Sociology 115

Introduction to Social Research Methods

Neil Dryden Introduction to Social Research Methods Tue/Thur  220 – 340 IDC 209 Fall 2012 “George Eliot believed that there are answers to major intellectual and emotional questions, but that those answers remain elusive because we insist on asking the questions in the wrong way.”           – Edward Mendelson, The Things That Matter

pndryden@pipeline.sbcc.edu Office Hours T/R 1:20 to 2:20 – West Campus Café Electronic office hours: neilsociology (on most any IM program) “Progressive asked 11,000 of its auto insurance policyholders who reported accidents in 2001 how close to home they were when the accident happened. 52% reported they were five miles or less from home, and an astounding 77 percent reported they were within 15 miles”             – Some really stupid insurance company

Readings!

1. Tricks of the Trade, by Howard Becker

2. The Vulnerable Observer, by Ruth Behar

3. Sidewalk, by Mitch Duneier

4. Running With the Devil, by Robert Walser

5. Online readings as noted

Course Schedule:

Week 1 – August 28 & 30 Reflexivity & Epistemology 

Question of the week! “I began with the desire to speak with the dead...If I never believed the dead

could hear me, and if I knew that the dead could not speak, I was nonetheless certain that I could re-create a conversation with them. Even when I came to understand that in my most intense moments of straining to listen all I could hear was:

Song of the Week – “Tom's Dinner” by Suzanne Vega

 The Single-Sex Trick: The flaws in a new survey that praises girls-only and boys-only classes. 

Lise Eliot and Diane F. Halpern

 Choosing Self-Esteem Over Sex or Pizza By RONI CARYN RABIN

 Howard Becker – “The Epistemology of Qualitative Research” (the first 3 sections)

 Howard Becker – “How I learned What a Crock Was” 

Week 2 – September 4 & 6 – Ethics & Critiques!

Question of the week! Kai Erickson would like researchers to stop using deception. Why?

Song of the Week – “Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap” by AC/DC

Webpage of the Week – UCSB Human Subjects Training Module – login in as “guest” and read the

The Tea Room Study, The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, & The Milgram Studies. Test questions will

be more or less directly drawn from the test on this page, feel free to preview...

Media of the Week - Malcolm in the Middle, Season Five, “Malcolm Films Reese”

Test #1

Week 3 – September 11 & 13 – Sampling and Research Design!

 Howard Becker – Tricks of the Trade, Chapter 2, Imagery (10-66)

 Virgil Griffith “Musicthatmakesyoudumb” and here and here and more at the bottom of the page!

 Survey Terms Handout

Week 4 - September 18 & 20 – Survey Research

Question of the week! Why did my Mother lie to the stairmaster at her gym?

Song of the Week - “C is the Heavenly Option” by Heavenly ”

 Howard Becker – Tricks of the Trade, Chapter 4, Concepts (109-145)

 Howard Becker – Tricks of the Trade, Chapter 3, Sampling (67-108)

Week 5 – September 25 & 27 – Survey Research

TEST #2

Week 6 October 2 & 4 – Interviews

Question of the week! Is an interview a natural or an unnatural form of communication?

Poem of the Week - “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot

 Ruth Behar – The Vulnerable Observer, Chp. 1 p.1-33

 Kathryn Schulz “On Air and On Error: This American Life's Ira Glass on Being Wrong"

Week 7 – October 9 & 11 – Interviews cont.

Question of the week! In her book about Esperanza, a street peddler in San Luis Potosi, Ruth

Behar included a chapter called “Biography in the Shadow” about her experience getting tenure at the University of Michigan. Why did she include this chapter?

 Ruth Behar – The Vulnerable Observer, Chps. 2-3 p.34-103

Week 8 – October 16 & 18 – Interviews cont.

 Ruth Behar – The Vulnerable Observer, Chps. 5-6 p.136-177

Test #3

Week 9 – October 23 & 25 – Ethnography

Question of the week! What’s the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? How does it apply to Social Research methods?

Movie of the Week - “Keep the River on Your Right”

Poem of the Week - “Having a Coke With You” by Frank O'Hara ( audio)

 Mitch Duneier, Sidewalk: Appendix & Part I, p.17-114

Week 10 – October 30 & November 1 – Ethnography cont.

Question of the week! Ethnography is both a process and a product, discuss!?

 Mitch Duneier, Sidewalk: Part III (but not the “Talking to Women” section)

Week 11 – November 6 & 8 – Ethnography cont.

Question of the week! What does Duneier mean when he talks about social position?

 Mitch Duneier, Sidewalk: Part Iv & V, from “A Christmas on Sixth Avenue to the Afterword

Test #4

Week 12 – November 13 & 15 – Content Analysis, Cultural Studies, Discourse Analysis

Question of the week! What parts of a heavy metal song does Rob Walser claim that fans respond most strongly to?

 Robert Walser, Running With the Devil: Introduction, Chapter 1 p.20-25, Chp 2

Week 13 – November 20 – Content Analysis & Cultural Studies, & Discourse Analysis

Question of the week! What's wrong with those “this is your brain on drugs” ads?

Movie of the Week – "The Celluloid Closet”

 Robert Walser, Running With the Devil: Chapter 3

Week 14 November 27 & 29–Content Analysis, Cultural Studies& Discourse Analysis

Question of the week! What can we learn from garbage?

 Robert Walser, Running With the Devil: Chapters 4 &5

 Other research sites for this kind of analysis we may look at:

1. Hipsters

2. http://www.zoilus.com/documents/general/2009/001688.php

3. http://revolutionaryboredom.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/through-being-cool/

4. http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

5. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/meet-the-global-scenester-hes-hip-hescool-

hes-everywhere-894199.html

6. Media coverage of pornography

7. http://www.feminisnt.com/img/bingo-large.jpg

8. NPR's music

9. http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/browbeat/archive/2009/10/12/the-dorf-matrix-towards-atheory-

of-npr-s-taste-in-black-music.aspx

Week 15 – December 4 & 6 – Wrap-up and Review!

Snack of the Week – Gummi Candy, Bears, Worms, Sharks, & Brains

TEST #5 (final)

Tuesday, December 11th 2:00 p - 4:00 pm IDC 209

Projects

Survey – September 27th

Write short survey to measure the relationship between several variables and then analyze and write up the results.

Interview – October 18th Conduct a brief interview, and then produce a written account of the interview.

Ethnography – November 8th Pick a field location where you are comfortable both participating &

observing what happens there. Use the insights you gain to produce a written record of the place &

people.

Content Analysis – December 6th

Analysis the messages present in some sort of media, anything from t-shirts, to bumper stickers, to

movies or songs. Decide if you want to do a quantitative analysis or a qualitative one

Extra Credit – Experiment May 16th

In my Soc 101 classes, the basic pedagogical method is the lecture, with a perfunctory nod towards

discussion. I don't think that anyone, least of all me, thinks this is the best way to teach. Design an

experiment to test a new teaching strategy. Half the class will receive my normal lecture, the other half a 20 minute lesson based on an experimental treatment you design. Ask me for a list of topics.

Hmmm: Look at these two graphs put together by a dude names Virgil Griffith:

http://booksthatmakeyoudumb.virgil.gr/

http://musicthatmakesyoudumb.virgil.gr/

His motto is, "Life is a MMORPG. Grind. Level Up. Conquer the world." I was amused. THEN, read

this take on the graphs:

http://beatcrave.com/2009-03-03/music-that-makes-you-dumb/

And tell me what you think about their claim that the research is "somewhat unscientific"? Is it?