Sociological Methodology - Syllabus

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METHODS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH SYLLABUS
Sociology 108 Bruce C. Straits

RESEARCH METHODS SYLLABUS (SO 310-1)
THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY - Craig T. Robertson
Spring, 2004 - http://www2.una.edu/crobertson/Methods/methodssyl.htm

Synthesis of Theory and Method in Sociology - University of Missouri Syllabus
Winter Session 2001 - Professor: Elizabeth Barham

University of Washington Course Descriptions and Syllabus
gencat@u.washington.edu

Sociology 535-001 – Quantitative Methods in Sociology I - Syllabus
Paul D. Allison 276 McNeil 898-6717, allison @ssc.upenn.edu, ssc.upenn.edu/~allison

Sociology 536 – Quantitative Methods in Sociology II - Syllabus
Paul D. Allison, 276 McNeil, 215-898-6717, ssc.upenn.edu/~allison,

Soc. 5100 – Contemporary Theory and Research Syllabus - Dr. Peter Knapp

Everyone agrees that "theory" is indispensable to sociology as a discipline, but no one agrees what "theory" is. One approach analyzes the "classic" figures, such as Comte, Durkheim, Weber and Marx. Another approach looks at the logic of research and hypothesis testing, analyzing what general conclusions can be drawn from empirical research. Still another looks at the current state of knowledge and research on such topics as the family, class, race or crime. This course will try to show that the three approaches are complementary; indeed they all amount to the same thing. The classic figures established the hypotheses and methodological approaches that dominate contemporary research. There is a mid-term, a final and a research paper. The course is writing intensive. Each student will pick a research topic early in the course and will write a short passage relating each week’s material to their topic, leading up to their final paper. Comments on these short exercises will provide feed-back throughout the course. Restricted to Sociology majors. Fulfills Writing Intensive requirement.

Soc. 5300 – Data Analysis for Social Scientists Syllabus - Dr. Satya Pattnayak

The course is designed to introduce sociology students to the intricacies of data analysis in the social sciences. This data analysis-orientation is meant to be not math-intensive but more in non-technical terms

Through the discussion and the selection of relevant examples and problems. The many examples and problems discussed in the course are based on research studies in sociology, political science, anthropology, history, and others.

Generally, this course will cover "measurement processes," "descriptive statistics," "statistical inference by testing hypotheses," "measuring association between variables," "correlation," and "linear multiple regression." Under many instances, students will be asked to use MicroCase to do the required homework and other assignments for this course. Restricted to Sociology majors. Fulfills Writing Enriched requirement.

Soc. 5400 – Applied Research Methods in Sociology Syllabus - Dr. Brian Jones

This course is designed to develop real world research skills that can be directly applied in opinion polling firms, marketing departments, social service agencies, and numerous other jobs. Students will receive an introduction to the fundamentals of sociological research methods and statistics, which is to be organized around in-depth training in the following special topics: sampling, measurement, basic statistics, data analysis, and program evaluation. Grading will be broken up into three elements, each of which is worth one-third of the final grade: design of a survey instrument, a professional literature review, and a multivariate data analysis project. Restricted to Sociology majors.

Courses and Syllabus by Paul Allison -- Professor Allison teaches a two-day course on Missing Data, and five-day courses on Event History Analysis and Categorical Data Analysis. - ssc.upenn.edu/~allison/

Sociology 710, University of Michigan Syllabus -- Causal Inference in the Social Sciences
personal.umich.edu/~yuxie/Courses/Soc710/index.html

RESEARCH METHODS (SO 310-1)
THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Spring, 2004 - http://www2.una.edu/crobertson/Methods/methodssyl.htm

Instructor: Craig T. Robertson, Ph.D. E-mail: ctrobertson@una.edu
Website: http://www2.una.edu/crobertson

Course Description and Goals
This course exposes students to the processes and techniques necessary to conduct social scientific research. Students will learn how to frame a research question, assess methods best suited to research questions, measure concepts, apply sampling procedures, understand data collection strategies, and analyze data. I hope you will leave this class with a level of understanding allowing you to quality behavioral science research. I hope you will meet the following goals:

understand the ways of knowing and the role of science in building knowledge;

understand the dialectical nature of scientific inquiry;

understand the role of theory in deductive scientific inquiry;

understand the processes involved in development of a research design;

understand sampling procedures, techniques and their implementation;

understand survey methodology;

understand experimental methodology;

understand qualitative methodology; and

understand basic statistical applications.

