MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology 3040
Introduction to the Methods of Social Research
Fall 2013
Slot 17: Tuesday & Thursday, 9:00 – 10:15, Room A-1046
Instructors:
Anton Oleinik (A-4071) Paul Ripley (A-4078)
Office hours:
Tuesdays and Thursdays
from 3 - 4
Mondays 11:15 – 1:15
Thursdays 10:30
– 11:30
The major objective of sociology 3040 is to provide elementary familiarization with doing sociology . To this end we will explore various strategies for posing and answering sociologically grounded questions. We take you ‘behind the scenes’ of the research process in order to provide you with some basic research skills and strengthen your capacity to critically read and evaluate the research based writing of others.
Included in this objective is some elementary training in research design, data collection and analysis techniques utilized by sociologists for ‘making sense of the world within which we live’.
One part of the design, collection and analysis puzzle is typically termed quantitative. A substantial portion of the lecture component of the course will be used to develop the fundamentals of this broad orientation to doing research.
The other part of the puzzle, the qualitative part, requires as much of a systematic approach to engagement with the empirical social world as the quantitative.
But as you will see, there are key differences between these orientations. Although qualitative methods of data collection and analysis are often under-played in introductory methods courses, we will utilize the first half of the course introducing some of them as a means of exposing you to a fuller range of research approaches.
This course is very much integrated with Sociology 3040: doing the courses concurrently means we can have a more seamless flow among the processes of learning about and engaging with methodology.
Required text:
Bryman, Alan, Edward Bell and James Teevan, and (2012), Social Research Methods, 3 rd
Canadian edition, Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
Course website:
This course has a D2L web page you will need to access throughout the term. The website is integrated with the Sociology 3041 website. Log in via online.mun.ca. You will find assignments, guides, and other course information there as well as class announcements.
Check the website on a regular basis.

Sociology 3040
Introduction to the Methods of Social Research
Evaluation
Term test 1, Oct. 17 30%
Term test 2, November 14
Research Proposal, due by noon Dec. 10
Tests
35%
35%
Both term tests will be based on multiple choice and short answer questions. Test 1 covers material from the first half of the course and test 2 covers only material from the second half of the course.
Research Proposal
The Research Proposal project is to be submitted after the end of classes and is done in lieu of a final exam. The proposal involves putting together a number of key elements of the research process developed throughout the course. You will generate your own research question and write a proposal that involves coming up with a research design plan. You will outline and defend the strategy you would follow in collecting data and making sense of it in terms of providing a sociological answer to your research question.
A detailed assignment description is available.
You are responsible for familiarity with the University policy regarding plagiarism and cheating: http://www.mun.ca/regoff/calendar/sectionNo=REGS-0748 .
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Sociology 3040
Introduction to the Methods of Social Research
Lecture topics and reading assignments
Class Date Topic
1 Sept. 5 Course introduction and orientation
2 Sept. 10 Sociological inquiry and constructing research problems: Developing and refining qualitative and quantitative research questions.
TEXT, Chapter 1
3
4
Sept. 12 The nature and production of sociological knowledge: paradigmatic and non-paradigmatic sciences
Sept. 17 Sociological inquiry and constructing research problems: Defining concepts and operationalizing them.
TEXT, Chapters 1 & 2
5 Sept. 19 Qualitative and quantitative research methods. Triangulation
TEXT, Chapters 3, 8 and 15
6 Sept. 24 Developing and designing qualitative research: participant observation and qualitative interviewing
TEXT, Chapters 8, 9 and 10
7
8
9
Sept. 26 Ethics in social research
1. TEXT, Chapter 11;
2. “Memorial's Policy on Ethics of Research Involving Human
Participants” and “Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research
Involving Humans” available at http://www.mun.ca/research/researchers/ethics.php
Oct. 1 The social performance of qualitative research: focus groups and sociological intervention
TEXT, Chapter 10
Oct. 3 Producing meaning and the analysis of qualitative data. Grounded theory
TEXT, Chapter 14
10
11
Oct. 8 Using content analysis in social research
Oct. 10 Visual methods
TEXT, Chapter 16
12 Oct. 15 Mid-term break – no classes
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Sociology 3040
Introduction to the Methods of Social Research
13
14
15
Oct. 17 Test 1, covers material through lecture 11
Oct. 22 Developing and designing quantitative research, concepts and measurement: production of structured survey instruments.
Formulating questions for quantitative interviews.
