Sociology 4002 (302): Data Analysis
Fall 2007
Class
M, W, F 10:40-11:30 am in Gladfelter 764
Labs
Section 001 (CRN: 039728) Lab: W 8:40-10:30
Section 002 (CRN: 039732) Lab: TH 9:40-11:30
Labs are held in Gladfelter 748.
Kimberly A. Goyette, Assistant Professor
Email: kgoyette@temple.edu
Office phone number: 204-0134
Teaching Assistant:
Qing Lai
Email: laiqing@temple.edu
Office: 737 Gladfelter Hall
Office Hours: M 1:30-3:30, W 1-2 & by appt.
Office: 758 Gladfelter Hall
Office Hours: M 12:30-2, Th 2:30-4
Web Site: A site for this course is on Blackboard. Through this site, students have access to class
announcements, notes, and other materials. Please check this web site at least once a week for class
reminders, links, and supplemental course material. Please see hand-out attached to this syllabus.
Course description:
In this course, you will do original sociological research using secondary data analysis. In Sociology 201
(Statistical Methods in Sociology), the focus of the course was on discovering whether relationships
between variables that were observed in a sample were likely to exist in the population. In this course, we
go one step further in the research process to examine explanations for why those relationships may exist.
To do this, we explore whether and how a relationship between two variables changes when we add a
third (or fourth or fifth…) variable.
The research process consists of several steps: (1) construct a research question, (2) formulate one or
more theories related to your research question based on a literature review, (3) turn those theories into
testable hypotheses, and (4) test those hypotheses using secondary data. Your research will be presented
in a final paper organized according to the standards of the discipline and then summarized in an oral
presentation.
Course goals:
Students will learn how to construct a research question that can be answered with quantitative data.
Students will review the relevant literature to formulate one or more theories to explain a relationship that
has been observed between two variables.
Students will operationalize the concepts in their theories and create testable hypotheses.
Students will apply the appropriate data manipulations and statistics to test their hypotheses.
Students will present their findings in a research paper that conforms to the format of a quantitative
research article.
Students will present a summary of their research in an oral presentation.
Readings for the course:
Four books are required and available for purchase by students. The following books are available at the
Temple University bookstore.
Becker, Howard S. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and finish Your Thesis, Book, or
Article. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
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Davis, James A. 1985. The Logic of Causal Order. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Lewis-Beck, Michael S. 1995. Data Analysis: An Introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Pallant, Julie. 2005. SPSS Survival Manual, Second Edition. New York: Open University Press.
Students with Disabilities:
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me
privately to discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. Contact Disability Resources and Services
at 215-204-1280 in 100 Ritter Annex to coordinate reasonable accommodations for students with
documented disabilities.
Course requirements:
All students are expected to do the assigned reading, and attend and participate actively in all classes and
labs. Other requirements for the course include ten lab exercises, and one research paper using secondary
data provided by the instructor or acquired by the student.
Lab Exercises: These ten assignments are intended to allow you to apply the concepts learned in class and
in the reading to your research project. Each exercise will be worth a total of five points. Students are
responsible for keeping track of their returned lab exercises. If the graded exercises are not returned
within two weeks of their due date, the students should be sure that they were received by the TA and/or
instructor by contacting the TA and/or instructor about the assignment. It is the students’ responsibility to
make sure the TA or instructor received and graded the exercise.
Research Paper: For this assignment, you will use statistics to describe and investigate a question of your
choice. The instructor will provide data sets (GSS or ELS) for you to use or you can use your own. You
will use the computer software SPSS for Windows (available in the data lab) to do original research using
these data. Your paper will be given to the instructor in three stages. Each stage will be returned with
feedback that is to be incorporated into the next draft. One stage will also be peer reviewed, and that
feedback is also to be included in the final draft. Detailed guidelines for this report will be provided the
first week of the semester. The paper should be typed in 11- to 12-pt. font with 1-inch margins on all
sides. The text of the report should be 10-15 pages long. Tables should be appended.
Class and Lab Attendance: Class and lab attendance will be taken. Students are not penalized for
missing up to 4 classes. After that, a point will be deducted (out of 38 total points) for each missed class.
Students who must miss class are expected to review the notes of that day on Blackboard. Students are
expected to attend all labs. Attendance will be taken during labs and a point will be deducted for each
missed lab (out of 13 total points). Class and lab attendance percentages will be averaged to determine
overall participation. Those who are more than ten minutes late for class or labs will be counted absent for
the day.