Course Text:
Babbie, Earl. 2002. The basics of social research. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing.

METHODS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Sociology 108 Bruce C. Straits - soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/straits/ courses/soc108/f2000/S108_F00.html
Fundamentals of designing, conducting, and analyzing social surveys. While the main focus is on survey techniques, problems of design and interpretation in experimental and observational studies are touched upon in terms of similarities and contrasts. (UCSB General Catalog)
Teaching Assistant:
Josef M. Liles jmliles@juno.com

Texts:
Rodney Stark, Lynne Roberts, and Michael Corbett, Contemporary Social Research Methods (text)and Social Research Using MicroCase (workbook and software), 2nd edition, MicroCase Corporation, 1998. (Required package)
Royce Singleton, Jr. and Bruce C. Straits, Approaches to Social Research, 3rd ed., (Oxford University Press, 1999). (Optional textbook)

Requirements:
Students much attend the first class meeting and regularly attend lectures to remain enrolled in the class. Reading assignments should be completed before the indicated class meetings. There will be possible pop quizzes on the readings and one midterm exam [30% of the total grade], weekly assignments (study guide questions and computer-based data analyses) [30% of the total grade], and a final exam [40% of the total grade]. Weekly assignments (MicroCase study guide questions and problems) are due on Fridays. Late assignments will be down graded one letter grade per day late. There will be no early exams, no make-up exams, and no "extra credit" ways to make up for poor or missed performance. Please check the dates of these exams against your personal, athletic, and scholarly schedules; if there is conflict you must drop the course now. Students with disabilities who qualify for special arrangements must notify the instructor during the first week of class.

Instructional Computing:
At our first class meeting a representative from Instructional Computing (IC) will discuss arrangements for doing your MicroCase assignments during IC drop-in hours. You will need to bring the Social Research Using MicroCase workbook and the MicroCase floppy diskette each time you go to IC. Please make a backup copy of the MicroCase floppy and keep it in a safe place. To print copies of your work, you will need an active undergraduate e-mail account (available from IC).

Web Sites:
General Social Survey homepage icpsr.umich.edu/GSS99/
Java statistical applets stat.duke.edu/sites/java.html
MicroCase homepage microcase.com/
Research methods links library.miami.edu/netguides/psymeth.html

Earl R. Babbie, 2d ed., Survey Research Methods (Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1990).

James A. Davis, The Logic of Causal Order (Sage, 1985).

Donald T. Campbell, "Reforms as Experiments," American Psychologist 24 (April, 1969), 409-429.

Norman K. Denzin, ed., Sociological Methods (Aldine, 1970).

Dennis P. Forcese and Stephen Richer, eds., Stages of Social Research (Prentice-Hall, 1970).

Floyd J. Fowler, Jr. Improving Survey Questions: Design and Evaluation, Sage, 1995.

Phillip E. Hammond, ed., Sociologists at Work (Doubleday Anchor Books, 1967).

Garrett Hardin, Science and Controversy (W. H. Freeman and Company, 1969).

Morton Hunt, Profiles of Social Research (Russell Sage, 1985).

Robert L. Kahn and Charles F. Cannell, The Dynamics of Interviewing (John Wiley, 1957).

Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundations of Behavioral Research (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1973, 2nd edition).

Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Ann K. Pasanella, and Morris Rosenberg, Continuities in the Language of Social Research (The Free Press, 1972).

Gardner Lindzey and Elliot Aronson, eds., The Handbook of Social Psychology. Volume II (Research Methods), 2nd edition (Addison-Wesley, 1968).

