/2007

Paper 2: Initial design of questionnaire                        07/26/2007

Paper 3: Piloting of questionnaire                    08/07/2007

Administration of questionnaires                   08/14; 08/16/2007

In-Class Project                                              08/21/2007

Class presentations                                         08/28; 08/30/2007

Paper 4: Final write-up                                     08/30/2007

 

All of your work is to be your own, or acknowledged (with a reference citation) as from another source. Plagiarism is a serious ethical offense that can result in a failing grade and will result in a letter to the University Judicial Board. Please review guidelines in the Drexel Student Handbook (pp 40-42).

 

Attendance:

It is my expectation that students will attend all classes (attendance will be taken for all classes). When you miss classes you may hinder your chance of understanding the material. We also miss out on your contributions to the class. Please be sure to sign the attendance sheet each class day as NO signatures will be accepted at a later date. If you miss more than 5 classes you will receive an ÒFÓ for the course. If you have a documented reason this must be in writing and on file with the professor.

 

 

Policies:  Late Papers, Absences and Make-ups:

 

It is your responsibility to be in class for all assignments, quiz, and presentations (others, as well as your own). Make-ups are not encouraged.

  1. Late Papers:
    1. A one point penalty will be applied for each day a paper is late. There will be no exceptions to this.
  2. Quiz and Class Projects:
    1. A make-up will only be given for a serious, documented reason.
    2. If you miss the quiz or a project YOU MUST notify the instructor (preferably via email) no later than 72 hours after the quiz or project (or within 72 hours of release from hospital) for rescheduling the quiz or project. Otherwise, you will receive an F (zero) for the quiz or project.
    3. Make-ups must be taken as soon as reasonably possible.
    4. There will be NO Make-ups given for unexcused absences for the quiz or class projects.
  3. As stated before, if you miss more than 5 classes you will receive an ÒFÓ for the course.

 

 

NOTE: The instructor reserves the right to change any parts of this syllabus. If so, you will be informed in class of any changes.