SUNY College at Buffalo 
Sociology 300W: Methods in Social Research
Fall Semester 2014 Syllabus

Dr. ZHANG Jie

Course Call No.: 1902
Class Place: Classroom Building B209
Class Time: 6:00pm - 8:40pm, Thursday
Office Location: Classroom Building B312
Office Phone: 878-6425
Office Hours: 3:30-4:30pm TR or by appointment

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

This course is aimed to introduce students to the basic methods in social research. Although both quantitative and qualitative methods are discussed in the course, emphasis is put on the former. Therefore, this course is about “the nature of scientific evidence; induction and deduction; the application of the scientific methods to sociological data; the use of statistics and other means of data collection; case histories, narrative and descriptive methods; methods of writing for publication; use of social materials from journals and books as illustrative material”. Elementary knowledge and skills of SPSS, a statistical software, will also be introduced in the course. By the end of the semester, students will be able to identify and use appropriate research designs in their future social research. According to the Undergraduate Catalog, prerequisites for this course include Soc 100.

TEXTS AND MATERIALS 

Babbie, Earl. 2013. The Practice of Social Research, (13th Edition). Wadsworth Publishing Company.

The instructor’s email address is zhangj@buffalostate.edu. Some course related information such as study guides and this syllabus is available on the course’s website http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/zhangj.

EXAMINATIONS

There will be four major exams, three during the course and one final exam. All will be given in the classroom on the days indicated on the course schedule. Each of the first three exams will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions and is aimed at knowing how well you have mastered the material up to that point. The final has 50 multiple-choice questions and is comprehensive on all the material covered in the semester. In each exam, items will be from the textbook and the lectures. Most of the 50 questions on the final are directly from the textbook, and therefore reading the text throughout the semester is a must to prepare for the final. You will be provided with a study guide on the courses’ webpage http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/zhangj prior to each exam.

No early exams are allowed for any reason. If you have to miss an exam, you need to provide me before the exam with some written document as your excuse. If you want to make up the missed exam, it may be available on the last day of classes. As the instructor, I reserve the right to refuse any make-ups not approved in advance and to give you a “0” for that test. In other cases, even if the make-up was approved in advance, the instructor reserves the right to reduce your score for that test by 10 to 15 points if your reasons and/or the documentation are not satisfactory.

TERM PAPER

This is a writing intensive course. In consultation with the instructor, each student will participate in a research activity and write up a paper. Each student is also required to make an oral presentation of the research. The whole paper should be no longer than ten double-spaced pages. Detailed requirements for the term paper are provided on another page of the syllabus. The due date for the term paper in printed in the course schedule of this syllabus. Late submission is accepted, but with points deducted according to the number of days late.

CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT

The relationship between students and the instructor is based on mutual respect. My job is to teach the course by making it interesting and easy to understand. Your duties as students include reading the textbook, attending classes, taking notes, participating in classroom discussion, taking exams, and writing a term paper. Classroom courtesy is expected of everyone in the class. Coming late or leaving early, talking without permission from the instructor, reading newspapers or other materials, using cell phone and laptop for internet, doing homework, sleeping, packing up before the instructor dismisses the class, etc are not courteous behaviors in the classroom.

ATTENDANCE AND CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION

A good or perfect attendance record, productive participation, and courteous behaviors in classroom will help you improve your final grade. You are discouraged to miss classes. However, there are no points deducted from your final score if you have missed two or less classes in the semester. From the third class you have missed, each one will cost you three percent of your final score (final percentage). Coming late or leaving early is also discouraged. If you have committed to this class this semester, do not schedule anything, such as doctor’s appointment, academic advisement, etc. for the class time. Each coming late or each leaving early will be counted as ½ missing. As for missing classes, you do not have to present to me any excuses. All students are treated equally. For these purposes, you are asked to sit through the semester at the same place you chose at beginning, and the class roll is taken in each class period.

GRADING

The final course grade will be based on 250 possible points:
Exam #1 = 50     Exam #2 = 50     Exam #3 = 50     Final = 50     Paper = 50

Grades will be assigned using the following percentage scale:

	A = 94 - 100	A- = 90 - 93
B+ = 87 - 89	B = 84 - 86	B- = 80 - 83
C+ = 77 - 79	C = 74 - 76	C- = 70 - 73
D+ = 65 - 69	D = 60 - 64
	E = 0 - 59

POLICIES ON PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is to present as one's own an idea or product derived from an existing source without the author's permission. In particular, direct quotes from some other source that are not in quotation marks or a block quote without a reference to the original source are blatant forms of plagiarism. Any work you submit containing plagiarism will make you fail the course, no matter how wonderful the rest of your course work.

NOTE: The policies and schedule for this class are subject to change in accordance with circumstances that may change in the semester.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Day Date Topic Reading Assignment

Thursday Aug 28 Introduction to the Course Handouts (Tipping);
Sociological Methods Appendix B

Thursday Sep 4 Social Science and Social Research Chapter 1
Research and Theory Chapter 1

Thursday 11 Theoretical Models Chapter 2
Ethics in Social Research Chapter 3

Thursday 18 About the Term Paper Preparation Chapter 17

Thursday 25 EXAM #1
Research Design Chapter 4, Handouts

Thursday Oct 2 Measurement: Four Levels Chapter 5
Reliability and Validity Chapter 5

Thursday 9 Sampling Techniques Chapter 7
Randomness Chapter 7

Thursday 16 Systematic Sampling Chapter 7
EXAM #2

Thursday 23 Experiments Chapter 8, (Tipping)
Survey Research  Chapter 9, (Sexuality)

Thursday 30 Questionnaire Methods Chapter 9

Observation Chapter 10

Thursday Nov 6 Unobtrusive Methods Chapter 11, (Suicide)

EXAM #3

Thursday 13 Introduction to SPSS Appendix

Quantifying Data Chapter 14

Thursday 20 Elementary Analyses Chapter 16

Reading and Writing Social Research Chapter 17 Review

Thursday 27 Thanksgiving Day Recess

Thursday Dec 4 Term Paper Presentation     
Last Day of Classes: Overall Review (Term Paper Due!)

Thursday Dec 11 Final Exam: 5:40pm-7:30pm

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GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE TERM PAPER

I.       Title Page: (5%)

         This page consists of the title of the paper, the writer's name, course number, section number, professor's name, and the date.

II.      The thesis statement and outline: (10%)

         The thesis statement is a paragraph consisting of one or two sentences pointing out the thesis of the paper. The outline of the paper follows immediately after the thesis statement. The two parts should appear on the same one page, with the title of the paper at top of it.

III.     First Page of the Text: (5%)

          The title of the paper should appear again on top of the first page of the text exactly as on the title page and outline page.

IV.     Text: (10%)

          The whole paper including the title page, outline page, and the text should be typed and on one side of the paper only. The whole paper should be double-spaced and confined to seven pages in length.

V.       Page number: (5%)

          The page number should be put either at center bottom position or on the right upper corner of each page. No page number should be put on the title page or the outline page. If you decide to have the number on the right upper corner, the number on the first page is omitted.

VI.     References: (5%)

          This part follows immediately after the last paragraph of your text. Please note that only the works you have cited in your text are listed here. All the works should be alphabetically ordered. For the format of citations, refer to the references in the textbooks you are using in this class.

VII.    Content and organization: (60%)

          The content and the organization of the paper will be explained during the course and/or in a separate handout.

NOTE: Plagiarism will cause a failure of the course. If you are unsure about what plagiarism consists of, please come to see me.