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INSTRUCTOR MANUAL FOR An Invitation to Social Research How It's Done 4th Edition. Emily Stier Adler, Roger Clark. (Lecture Notes Only)

Chapter 1 themselves. This survey should be collected and then distributed to students for analysis throughout the semester. (See Chapters 6, 9, and 15 in this manual for exercises that use information gathered in this survey). This test or survey should include different types of questions (closed-ended and open ended), with allowance for data analysis with nominal, ordinal and other levels of measurement. The instrument should include questions that are clearly worded, as well as those that are likely to be misunderstood by students. A sample pre-test is shown in the Appendix. 5.

Have students spend a class time in a student union, or place on campus heavily populated by students on campus. To demonstrate the example of knowledge by personal inquiry, have students do a one hour observational research of campus students. Students can be observing whether or not students are studying, socializing, attending or skipping class. Are certain types of students more likely to engage in certain types of activities? What do they conclude about the student body after these observations? How does this activity coincide with the example and issues that go along with knowledge by personal inquiry?

Videos There are many films that can be used to begin a discussion of research methods in sociology. 1. Sociological Thinking and Research Focusing on a sociological study of Times Square, this video discusses how research is used to answer key questions about society. The researchers discuss the formulation of research questions, employ multiple methodologies and explain how their findings are used by stakeholders and other interested audiences. This film can be found by writing to Insight Media, 121 West 85th Street, New York, NY 10024. Discussion questions: 1. Why is itmportant to spend the time to develop appropriate experimental designs for each research question? 2. What was the study done in Time Square? What was researcher’s experimental design? 3. Why is it important to have a sociological imagination when developing research questions? 2. Research Methods for the Social Sciences This video provides an overview of the research process and the challenges of applying the scientific method in the social sciences. Advantages and disadvantages of using various methodologies are also discussed along with research ethics. Discussion questions: 1. What are the steps to the scientific method? 2. What ethical issues are discussed in the film?

This film is commonly found in library catalogues. If your specific university library does not hold the title, request an interlibrary loan. You can also request the title from ProMedion productions.

The Uses of Social Research Methods

Homework Assignments 1. In Exercise 1.1, Ways of Knowing about Social Behavior in the text, students are asked to compare different ways of knowing about the world. This could serve as a good introductory exercise where students compare their taken-for-granted views of the world with information gathered through data collection. Have students use authoritative sources for data sources, such as information found on the Census Website, or General Social Survey Website. 2. To spark student interest in social research, have students access the Sociological Tour of Cyberspace web site listed below. Ask students to investigate one of the links provided by Kearl and be prepared to discuss what the site holds in class. 3. Have students access sociological journal articles, or you can provide students with a sample of articles for analysis. With each article have students identify whether the research question is exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory. Also have students identify whether or not the analysis is qualitative or quantitative. 4. Have students bring in two or three Census Reports they find and print out online. With the Census Reports have students identify the research question addressed, units of analysis, and any relevant findings. Do the findings coincide with any knowledge previously found by personal inquiry? 5. Have students complete exercise 1.3, but about a more relevant sociological research question, such as crime or drug use. For crime, students can focus on their neighborhood, campus housing, or apartment complex as a place where crime occurs or does not occur.

Internet Exercises http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/ A Sociological Tour of Cyberspace This site managed by Mike Kearl at Trinity University in Texas is a very comprehensive site for sociologists teaching a variety of courses. A good exercise for week one is to direct students to locate this site and identify areas of interest. There are links to resources for data analysis, methods and statistics, subject-based inquiries and other topics. Kearl also provides a guide to writing a research paper, resources for evaluating the credibility of resources on the web and ways for students to locate data to examine hypotheses. http://www.census.gov/ US Census Bureau web site On the main front page students can access short fact sheets. Under people and households students can click on a more specific topic, such as households or poverty to get more specific short fact sheets. Also on the main page students can access the data finder where they can put in their specific county or city and get demographic specifics. These can be used as authoritative data sources for class discussion.

http://publicsociology.com/ Homepage for Public Sociology This website is a social reform movement to conduct a new type of sociology. When discussing basic research, applied research, and evaluation research, have students also look at a different type of research which is often debated and discussed; public research. Sociologists engaging in public research utilize

Chapter 1 sociology to express and demonstrate human rights through scholarship and sociological imagination. After looking at the website, what types of research questions and projects are public sociologists engaging in? How is it different than other types of sociological research?