Gardner Lindzey and Elliot Aronson, eds., The Handbook of Social Psychology. Volume I, 3rd edition (Random House, 1985).

Peter H. Rossi, James D. Wright, and Andy B. Anderson, eds., Handbook of Survey Research (Academic Press, 1983).

Claire Selltiz, et al., Research Methods in Social Relations (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976, 3rd edition).

Royce Singleton, Jr. and Bruce C. Straits, Approaches to Social Research, 3d ed., (Oxford University Press, 1999).

Seymour Sudman, Applied Sampling (Academic Press, 1976).

Seymour Sudman, Norman M. Bradburn, and Norbert Schwarz, Thinking About Answers: The Application of Cognitive Processes to Survey Methodology, Jossey-Bass, 1996.

Edward R. Tufte, ed., The Quantitative Analysis of Social Problems (Addison-Wesley, 1970).

Charles F. Turner and Elizabeth Martin, eds., Surveying Subjective Phenomena, Volume II (Russell Sage Foundation, 1984).

Eugene J. Webb, et al., Unobtrusive Measures (Rand McNally, 1966).

Paul L. Wuebben, Bruce C. Straits, and Gary I. Schulman, The Experiment as a Social Occasion (Glendessary, 1974).

Tentative Outline of Topics and Readings
Unit I. Introduction

A. The Interplay of Theory and Research. (September 27)

Text, Chapter 1 ("Concepts and Theories")

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 2 ("The Nature of Science"), pp. 17-39.

T. C. Chamberlin, "The Method of Multiple Working Hypotheses," Science 148 (1965 reprint of 1890 article), in Hardin, pp.

B. Stages of Social Research (September 29)

Text, Chapter 2 ("Steps in the Social Scientific Process").

Davis, "Great Books and Small Groups: An Informal History of a National Survey," in Hammond, pp. 244-269 (Chapter 9).

Hunt, Chapter 2 (The Coleman studies on segregated schooling and busing).

Unit II. From Concepts to Measures
A. Concepts and Operational Definitions (October 2)

Text, Chapter 3 ("Measurement")
Singleton and Straits, Chapter 4 ("Units of Analysis"), pp. 67 -70.

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 5 introduction and sections on "The Measurement Process" and "Operational Definitions", pp. 99

Seeman, "On the Meaning of Alienation," in Lazarsfeld, et al., pp. 25-34.

Blau, "Operationalizing a Conceptual Scheme: The Universalism-Particularism Pattern Variables," in Forcese & Richer, pp. 54-67.

Landecker, "Types of Integration and Their Measurement," in Lazarsfeld & Rosenberg, pp. 19-27.

B. Levels of Measurement (October 4)
Singleton and Straits, Chapter 5 ("Levels of Measurement") pp. 109 - 113.
Stevens, "On the Theory of Scales of Measurement," in Forcese & Richer, pp. 70-75.

Stevens, "Measurement, Statistics, and the Schemapiric View," in Forcese & Richer, pp. 76-92.

C. Reliability and Validity (October 6)

Singleton and Straits Chapter 5 sections on "Reliability and Validity", "Reliability Assessment", "Validity Assessment", and "A Final Note on Reliability and Validity", pp. 113 - 128.
George W. Bohrnstedt, "Measurement," pp. 69-121 in Rossi et al.

Turner and Martin, Surveying Subjective Phenomena, Volume 1, Part III ("Measurement Issues"), pp. 95-229.

Donald T. Campbell and Donald W. Fiske, "Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix," in Summers, pp. 100-122.

Selected applications:

Frank M. Andrews, "Construct Validity and Error Components of Survey Measures: A Structural Modeling Approach," pp. 391-424 in Singer and Presser.

Gene F. Summers, Lauren H. Seiler, Glen Wiley, "Validation of Reputational Leadership by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix," pp. 170-181 in Edgar F. Borgatta and George W. Bohrnstedt, Sociological Methodology 1970 (Jossey-Bass, 1970).

