Syllabus
Semester:
Course Number:
Course Title:
Course Day and Time:
Location:
Labs:
Fall 2015
10:832:395, Sections 3 and 4
Research Methods
Mondays, 7:15-10:05pm
Heldrich Science Building 201, Douglass Campus
Wednesdays, Loree Hall 007, 03: 7:15-8:35pm, 04: 8:45-10:05pm
Course Instructor:
Contact Information:
Office Hours and Location:
Dr. Andrea Hetling, Associate Professor
ahetling@rutgers.edu
Wednesdays, 2:00-4:00pm and by appointment,
Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, Room 542
Course Teaching Assistant:
Contact Information:
Office Hours and Location:
Yemi Adediji, PhD Student
yemi.adediji@rutgers.edu
Thursdays, 9:00-11:00am
Civic Square Building, 33 Livingston Avenue, Room TBA
Required Text:
Chambliss & Schutt. 2015. Making Sense of the Social World:
Methods of Investigation. 5th Edition.
Readings and datasets are on Sakai.
SPSS is available in the computer labs and on the Rutgers scarlet apps.
Additional Materials:
Course Description (catalog)
Application of research concepts and skills applied to public health, public policy, and planning. Includes
development of original and online data sources, coding, appropriate selection of statistical methods for
analysis, and professional presentation of results.
Communication policy
Please reach out to us with questions! You may come to office hours or send us an e-mail. The subject
line (re: ) in the e-mail should always state “research methods section (fill in your number).” We
promise to always respond within 24 hours, and usually much quicker. In order to guarantee a
response, you should always plan to e-mail at least 24 hours before a deadline. Notes sent less than 24
hours before a due date may not be answered.
Syllabus
Course Overview
This course is designed to introduce students to research methods for public health, planning, and
public policy. Basically, the course is an introduction to the fundamentals of social science research. The
main goal is for you to learn to design and interpret research so you can solve problems and make
informed decisions. During this semester, you will learn how to ask questions, how to probe for
answers, and how to evaluate the answers we get as a result of research. The emphasis of the class is
on gaining the ability to think logically and critically about social science research. We will cover both
quantitative and qualitative methodologies, but more time will be spent on the former. You will work
with a dataset this semester, conducting statistical analysis using SPSS, a computer software package.
Your final assessment for the course will be a team-based, data analysis paper using the dataset.
Although we do not assume any previous work in methodology, we expect that you have successfully
completed the statistics course required for Bloustein majors. The goal of this class is NOT to make you
into expert statisticians or quantitative researchers, but into educated consumers – and often critics – of
the research of others. Equally important, this class should give you a firm foundation upon which to
stand as you complete your internship and/or senior seminar requirements for your major.
The class meetings are comprised of a weekly lecture period and a weekly lab session. The format for
the class lecture period will be mostly lecture and some facilitated discussion. Readings should be
completed prior to the lecture. We are firm believers of active learning; thus, we will attempt to use
discussion in place of traditional lectures whenever possible and encourage questions and expect class
participation. We do not take attendance in lecture, but we encourage you to be physically and mentally
present at every session. Attendance will be taken in labs. The lab session will provide you with another
meeting to ask additional questions and gain some hands-on practice with the concepts we learn in
lecture. Thus, the lab will be structured around cases, discussions, and homework preparation.
Learning Goals
1) An understanding of the logic of scientific inquiry and how to measure concepts
2) An ability to develop a research hypothesis and a complementary research design
3) An awareness of different types of data collection and analyses – both qualitative and
quantitative
4) An introduction to analyzing quantitative data to test your own ideas about relationships
between concepts
Last edited 08/17/15
2
Syllabus
Public Health Learning Goals
Students Will:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Think critically in public health
Effectively communicate public health information
Develop, apply, and analyze concepts from research methods and basic statistics
Develop a research question and write a coherent research paper
Understand and apply professional ethics
Public Health Course Assessment
The following assignments will assess the course learning goals.
Think critically in public health
Each student will complete weekly lab activities and a midterm exam.
Effectively communicate public health information
Students must complete group and individual writing assignments.
Develop, apply, and analyze concepts from research methods and basic statistics
Each student will complete four homework assignments and learn SPSS.
Develop a research question and write a coherent research paper
Each student will write a final research paper.
Understand and apply professional ethics
Many of the weekly topics include controversial subjects which we will discuss in class and students will
include in their writing assignments.
Last edited 08/17/15
3
Syllabus
Course Grading
Your grade will be based on:
40% ................ Assignments (Four, worth 10% each)
15%................. Lab exercises and quizzes
Group exercises are worth 1% each and will be completed in lab.