Chapter 2: Theory and Research LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading Chapter 2, students should be able to do the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Understand the difference between variables and concepts. Articulate how hypotheses are developed and tested. Understand the relationships between independent and dependent variables in research. Appreciate the requirements of causality. Distinguish between deductive and inductive reasoning. Explain the cyclical model of science. Identify the relationship between theory and research.

KEY TERMS – (page references from text in parentheses) Hypothesis (23) Independent Variable (24) Inductive Reasoning (33) Intervening Variable (28) Measurement (31) Spurious (27) Temporal Precedence or Time Order (27) Theory (20) Variable (21)

Antecedent Variable (27) Concepts (20) Conceptualization (20) Condition of Empirical Association (27) Deductive Reasoning (32) Dependent Variable (24) Elimination of alternative explanations (27) Empirical Generalization (32) Extraneous Variable (28) Grounded Theory (33)

CHAPTER OUTLINE I. Introduction a. Concepts, Variables, and Hypotheses • Concepts - words or signs that refer to phenomena that share common characteristics • Conceptualization - the process of clarifying what we mean by a concept • Variable – a concept that varies o Dependent Variable – a variable that is affected by another variable o Independent Variable – a variable that affects another variable • Hypothesis – a testable statement about how two or more variables are expected to related to one another b. Science and Causality: A Word of Caution • How do we establish causality? o Causality is difficult to show Antecedent Variable – a variable that comes before both an independent and dependent variable Spurious – non-causal Empirical Association Temporal Precedence - elimination of alternative explanations Intervening Variable Extraneous Variable

Theory and Research II. The Relationship between Theory and Research a. Excerpt from “Moving On? Continuity and Change after Retirement” by Emily Stier Adler and Roger Clark. b. Excerpt from “Unmasking Racism: Halloween Costuming and Engagement of the Racial Order” by Jennifer C. Mueller, Danielle Dirks, and Leslie Houts Picca. • Inquiry that employs the senses’ evidence for arriving at knowledge c. Measurement- the process of devising strategies for classifying subjects by categories to represent variable concepts d. Deductive Reasoning- reasoning that moves from more general to less general statements e. Empirical Generalization- a statement that summarizes a set of individual observations f. Inductive Reasoning- reasoning that moves from less general to more general statements h. Grounded Theory- theory derived from data in the course of a study i. The Cyclical Model of Science- Theory testing or theory building?

TEACHING TIPS In Class Assignments 1. Have students respond in writing to this question to spur the "sociological imagination." "It is generally believed that Americans have more choices than ever in finding a partner. There is increased marriage along religious lines and well as across race and ethnicity. We are more mobile than previously and are taking a longer time to get married. Given these indicators that we seem to have more choice in our partners than ever, why is the divorce rate so high? Wouldn't it be logical to hypothesize that the greater the number of choices and the longer the time individuals have to select a partner, the higher the marital satisfaction and the lower the divorce rate?" Have students think about how research might address his question. Also have them consider independent variables, dependent variables, and intervening variables. Would this be an example of inductive or deductive reasoning? 2. Exercise 2.1, Hypotheses and Variables, is designed to get students thinking about the relationships among independent and dependent variables and hypothesis making. Assign students this exercise as an in-class writing project. Allow time for class discussion and processing, making clear distinctions between these concepts. 3. Bring in or have students bring in some articles from the newspaper about topics of interest to sociologists. Compare journalistic coverage to social science research. Discuss the sources of data and what these findings might mean to the public and interest groups. Discuss why it is so difficult to get "final answers" on questions that are essentially tied to values, e.g. death penalty, abortion and others. 4. Exercise 2.2, The Relationship Between Theory and Research, is designed to help students recognize independent and dependent variables, hypotheses and theory as they are used in research. Sample articles from the journals selected can be placed on reserve so that students locate an article that they are able to read at this point in the semester. 5. Students require a lot of practice in identifying dependent and independent variables. Using excerpts from journal articles ask students to identify the dependent and independent variables in published research; below is an example. Have students work individually in identifying the dependent and

Chapter 2 independent variables. Give them a few minutes to do this. Next, ask them to pair up in groups of two and share their answers. Ask them to not only identify the Dependent Variable (DV) and the Independent Variable (IV), but explain to their partners how they reached their answers. Talking about how they are able to identify DV and IV is an extremely useful exercise for students. “The continuing absence of a father leads to low educational attainment among offspring in single-parent families. This view is derived from socialization theory which stresses the importance of male role model to the cognitive and emotional development of children.”