Johannes Pennings, "Measures of Organizational Structure: A Methodological Note," American Journal of Sociology 79 (1973), pp. 686-704.

Jacob Jacoby, "The Construct Validity of Opinion Leadership," Public Opinion Quarterly 38 (Spring 1974), pp. 81-89.

D. Introduction to Index Construction and Scaling (October 9)

Babbie, Chapter 8 ("Index and Scale Construction").
Lazarsfeld, "Some Remarks on Typological Procedures in Social Research," in Lazarsfeld, et al., pp. 99-106.

Andy B. Anderson et al., "Scaling Techniques," pp. 246-281 in Rossi et al.

Dawes and Smith, "Attitude and Opinion Measurement," pp. 509-566 in Lindzey and Aronson (third edition).

Unit III. Generalizability of Findings
A. Basics (October 11, 13)

Text, Chapter 4 ("Censuses and Samples").

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 6 ("Sampling"), pp. 134 - 172.

Babbie, Chapter 5 ("The Logic of Survey Sampling").

Sudman, "Applied Sampling," in Rossi et al., pp. 145-194 (or Sudman, Applied Sampling, Chapters 3-9)

B. Applications (October 16, 18)

Sudman, Applied Sampling, Chapters 1-2 ("Deciding How to Do the Study," "Small-Scale Sampling with Limited Resources.")
Babbie, Chapter 6 ("Examples of Sample Design").

Webb, et al., pp. 127-141 ("Observation of Language Behavior: Conversation Sampling", "Time Sampling and Observation").

Coleman, "Relational Analysis: The Study of Social Organization with Survey Methods," in Denzin, pp. 115-126; also in Lazarsfeld, et al., pp. 258-266.

Zelditch, "Some Methodological Problems of Field Studies." in Denzin, pp. 495-511; also in Forcese & Richer, pp. 246-258.

Hunt, Chapter 3 (sampling the impact of the government's social programs on the American family).

Unit IV. Data Analysis and Interpretation
A. Introduction (October 20)

Text, Chapter 5 ("Causation and Causal Models")
Singleton and Straits, Chapter 4 ("The Nature of Causal Relationships"), pp. 78 -85.

Assignment 4 Deadline (October 20)
B. Elaboration of Tables (October 23, 25)

Babbie, Chapter 15 ("The Elaboration Model").

Davis, The Logic of Causal Order, pp. 7-44.

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 16, (Multivariate Analysis"), pp. 490 - 497.

C. Multiple Regression (October 27)

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 16, (Multivariate Analysis"), pp. 497- 509.

Unit V. Research Designs

A. Design Choices (November 1)

Text, Chapter 6 ("Basic Research Designs")

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 1 ("Introduction"), pp. 1 - 13.

B. Experimental Designs (November 1, 3)

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 7 introduction and sections on "The Logic of Experimentation" and "Staging Experiments", pp. 179 - 194.
Singleton and Straits, Chapter 8 introduction and sections on "Threats to Internal Validity", "Pre-experimental Designs", "True Experimental Designs", "Factorial Experimental Designs", and "Quasi-Experimental Designs", pp. 210 - 234.

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 7 section on "Experimentation Outside the Laboratory", pp. 201 - 206.

Aronson, Brewer, and Carlsmith, "Experimentation in Social Psychology," pp. 441-486 in Lindzey and Aronson (third edition), Vol. I.

Hunt, Chapter 6 (experimental trial of an antipoverty program)

C. Artifacts (November 3)

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 7 section on "The Experiment as a Social Occasion", pp. 194 - 201.
DeMaio, "Social Desirability and Survey Measurement: A Review," pp. 257-282 in Turner & Martin, Surveying Subjective Phenomena, Volume II.

Orne, "On the Social Psychology of the Psychological Experiment," in Denzin, pp. 285-299; also in Wuebben, et al., pp. 139-152.

Rosenthal, "The Social Psychology of the Behavioral Scientist," in Tufte, pp. 153-167.

Wuebben, Straits and Schulman, The Experiment as a Social Occasion.