Five quizzes will be given over the course of the semester and are worth 10% in total.
(The lowest quiz of the first 4 quizzes will be dropped; quiz 5 is mandatory.)
20%................. Midterm exam
We will have one take home exam as listed on the syllabus.
25%................. Final Paper
In teams of two or three students, you will conduct original data analyses and write a
paper on those results.
Letter grades will be assigned as follows:
A=90-100; B+=87-89; B=80-86; C+=77-79; C=70-76; D=60-69; F=59 and lower
Academic Integrity
Academic Integrity is vital to the mission of Rutgers, to education at Rutgers and membership in the
Rutgers community. It is a core value that supports trust among students, and between students and
teachers. It is also a shared value; administration, faculty and students each play a vital part in
promoting, securing and nurturing it.
Academic dishonesty is not an individual act that affects only the students involved. It violates
communal trust, impacts other members of the community, and is an offense against scholarship. For
this reason, any instance of cheating or plagiarism will be dealt with harshly.
Honesty matters. As a shared value, administration, faculty and students each play a vital part in
promoting, securing and nurturing it. See the Rutgers Academic Code and Academic Oath at:
http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu/
Attendance and Cancellation of Classes
In accordance with Rutgers University regulations, attendance is expected at all regularly scheduled
meetings of a course and individual courses may set policies for maximum absences. Please refer to the
link below for more specific information:
http://sasundergrad.rutgers.edu/academics/courses/registration-and-course-policies/attendance-andcancellation-of-class
Last edited 08/17/15
4
Syllabus
Ground Rules
Collegial and respectful conduct is expected in class. Class members should consider themselves
colleagues who will collaborate to help each other develop a solid understanding of materials and
concepts. To facilitate this process and your learning, we will adhere to some basic rules:







Class will start and end on time. Although we understand emergencies occur, timely arrivals and
departures should be the norm.
Please turn off (or silence and refrain from using) your cell phones and other electronic devices
during class.
All assignments must be completed on time, typed in 12-point font, and submitted via Sakai.
Late work will be penalized. Assignments will be marked down a half letter grade per day.
Assignments cannot be submitted any later than one week after the due date; missed
assignments will receive a “0.”
Late submissions for the take-home exam and the final paper are not permitted under any
circumstance.
Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully
demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me as soon as possible.
If you will be missing a lab because of a religious holiday or observation, please let one of the
Professors know during the first week of the semester.
If any questions or concerns arise, please come see one of us! Office hours are listed on the top
of the syllabus. If you cannot make office hours, please make an appointment.
A Few Words to the Wise



Come to class prepared! Complete readings prior to lecture.
Seek help early! Don’t wait till the last minute if you are having difficulties.
Get missed notes from a classmate! We will not hold individual meetings to provide summaries
or repeat class material.
Last edited 08/17/15
5
Syllabus
Class Outline by Week – subject to slight revisions
Unit
Lecture
Topic
Date
1
9/8
Introductions and course overview
2
3
9/14
9/21
4
5
9/28
10/5
Research ethics
Problem definition; overview of the
research process; terms
Conceptualization and measurement
Sampling
6
7
8
10/12
10/19
10/26
Research Design and Causation
Experiments
Take-home exam
9
10
11
11/2
11/9
11/16
Primary Qualitative Data Collection
Primary Quantitative Data Collection
Secondary research; SPSS
12
11/23
Quantitative analysis /mtgs
13
11/30
14
12/7
Writing about tables and charts
Evaluation research
Quantitative analysis / mtgs
Last edited 08/17/15
Readings and assignments due
on Lecture date
Lab Date
Lab
9/2
9/9
Chapter 3
Chapters 1 and 2
Assignment 1 due
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Assignment 2 due
Chapter 6
pdf on Sakai
Open on Monday at 10am
Due on Wednesday at 10am
Chapters 9 and 10
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Assignment 3 due
Assignment 4 due on 11/25
9/16
9/23
Lab canceled
Finding
information
Exercise 1
Quiz 1
9/30
10/7
Exercise 2
Quiz 2
10/14
10/21
10/28
Exercise 3
Quiz 3
Exercise 4
11/4
11/11
11/18
Exercise 5
Quiz 4
Workshop
11/25
Chapters 11 and 12
12/2
Final paper due on 12/16
12/9
No lab –
Thanksgiving
Workshop
Quiz 5 due
Workshop
1