Videos If not shown for the material in Chapter 1, this video is appropriate for this chapter as well and could provide a more extensive discussion if shown after this chapter of material is introduced. 1. Sociological Thinking and Research Focusing on a sociological study of Times Square, this video discusses how research is used to answer key questions about society. The researchers discuss the formulation of research questions, employ multiple methodologies and explain how their findings are used by stakeholders and other interested audiences. This film can be found by writing to Insight Media, 121 West 85th Street, New York, NY 10024. Discussion questions: 1. Why is it important to spend the time to develop appropriate experimental designs for each research question? 2. What was the study done in Time Square? What was researcher’s experimental design? 3. Why is it important to have a sociological imagination when developing research questions?

2. Social Theory and Methods This multi-section program addresses classical social theory, examining the origins of sociology through the efforts of Marx and Comte to build a holistic science of society; positivism, through a case study of students using surveys to do research on education; interpretivism, through a parallel case study in which students use interviews to carry out their research; and realism, comparing it to classical, positivist, and interpretivist approaches. The video also draws upon a case study of suicide to illustrate how positivist and interpretivist approaches lead researchers to ask very different questions about this key sociological topic. Viewable/printable educational resources are available online. This film is found at Films for the Humanities and Sciences at www.films.com. Discussion questions 1. How is theory, classical and contemporary, used to guide sociological research questions? 2. Is research used to develop theory or test theory? 3. In the case of suicide, how did different theories lead to the development of different research questions? How might that happen in a different situation, such as crime or poverty?

Theory and Research

Homework Assignments 1. To help students understand the differences between variables and categories, have them complete the following exercise. Below is a list of concepts. Some of these are variables and some categories. A) Identify which of these are variables and which are categories. B) For each of the above, make a complete set of variables and categories. Each set should have the name of ONE variable and AT LEAST two categories. female age Asian academic major belief that if the federal government ends up with a surplus this year, the funds should be used to reduce the national debt occupation selected this college in order to live at home while going to school divorced 2. Now is when students can begin the process of writing and putting together research reports. At stage have students begin to identify a research question as well as a few hypotheses which stem from the research question. With these hypotheses have students identify independent and dependent variables and concepts being studied. For a more in-depth assignment have students also begin to conceptualize each variable. 3. For students putting together research reports, have students identify whether or not their research question is exploratory, explanatory, or descriptive. Explanatory and descriptive research questions are typically grounded in existing theory. Have students identify and describe the theory for which they are studying and how it led to their research question and hypotheses. 4. Have students answer the following question: Two variables that people in society commonly associate together are education and income, meaning that the more education you have, the more income you will make. Based on the conditions of causality, would you say that levels of education causes increases or decreases in income? Why or why not? 5. Variables can be measured different ways, and the importance of measurement will be discussed in subsequent chapters. To get students to begin to think about such issues, have students think about the different way each of these variables can be conceptualized and measured. Education Income Religion Attitude towards abortion

Chapter 2 Internet Exercises http://sda.berkeley.edu/ Survey Documentation and Analysis This site, maintained by the University of California-Berkeley's Computer-Assisted Survey Methods Program, provides access to the survey archives with data on crime, mental health, the General Social Survey (1972-1994) and other topics. Students can browse through codebooks; select variables of interest, and request cross tabulations and associated statistical analysis. Responses are provided immediately. Have students select two variables from one of the available databases, run a statistic and report on this in class. http://www.norc.org/GSS+Website/ Website for the General Social Survey This site introduces students to one of the largest surveys about demographic, behavior, and societal trends. Students can access the easy to understand codebook to see societal responses to a multitude of topics. Have students select a series of variables and then see how the GSS conceptualizes and measures these concepts. HTTP://PAPERS.SSRN.COM/SOL3/PAPERS.CFM?ABSTRACT_ID=174508 The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime Follow this link to download the full text of this famous article which argues that the legalization of abortion contributes to the great crime decline. Have students read the article and use this as a tool for a discussion on causality. WEB RESOURCES http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/dedind.php Research Methods Knowledge Base Follow this link and get a great diagram to help students further grasp the difference between deductive and inductive reasoning. Use the entire website as a course tool to supplement the text and course with additional descriptions of main concepts and diagrams to use in PowerPoint lectures.