Unit VI. Survey Research

Text, Chapter 7 ("Survey Research").
Singleton and Straits, Chapter 9 ("Survey Research"), pp. 239 -275.

Schuman and Kalton, "Survey Methods", pp. 635-697 in Lindzey and Aronson (third edition), Vol. I.

Hunt, Chapter 5 (the Duke longitudinal studies of aging).

B. Design and Administration (November 8, 13)

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 10 ("Survey Instrumentation"), pp. 278 - 316.
Floyd J. Fowler Jr., Improving Survey Questions (Sage 1995).

Cannell and Kahn, "Interviewing," in Lindzey and Aronson, pp. 526-595.

Kahn and Cannell, Chapter 6 ("The Design of Questionnaires").

Sudman, Bradburn, and Schwarz, Thinking About Answers (Jossey-Bass, 1996).

C. Data Handling and Refinement (November 15)

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 15 ("Data Processing and Elementary Data Analysis"), pp. 455 - 466.

Unit VII. Analyzing Other Quantitative Data (November 17, 20)
Text, Chapter 8 ("Comparative Research: Using Aggregate Units").
Text, Chapter 11 ("Content and Other Unobtrusive Techniques")

Webb et al., pp. 1-52 (Unobtrusive Measures).

Unit VIII. Multiple Methods (November 22, 27)
Singleton and Straits, Chapter 13 ("Multiple Methods"), pp. 393-418.
Thanksgiving holiday (November 23-24) J
Unit IX. Epilogue

A. Research Report Writing (November 29)

Text, Appendix ("Writing the Research Report"), pp. 263 - 276.
Singleton and Straits, Chapter 18 ("Writing Research Reports"), pp. 537 - 552.

B. Ethics(December 1)

Singleton and Straits, Chapter 17 ("Research Ethics"), pp. 513 - 534.

COURSE SYLLABUS Sociology 207: SOCIAL STATISTICS Course Content Overview - wwu.edu/~jull207/syllabus.html

Synthesis of Theory and Method in Sociology - University of Missouri
Winter Session 2001 - Professor: Elizabeth Barham

Course Description
This course is designed to guide graduate students through the process of designing, writing up and revising their dissertation research proposal. The course will emphasize how to bring various theoretical paradigms to bear on substantive research topics via selection of appropriate methodological approaches. Major theoretical schools within the Western sociological tradition will be reviewed to help student place their dissertation interests within the broader concerns of the discipline. The fit of theory with selected methods will be explored, as well as consequences of methodological choices for both the research process itself and the results that can be expected. Special attention will be given to the organization of the writing process as an ongoing engagement with the research topic, beginning with the research proposal itself.

Goals of this Course

At the completion of this course, students are expected to have gained an overview of the major theoretical paradigms behind current debates within the field of sociology, and a sense of how they are translated into concrete research projects within the discipline. They should also have a clear sense of where their own proposed research can be situated within the field. The principal student product of the course will be a completed dissertation proposal. By the end of the course, students should feel a reasonable degree of comfort and direction about what they are expected to accomplish within the parameters of their dissertation research, based on their proposals. They should have gained a greater understanding of what strengths they bring to their research project, as well which gaps or weaknesses will need to be addressed. Overall, the goal of this course is to help students embark on their first major research effort with greater clarity about how theory and method combine in sociological research, and how this interactive process can be carried through to the writing of the dissertation. A secondary goal of this course is to encourage student socialization into the discipline in support of both immediate research as well as longer-term career goals.

Assigned Texts

Creswell, John. W. 1998 Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions. Thousand Oaks, CA Sage.

Creswell, John W. 1994. Research Design: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Levine, Donald N. 1995. Visions of the Sociological Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Sjoberg, Gideon. 1997 (1968). A Methodology for Social Research: With a New Introductory Essay. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.

Zerubavel, Eviatar. 1999. The Clockwork Muse:A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations & Books. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Allison, Alida, and Terri Frongia, eds. 1992. The Grad Student's Guide to Getting Published. New York: Prentice Hall.