Grading: Class and lab attendance and participation (10%), homework assignments (50%), and research
paper (40%). Letter grades for the entire course will be assigned as follows:
92.5% and higher = A
90.0 – 92.49% = A87.5% - 89.99% = B+
82.5% - 87.49% = B
80% - 82.49% = B77.5% - 79.99% = C+
72.5% - 77.49% = C
70% - 72.49% = C-
67.5% - 69.99% = D+
62.5% - 67.49% = D
60% - 62.49% - D59.99% and lower = F.
Late assignments will not be accepted unless accompanied by written documentation of reasons for the
delay (doctors’ notes, for example). In exceptional circumstances when students cannot hand in
assignments by the due date, students will have exactly one week from the due date to hand-in or make up
their work. No assignments or exams will be accepted after one week has passed. Incompletes will not
be issued for this class.
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***Plagiarism or cheating in any form will not be tolerated and will be dealt with swiftly according
to university policy.***
To avoid unintentionally plagiarizing, please visit the following website from Temple University’s
Writing Center:
http://www.temple.edu/writingctr/student_resources/plagiarism.htm
Statement on Academic Freedom: Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of
academic freedom. The University has adopted a policy on Student and Faculty Academic Rights and
Responsibilities (Policy # 03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following link:
http://policies.temple.edu/getdoc.asp?policy_no=03.70.02
Course Schedule and Readings
Dates and Due Dates
Class
Lab
Readings
Week 1
Aug. 27, 29, 31
Week 2
Sept. 5, 7
Introduction to the
Class and the Data
Formulating
Research Questions
Becoming Familiar
with SPSS and the Data
Coming up with a
Research Question and
Extracting the Data for
It
Finding the
Appropriate Literature
Lewis-Beck, Chapters 1-2
Pallant, Chapters 1-3
Pallant, Chapters 4-5
Becker, Chapter 5
Theory and Causal
Order
Mapping Out Causal
Order: Types of
Relationships
Davis, Chapter 1
Causal Order
Putting Literature and
Theory Together to
Create a Story
Davis, Chapter 2
Constructing
Hypotheses
Making Theory
Measurable with Our
Data
Becker, Chapter 6
Describing the Data
Univariate Statistics
Lewis-Beck, Chapter 3
Pallant, Chapters 6-7
Recoding and Other
Ways of
Manipulating Data
Combining and
Recoding
Pallant, Chapters 8-10
Looking for
Relationships
Bivariate Statistics and
Tests of Significance
Lewis-Beck, Chapters 4-5
Pallant, Chapters 11, 16-17
Exercise #1 due Sept. 5
Week 3
Sept. 10, 12, 14
Exercise #2 due Sept. 12
Week 4
Sept. 17, 19, 21
Exercise #3 due Sept. 19
Week 5
Sept. 24, 26, 28
Exercise #4 due Sept. 26
Week 6
Oct. 1, 3, 5
**Research Paper Stage
1 is due Oct. 3
Week 7
Oct. 8, 10, 12
Exercise #5 due Oct. 10
Week 8
Oct. 15, 17, 19
Exercise #6 due Oct. 17
Week 9
Oct. 22, 24, 26
Exercise #7 due Oct. 24
Searching the
Literature and Doing
a Review
Becker, Chapter 8
4
Week 10
Oct. 29, 31, Nov. 2
Exercise #8 due Oct. 31
Week 11
Nov. 5, 7, 9
**Research Paper Stage
2 is due Nov. 7.
Week 12
Nov. 12, 14, 16
Exercise #9 due Nov. 14.
Week 13
Nov. 19, 21
Exercise #10 due Nov.
21.
Week 14
Nov. 26, 28, 30
Week 15
Dec. 3, 5
**Final draft of the
research paper is due
Dec. 5
Testing Theories
Multivariate Statistics
and Tests of
Significance
Lewis-Beck, Chapters 6-7
Pallant, Chapters 12-13, 18
Assessing Our
Theory
Adjusting the Analysis
and Powerpoint
Presentations
Lewis-Beck, Chapters 8-9
Davis, Chapters 3-4
Write-up and
Presentation of
Results
How to do a peer
evaluation.
Becker, Chapters 1, 3
Presentations
No labs
Presentations
Individual
Consultations on
Presentations and
Write-up
No labs
Presentations