230015 UE Methods of Empirical Social Research (2019S)

This course introduces you to the most important research methods and techniques in the behavioral sciences, including research design, methods of data collection, particularly surveys, intensive interviews, participant observations, historical and comparative research, among others. This course will also address the benefits and liabilities of each approach. However, this course will focus mainly on quantitative methods, where students will choose a research topic, narrow the topic to a researchable project, find academic research journal articles relating to their topics, use these articles to formulate a research project consisting of a research question, hypothesis, research and questionnaire design. Students will pre-test their questionnaires, then enter the data from their pre-tested surveys into Excel and conduct some preliminary data cleaning and analyses. By the end of the semester you will be able to: (1) demonstrate a knowledge of methods sociologists use to conduct research; (2) discuss techniques and analyze data using a sociological approach; (3) produce a research paper, with appropriate literature, hypotheses, and research design; and (4) produce a reflection paper about your research experiences. In addition, you will learn to conduct interviews and design and collect quantitative data using a survey questionnaire. You will use analytical techniques to describe and synthesize your work. Finally, you will strengthen your skills in reading, comparing, critically examining, evaluating, and summarizing journal articles.

By the end of the semester students will be able to:

(1) demonstrate a knowledge of methods sociologists use to conduct research;
(2) discuss techniques and analyze data using a sociological approach;
(3) produce a research paper, with appropriate literature, hypotheses, and research design.