Becker, Howard S., and with a chapter by Pamela Richards. 1986. Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Boice, Robert. 1994. How Writers Journey to Comfort and Fluency: A Psychological Adventure. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. 1995.The Craft of Research. Chicago: The Chicago University Press.

Bordens, Kenneth S., and Bruce B. Abbott. 1999. Research Design & Methods: A Process Approach: Mayfield.

Burgess, Robert G., ed. 1995. Computing and Qualitative Research. Greenwich, CT: Jai Press.

Cook, Terrence E. 1994. Criteria of Social Scientific Knowledge: Interpretation, Prediction, Praxis. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Creswell, John W. 1994. Research Design: Qualitative & Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Fielding, Robert G. And Raymond M. Lee, eds. 1993. Using computers in Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications.

Girden, Ellen R. 1996. Evaluating Research Articles from Start to Finish. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .

Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences. 1996. Open the Social Sciences: Report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the Restructuring of the Social Sciences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Harvey, Lee. 1990. Critical Social Research. London: Unwin Hyman.

Kuhn, Thomas S. 1970. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Layder, Derek. 1993. New Strategies in Social Research: An Introduction and Guide. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Lechte, John. 1994. Fifty Key Contemporary Thinkers: From Structuralism to Postmodernity. London: Routledge.

Levine, Donald N. 1995. Visions of the Sociological Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Locke, Lawrence f., Stephen J. Silverman, Waneen Wyrick Spirduso. 1998. Reading and Understanding Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Locke, Lawrence F., Waneen W. Spirduso, and Stephen J. Silverman. 1987. Proposals that Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

May, Tim. 1996. Situating Social Theory. Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.

Newton, Rae R., Kjell Erik Rudestam. 1999. Your Statistical Consultant. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Novak, Joseph D., and D. Bob Gowin. 1984. Learning How to Learn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Potter, W. James. 1996. An Analysis of Thinking and Research about Qualitative Methods. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

Rhoads, John K. 1991. Critical Issues in Social Theory. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.

Steier, Frederick, ed. 1991. Research and Reflexivity. London: Sage Publications.

Sternberg, David. 1981. How to Complete and Survive a Doctoral Dissertation. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Stock, Molly. 1985. A Practical Guide to Graduate Research. New York: McGraw-Hill.

University of Washington Course Descriptions
gencat@u.washington.edu - Modified: September 22, 2004

SOC 506 Methodology: Quantitative Techniques in Sociology (3) I&S
Applied regression analysis with emphasis on interactive computer graphics techniques and interpretation. Application to typical sociological problems. Offered: jointly with CS&SS 507; A.

SOC 519 Fieldwork: Observation and Interviewing (3) I&S
Perspective, logic, and techniques of qualitative social research and analysis. Nature and uses of intensive interviewing, participant observation, and analytic ethnography. Application of field research principles. Research project required in addition to reading and analysis of classic studies. Offered: W.

SOC 525 Experimental Methods in Social Research (3)
For graduate students who wish additional understanding of techniques, problems, and issues involved in the design and conduct of experimental social research. Considers strengths and weaknesses of various experimental designs, artifacts and their control, problems in going from the laboratory to the field, and ethical issues. Prerequisite: SOC 424-425 and SOC 428, SOC 429, or equivalents.

SOC 526 Causal Approach to Theory Building and Data Analysis (3)
Theory construction and testing from a causal models perspective. Path analysis, standardized versus unstandardized measures, feedback models, identification problems, estimation in overidentified models, difference equations, differential equations, stability conditions. Multiplicative models as alternatives to additive ones. Causal approach to measurement error.

SOC 527 Measurement of Basic Sociological Concepts (3)
Conceptualization and measurement problems in sociology, using major concepts as illustrations of basic issues. Causal approach to measurement to deal with problems of indirect measurement, cross-level measurement problems, aggregation and disaggregation. Consequences of crude measurement for data analyses. Prerequisite: SOC 424; recommended: SOC 426.

