SYA6306:
Methods of Social Research II
Spring
2008
Class: Thursdays
3:00-6:00 p.m. in Turlington 2303
Lab:
Friday 10:40-11:30 a.m. in CSE E211A
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Instructor |
TA |
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Name: |
Monika
Ardelt, Ph.D. |
Rachel
Hallum |
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Office: |
3350
Turlington |
3305
Turlington |
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Phone: |
392-0251
ext. 247 |
(cell):
386-956-9231 |
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E-mail: |
Ardelt@soc.ufl.edu |
rhallum@ufl.edu |
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Office
Hours: |
T, Th
1:55-2:45 p.m. and by appointment |
T 1-2:30
p.m. and by appointment |
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WWW: |
http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/ardelt/ |
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Course
Content
The purpose of this course
is to provide an introduction to quantitative research methods. We will
begin
by discussing briefly the logic of quantitative research. Then we will
examine
two different research methods, experiments and survey research, with
primary
emphasis on survey research. We will discuss and practice quantitative
interviewing and data collection and the analysis of quantitative data.
At the
end of the course, you should be confident enough to initiate and
conduct your
own quantitative research project.
Required
Bernard, H. Russell. 2000. Social
Research
Methods. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches.
Sweet, Stephen A. and Karen
Grace-Martin. 2003.
Data Analysis with SPSS. A First Course in Applied Statistics.
Lomand, Turner C. 2007. Social Science
Research. A Cross Section of Journal Articles for Discussion and
Evaluation, 5th Edition.
Course
packet (abbreviated as CP) available at Target Copy (
Highly
Recommended
Maimon,
Elaine P., Janice H. Peritz, and Kathleen Blake Yancey. 2007. A
Writer’s
Resource. A Handbook for Writing and Research. 2nd Edition.
Requirements
Weekly Assignments: During the course of the semester I will assign 12 weekly assignments that are worth 2% of your final grade or 2.0 points each, but parts of the points might be subtracted for incomplete or incorrect work. You are required to submit at least 10 of the assignments, and the maximum number of points that you can earn is 20. However, you will receive up to 1 extra credit point, if you submit more than 10 assignments and earn more than 20 points (I will compute the sum of the 11 assignments with the highest points). All written assignments must be typed (double-spaced, except for tables), without typographical errors, and stapled together.
All due dates (typically one week after the assignment is given) will be announced in class. If you encounter any difficulties in completing the assignments please contact me early for help.
Term Paper: There will be one individual term paper that is due on April 17 during regular class time. The term paper will consist of a quantitative research project of your choice and an analysis of publicly available quantitative data. Detailed instructions for the term paper will be given in class.
Exams: There will be two exams, one midterm on March 20 during regular class time and a take-home exam that is due on April 30 at 10 a.m. (place the completed exam in my mailbox). The midterm exam will contain multiple choice and short answer questions. The take-home exam will consist of the completion of several exercises.
I do not plan to give any make-up exams. So if you should encounter any difficulties, come and see me early!
Cheating: Although I encourage you to study together with other students and work on projects together, every student needs to write his or her own assignment and paper. I define as cheating copying parts or all of an author’s or another student’s work or allowing another student to copy parts or all of your work.
WARNING: Students who are caught cheating in this way will fail the class immediately!
Accommodations
for Students with Disabilities: Students
requesting classroom accommodation
must first register with the Dean of Students Office. The Dean of
Students
Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide
this
documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.
Grading
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Requirement
Assignments Midterm exam Take-home exam Class presentation of research project |
% of
Final Grade 20% 20% 20% 30% 10% |
Plus up to
1 extra credit point added to the final
grade for students
who submit more than 10 weekly assignments.
I will not grade on a curve, i.e. your grade will depend on your absolute performance, not your performance compared to other students.
The points that you will earn can be translated into letter-grades as follows:
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90.0 - 100.0 = A |
70.0 - <77.5 = C
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Tentative Class Schedule |
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Date |
Topic |
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01/10 |
The scientific
method |
Bernard: |
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01/17 |
The foundations of social
research |
Bernard:
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01/24 - 01/31 |
Experiments |
Bernard: |
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02/07 |
Survey Research
and |
Sweet et al.: |
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02/14 |
Scales and scaling |
Bernard:
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02/21 |
Sampling and
Structured interviewing |
Bernard:
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02/28 |
Univariate analysis |
Bernard:
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03/06 |
Introduction to
bivariate analysis |
Bernard:
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03/13 |
SPRING BREAK! |
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03/20 |
Midterm!: 3-4 p.m. Nonparametric
measures |
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03/27 |
Statistical
probability and significance; the t-test and analysis of variance |
Bernard:
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04/03 |
Bivariate
correlations and regressions |
Bernard:
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04/10 |
Multivariate
analysis |
Bernard:
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04/17 |
Class presentations of
research findings |
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04/30 |
Take-home
exam due at 10 a.m. |
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