Seminar on Research Methods II

GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course builds upon Seminar on Research Methods I. It assumes that students have a thorough understanding of subjects including how to ask a research question, formulate and test hypotheses, conduct a literature review, collect survey and ethnographic data, and pursue research ethically. Given this knowledge, this course begins by introducing students to additional foundational considerations--including experimental motives, sampling, and data entry--then it reviews methodologies for subject matters outside the traditional scopes of survey and ethnographic techniques. Beyond instructing students on the appropriateness and application of these methods, the course will illustrate how methodological decisions reflect theoretical motivations and traditions in the scholarly literature. The course will conclude with a synthetic overview and a reflection upon recent methodological trends and developments.

The course will be instructed in English only.

GOALS OF THE COURSE

By the end of the course, students will have a general understanding of methodological concepts and applications. The applications include how to sample a population, collect and enter data for specific research subjects, and test the reliability of empirical claims. Conceptual considerations here include the tradition and suitability of a method for a particular research question and hypothesis test. By the conclusion of the course, students will possess general knowledge on the motivations and methods characterizing experimental, case study, historical, social network, and simulationist research designs.

PROGRAM AUTHORS / COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Benjamin Lind received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Irvine. His dissertation focused on the growth and spread of strikes and lockouts in the United States during the late nineteenth century. The research emphasized how microlevel economic conflicts transform into macrolevel upheaval. His current research projects include developing theories and findings from his dissertation for general academic audiences, analyses of protest communication networks, and social movement organizational networks in the media. His general interests are on social movements, labor, organizations, and networks.

THEMATIC PLAN OF THE COURSE

COURSE SCHEDULE

The following details the reading for each thematic unit. All required readings are to be completed before each class. Neuman (2007) will serve as the basic course textbook and other required readings will either fill in for additional subjects (e.g., Gerring [2007] and Krippendorf [2004]) or they will serve as empirical examples (e.g., Salganik et al. [2006], Rhomberg [2010]). To aid reading comprehension, the instructor recommends the students identify and understand the methods-related concepts and terms each author introduces. For the empirical pieces, he recommends students focus upon the research question, sources and techniques of data collection, concept measurement, and the conclusions to which the authors generalize. While the instructor recommends students read the entirety of each piece, he only requires the specified pages for the longer works.

For a grade, student groups are expected to present on the empirical examples marked with an asterisk (*).

1. Experimental Design

For this unit, students should be aware of which research questions are appropriate, the value of random assignment, as well as the differences between the control and experimental groups. Students should also be familiar with the pretest and posttest processes, versed in the varying types of experimental designs, and understand the issues of validity that may crop up in the research designs.

Required Reading:

Neuman (2007), Chapter 8 (23 pages)

Salganik et al. (2006) + methodological appendix (3 + 16 pages)*

2. Sampling

For this unit, students must be aware of the relationship between a sample and its respective population. In particular, students must be familiar with the concept of a sampling frame as well as the differences between probability and nonprobability sampling designs. Within probability and nonprobability sampling designs, students must be knowledgeable on the different types of sampling strategies that can be employed. Students must also know the basics of respondent driven sampling, including the context when it is appropriate.

Required Reading:

Neuman (2007), Chapter 6 (25 pages)

Heckathorn and Jeffri (2001) (22 pages)

3. Case Study Design

During this unit, students will become familiar with the relationship between an observation, case, and sample in order to understand the definition of a case study. Students will also know the difference between which research designs do not constitute case study designs. The role of time and variation within and across cases will also be discussed.

Required Reading:

Gerring (2007) Chapter 2, "What is a Case Study? The Problem of Definition" (p 17-29; total of 12 pages)

Rhomberg (2010) (p. 1853-8; 1861-6; 1869-87; total of 28 pages)*

Additional Reading:

Gerring (2007) Chapter 3, “What is a Case Study? Case Study versus Large-N Cross-Case Analysis”

4. Data Entry and Content Analysis

Students will learn the definition of content analysis as well as the features of texts as data. This unit will also review the components of content analysis (unitizing, sampling, recording/coding, reducing, inferring, and narrating) and highlight comparative approaches for hypothesis testing.

Naturally, this thematic unit will also review the standard means of data entry, stressing the importance of delimited text formats and spreadsheet notation.

Required Reading:

Krippendorf (2004) Chapter 2 (p. 18-19; 22-25; 26-29; 40-43; total of 10 pgs), Krippendorf (2004) Chapter 4 (p. 81-87; 89-96; total of 15 pages),

Robinson (1976) (total of 9 pages)*

5. Secondary Data

Many social events and transactions transpire and leave records behind that can later be used for social research. Like content analysis, this thematic unit will also cover the value of unobtrusive techniques for data collection. In addition to texts and social artifacts, this unit will review free, publicly available data. Common data “mashups” often rely upon a shared temporal and spatial universe, and the recent growth of open data has expanded these opportunities. These data sources also include secondary survey data. Lastly, the unit will cover limitations to this method with respect to validity, reliability, operational definitions, and missing data.

Required Reading:

Neuman (2007), Chapter 9 (total of 22 pages)

Barber (2001) (total of 12 pages)*

6. Historical-Comparative Research

This unit will review the types of questions and units of analysis best suited for historical-comparative research. It will also cover the underlying comparative logics. Naturally, issues of data quality and the strength of empirical evidence will be included.