SOC 528 Seminar on Selected Statistical Problems in Social Research (3) Raftery
Prerequisite: SOC 426.

SOC 529 Structural Equation Models for the Social Sciences (3)
Structural equation models for the social sciences, including specification, estimation, and testing. Topics include path analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, linear models with latent variables, MIMIC models, non-recursive models, models for nested data. Emphasizes applications to substantive problems in the social sciences. Prerequisite: SOC 424, SOC 425, SOC 426 or equivalent; recommended: CS&SS 505 and CS&SS 506, or equivalent. Offered: jointly with CS&SS 526.

Sociology 535-001  Quantitative Methods in Sociology I  Fall 2002
Paul D. Allison 276 McNeil 898-6717, allison @ssc.upenn.edu - ssc.upenn.edu/~allison

Teaching Assistant: Adair Crosley

CONTENT. This is the first semester of a two-semester sequence. It is essentially an introductory statistics course covering descriptive statistics, probability, random variables, estimation, sampling, hypothesis testing, and chi-square tests. The second semester stresses multiple regression and its extensions to simultaneous equations.

TEXTS. Moore and McCabe, Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (at Penn bookstore)

RECITATION SECTIONS. Sessions will typically include review and further explanation of lecture material, return of assignments, explanation of difficult homework problems, and responses to students' questions on any of the course material.

PROBLEMS SETS. There will be several problem sets assigned at irregular intervals throughout the semester. They will be graded as either acceptable or unacceptable. Unacceptable work must be redone.

GRADING. Final grades will be almost entirely determined by exam performance, with the midterm accounting for 40 percent and the final accounting for 60 percent. Failure to turn in acceptable problem sets can detract from your grade, however.

PREREQUISITES. Competence in high school algebra and some familiarity with social science data and research. No previous statistical training is presumed.

Sociology 536  Quantitative Methods in Sociology II  Spring 2003
Paul D. Allison, 276 McNeil, 215-898-6717, www.ssc.upenn.edu/~allison, allison@ssc.upenn.edu
Adair Crosley, 254A McNeil, (215) 573-8061, acrosley@ssc.upenn.edu
CONTENT: This is the second semester of a two-semester sequence. It is a course on applied linear models, with an emphasis on multiple regression and its extensions, including path analysis and simultaneous equations. Students will use the SAS statistical package.

TEXTS:
1. McKee J. McClendon, Multiple Regression and Causal Analysis
2. Paul D. Allison, Multiple Regression: A Primer
3. Lecture notes (available at Campus Copy, 3907 Walnut).

RECITATIONS: Thurs. 2-3, 4-5. Sessions will typically include review and explanation of lecture material, explanation of difficult homework problems, and responses to students' questions on any of the course material. New material will be presented on the use of the computer.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: There will be several written assignments at irregular intervals throughout the semester. Most of these will require you to analyze a set of data using SAS.

GRADING: Final grades will be primarily determined by exam performance, with the midterm accounting for 40 percent and the final accounting for 60 percent. Poor performance on problem sets can detract from your grade, however.

PREREQUISITE: Sociology 535 or equivalent course in introductory statistics.

TENTATIVE SEQUENCE OF TOPICS:

1. Bivariate regression algebra.
2. Bivariate regression theory.
3. Trivariate and multiple regression.
4. Statistical inference in multiple regression.
5. Interpretation of regression coefficients.
6. Regression and correlation; standardized coefficients.
7. Multicollinearity.
8. Nonlinearity.
9. Dummy variables, analysis of variance and analysis of covariance.
10. Interaction.
11. Model building strategies.
12. Missing data.
13. Violation of assumptions.
14. Path analysis.
15. Generalized least squares.
16. Fixed-effects and random-effects.
17. Simultaneous equations.

Books On Sociological Methodology

Sociological Methodology 2000

Sociological Methodology Stolezenberg

The Methodology of Herbert Blumer

Rules of Sociological Method

New Rules of Sociological Method

Structural Modeling by Example

Max Weber's Methodology

Sociological Methodology 2004

Essentials of Research Methods