Text, Chapters 3, 4 & 5
Oct. 24 Formulating research hypotheses. Model of measurement
TEXT, Chapter 13
16 Oct. 29 Experimental design logic
TEXT, Chapters 2 and 6
17 Oct. 31 Sampling
TEXT Chapter 12
18
19
Nov. 5
Nov. 7
In class administration of the survey from Sociology 3041
Probability and inference in quantitative work: statistical inference
TEXT chapters 12 and 13
20
21
22
Nov. 12 Relationships and explanation in quantitative work I: the analysis of categorical data relationships
TEXT, Chapter 13
Nov. 14 Test 2, covers material since the first test
Nov. 19 Relationships and explanation in quantitative work II: the analysis of numerical data relationships
TEXT chapter 13
23 Nov. 21 How to develop a research project (discussion of research proposal assignment)
TEXT Chapters 17 & 18
24 Nov. 26 Document based and historical methods
TEXT Chapter 7
25 Nov. 28 Course conclusions: applying research methods to your coursework
TEXT chapter 7
Dec. 3
Dec. 10
Wrap-up
Research proposal assignment is due by noon today
This outline is subject to revision.
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Sociology 3040
Introduction to the Methods of Social Research
Research Proposal Assignment (in lieu of a final exam)
35% of the final course mark Due by noon, Dec. 10
Now that you have worked through the course content from beginning to end, we want you to write a short paper in which you develop some core elements of a research project proposal, integrating many of the elements covered in the course. Your job in this assignment is to convince us you can integrate these elements into a coherent plan for doing research. The final product need not be more than 6 to 8 typed, doublespaced pages in length.
YOU DO NOT DO ANY ACTUAL DATA COLLECTION FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT. IT
IS A PROPOSAL ONLY.
Your assignment should be constructed around the following areas:
1. The Research Problem : Identify and develop your own sociological research question/problem. This research problem should not be the one you used in your
Sociology 3041 project this term and should not come from the list of topics provided in the “guide to the continuity project” in Sociology 3041.
In some ways this is the most difficult part of this assignment and we strongly encourage you to develop it as soon as possible. Your statement of the problem should clearly delineate the research question or problem and explain its significance (theoretical and/or practical). The research problem should not be restricted to the 3040 class as your study population. You can choose any population but the problem and proposal should be modest enough that a single researcher with moderate resources can accomplish the work.
2. Literature Review and Theory/Concepts: You should concisely discuss the related literature. You need not be exhaustive in your literature review but aim to use 5
- 7 academic sources. You must use some journal articles and you should conduct a literature search using Sociological Abstracts or similar database program. As you do your review pay particular attention to theory, findings and methodology as well as debates/disagreements and gaps. You must also develop/conceptualize the key concepts in your study. This should emerge, in part, from your literature review. Be sure to include a “works cited” with your paper.
3. Hypotheses/Problems: If you are taking a more quantitative approach, state the hypotheses you would test (at least 2) and explain/discuss the derivation of the hypotheses and variables.
If you are devising a more qualitative oriented proposal you need not state formal hypotheses but you should discuss your specific problems/issues (at least 2) to be explored.
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Sociology 3040
Introduction to the Methods of Social Research
4. Research Design: a. Describe, explain and defend your choice of data collection method(s). Will you be doing qualitative interviews, participant observation, quantitative surveys (what type?), experimental design, content analysis, etc. b. Who/what will you study? Describe, explain and defend your choice of sampling strategy.
c. Provide some discussion of operationalization issues. What are your key variables and how will they be measured, etc.? Give some examples of how questions are going to be formulated in terms of the level of measurement. A model of measurement, even a simple one, is a serious asset.
5. Ethics: Discuss any ethical considerations of relevance to your choice of subjects, data collection strategy and data analysis strategy. You should consult the
MUN Interdisciplinary Committee on Ethics in Human Research (ICEHR) policy
( http://www.mun.ca/research/researchers/ethics.php
) and discuss the ethical considerations with specific reference to the requirements in the guidelines and the particulars of your project.
6. Analysis of Data: Briefly discuss the technique you would use to analyze your data. You should refer to any quantitative analysis in relation to levels of measurement, appropriate measures of association, etc. You are encouraged to present a “roadmap” of your analysis in the graphical form of a “model of measurement.” If you do qualitative analysis, give some details about your codebook.
7. Critique: Be sure to discuss potential validity and reliability issues as they apply to your study, sources of bias, etc., and identify limitations of the proposed research.
Policy on late assignments:
Because this is the final assignment and is a substitute for a final exam, we need to be strict about the submission deadline. Except for valid reasons (such as might lead you to miss a final exam) and with supporting documents if necessary, we will not accept assignments after noon on Dec. 10. Please submit your assignment to one of us (do not slide it under a door) but if we are not available, bring it to the Sociology general office.
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