Required Reading:

Neuman (2007), Chapter 12 (total of 22 pages)

Armstrong and Crage (2006) (total of 28 pages)*

7. Social Network Analysis

For this thematic unit, students are expected to know the basic lexicon of social network analysis. This lexicon includes terminology such as nodes (or vertices), edges, graphs, and paths. It will also cover how to collect, store, and represent relational data. Lastly, popular research subjects such as transitivity, homophily, preferential attachment, and diffusion will be reviewed.

Required Reading:

Borgatti (1994) (total of 3 pages)

Butts (2008) (p. 16-21; 36-37; total of 6 pages)

Christakis and Fowler (2007) (total of 10 pages)*

8. Agent-Based Models and Simulations

Students will learn the rationale behind using simulations in social research during this thematic unit. Students should focus on the four key assumptions behind all agent-based models and the two general and substantive problems that ABM attempt to solve. The thematic unit will also review additional uses of simulation in the social sciences beyond ABM, such as reliability and robustness checks.

Required Reading:

        Macy and Willer (2002) (total of 26 pages)

Morris and Kretzschmar (1997) (total of 8 pages)*

9. Synthesis and Reflection

The last thematic unit will include both a synthetic review of the materials covered in the course as well as an open discussion on new developments and interests in research methods. The unit will also historicize the contemporary opportunities and challenges facing sociological methods.

Required Reading:

Savage and Burrows (2007) (total of 15 pages)

Abbott (1988) (total of 19 pages)

GRADING

Grades for the course are assigned according to five criteria.

1. Attendance is required and will be taken at the beginning of each class. For a student’s attendance for any given class to count, he or she must sign in and miss no more than 20 minutes of material. Absences will only be excused if the student presents a medical note. Attendance will count for 15% of the final grade.

2. Participation is a subjective assessment that includes responding to questions from the instructor and their peers as well as asking insightful comments. (Peer assessment may be considered as well.) Bear in mind that participation presupposes attendance. Participation grades will count for 15% of the final grade.

3. Each student will be assigned to a group to present one of the empirical readings. Presentations should a) review the assigned reading, giving special attention to the core methodological considerations; b) evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the methodological considerations; c) relate the reading’s methodology to an earlier concept (or reading) in the course and/or an additional research piece; and d) stimulate a dialog among the class by posing questions, controversial viewpoints, and/or introducing debate. As the entire class has read the piece, the review component must be brief and students must not read read from a script during their presentations. All four components count equally and collectively amount to 15% of the final grade.

4. Throughout the course, the instructor will assign homework and in-class assignments to the students. These tasks are designed to familiarize students with hands-on applications for methods reviewed in the course. Deadlines for the assignments are firm and late submissions will not be accepted without a medical note. Collectively, these assignments will count for 15% of the final grade.

5. The course will also have a final exam, constituting 40% of the final grade. The final exam will be written, cumulative, and test for reading comprehension and attentiveness in class. While the format of the exam will be mixed, it will include short answer and essay portions. The exam will assess a student's knowledge of basic definitions through short answers, familiarity with theoretical models by way of short-form essays, and applied reasoning skills in a long-form essay that presents a methodological dilemma in need of an informed answer.

Reexamination policy. Following HSE protocol, students who fail the course are entitled to retake a final exam. This reexamination option will count only toward the students’ final exam grade (40% of the course). Students’ reexamination grade will not substitute for poor grades earned prior to the final exam (i.e., classroom activities and the paper assignments).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbott, Andrew. 1988. “Transcending General Linear Reality.” Sociological Theory 6:169-86.

Armstrong, Elizabeth A. and Suzanna M. Crage. 2006. “Movements and Memory: The Making of the Stonewall Myth.” American Sociological Review 71:5:724-51.

Barber, Nigel. 2001. “Mustache Fashion Covariates with a Good Marriage Market for Women.” Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 25:4:261-272.

Borgatti, Stephen P. 1994. “A Quorum of Graph Theoretic Concepts.” Connections 17:1:47-9.

Butts, Carter T. 2008. “Social Network Analysis: A Methodological Introduction.” Asian Journal of Social Psychology 11:13-41.

Christakis, Nicholas A. and James H. Fowler. 2007. “The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years.” New England Journal of Medicine 357:370-9.

Gerring, John. 2007. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Heckathorn, Douglas D. and Joan Jeffri. 2001. “Finding the beat: Using Respondent-Driven Sampling to Study Jazz Musicians.” Poetics 28:307-29.

Macy, Michael W. and Robert Willer. 2002. “From Factors to Actors: Computational Sociology and Agent-Based Modeling.” Annual Review of Sociology 28:143-66.

Morris, Martina and Mirjam Kretzschmar. 1997. “Concurrent Partnerships and the Spread of HIV.” AIDS 11:5:641-48.

Neuman, W. Lawrence. 2007. The Basics of Social Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (Second Edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Rhomberg, Chris. 2010. “A Signal Juncture: The Detroit Newspaper Strike and Post-Accord Labor Relations in the United States.” American Journal of Sociology 115:6:1853-94.

Robinson, Dwight E. 1976. “Fashions in Shaving and Trimming of the Beard: The Men of Illustrated London News, 1842-1972.” American Journal of Sociology 81:5:1133-41.

Salganik, Matthew J., Peter Sheridan Dodds, and Duncan J. Watts. 2006. “Experimental Study of Inequality and Unpredictability in an Artificial Cultural Market.’ Science 311:854-856.

Savage, Mike and Roger Burrows. 2007. “The Coming Crisis of Empirical Sociology.” Sociology 41:5:885-99.