SOCI331 Research Methods for
Sociology
American Public University System
(APUS)
SOCI331
Week 1 Discussion
Week 1:
Foundation of Social Research
Remember
that your initial post should be at least 250 words. You need to respond
to at least two other students. Responses should be at least 150
words. Initial
Discussion posts are due Thursdays, peer responses are due Sundays.
To motivate engaged discussion, posts are expected to be on time with regular
interaction throughout the week.
For this discussion, you are required to answer both Parts 1 and 2:
Part 1
Introduce yourself to the class in 50 words or less! Also acknowledge
you have read the syllabus and welcome message and that you understand the
course policies, expectations and due dates.
Part 2
There is a difference between scientific and non-scientific knowledge.
You will need to watch, listen, or read the news from whatever source you
choose (TV, internet, radio). Pay attention to the conversation or what you are
reading and focus on when the article, commentators, or guests use statistics
or facts in their argument. Is what you heard scientific or non-scientific
knowledge? What is the difference between scientific and non-scientific
knowledge? How are you able to determine if what you heard was scientific or
non-scientific knowledge? Did the information that you read, saw, or heard
convince you of the argument?
For more information on Scientific and Non-Scientific knowledge,
please watch the short video below:
SOCI331
Week 2 Discussion Research Design and Measurement
First, describe the difference
between quantitative and qualitative research. What are several differences
between quantitative and qualitative research? Give an example of
quantitative study. Give an example of a qualitative study. Second,
watch the video below. Discuss the differences between dependent and
independent variable. In your quantitative study, what would be an
example of a dependent variable? What would be an example of an
independent variable?
SOCI331
Week 3 Discussion Validity, Reliability, and Sampling
This discussion includes
several steps. Please complete the following steps and write an initial post
answering the questions:
1. Please go to this website and take the Project Implicit
test.
a. Select the Project Implicit
Social Attitudes link.
b. Read through the information
here and select I wish to proceed at the bottom of the page (keep in mind that
the information they want to gather from you is optional and you do not have to
give any information about yourself to see the results)
c. Scroll down and select the
Race IAT link
d. Read through the information
and select Continue
e. On this page, you can either
answer the Questions in the Questionnaire or select Decline on each question
f. You can then answer the
Demographic questions or select Decline to Answer for each question
g. After going through the
Demographic questions, you will see the instructions for the Project Implicit
test. Follow these instructions and complete the test. At the end of the test,
you will see your results.
2. Consider the Project
Implicit test that you took and what you learned this week about validity and
reliability. Do you think that the Project Implicit test is valid? Is the
Project Implicit test really exploring your implicit bias or do you think the
test has limitations? What about the method they use of clicking letters on the
keyboard to determine internal bias? What type of measurement error could
emerge through the method used in the Project Implicit test?
3. Do you believe that
the Project Implicit test is reliable? Would you likely get the same results if
you took the Project Implicit test 10 times in a row?
4. How would we test the
validity or reliability of the Project Implicit test? How could we improve the
Project Implicit test to be more valid or reliable?
5. Now, think about other
surveys, quizzes, or tests that you have taken in the past. For example, a
survey about your political views. Was that survey valid? Did that survey
explore the actual topic of the survey? Was this survey reliable? What is the importance
of having a reliable and valid measurement?
SOCI331
Week 4 Assignment 1 Survey Design
Assignment
1: SURVEY DESIGN
Due 11:59pm
EST on Sunday of Week 4
Purpose:
The purpose of this paper is
to create a survey using the knowledge that you have obtained throughout the
class.
Directions and Grading:
In this assignment you will
design your own survey with 10 items/questions. You will go through each step
listed below and create a paper that is at least 4-6 pages in length – not
including your title page.
Step 1: Choose your
topic
In this section of the paper,
you will outline your topic choice. You can pick any topic that interests you
and this topic can come from any field. For example, you could pick a topic
about political attitudes, which type of entertainment people enjoy, attitudes
about crime and punishment, opinions about the federal government, or any other
issue you choose. Just be sure that you can create a 10 item/question survey
using your topic.
You will need to outline your
topic choice and why you picked this topic for your survey. This section should
be at least one strong paragraph in your paper.
Step 2: Data
This section of the paper has
three parts. First, you will decide whether or not you want to conduct a
research project using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. This answer
will determine the type of items/questions you include in your survey. Explain
your reasoning behind your choice. What are the advantages and disadvantages
behind your selection?
Second, you will decide if
your items/questions will be closed, open-ended, or a mixture of both.
Remember, your choice of quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods will determine
the type of items/questions that you choose for your survey.
Finally, what will be your
method of data collection? Would you conduct the survey through personal
interviews, over the telephone or computer, through the mail, or through email?
Why did you choose this method of data collection and what are the advantages
and disadvantages of your chosen method?
Step 3: Research
question and variables
Once again, this section of
the paper consists of multiple parts. First, you will need to first come up with
your overall research questions. For example, if you picked attitudes toward
crime and punishment, then you would need to think of a research question that
will address this topic. So, you could create a research question such as
"how do college students view crime and punishment in our society?"
Second, you will determine
the independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV) in your research
question. Clearly state your variables in this section of the paper. Explain
why you picked your independent variable and dependent variable. Start by
defining independent and dependent variables and show that you understand why
your independent variable is in fact your independent variable and not your
dependent variable. Do the same for the dependent variable.
Step 4: Hypothesis
In this section of the paper,
write a hypothesis about what you think is the likely answer to this research
question. Remember, your hypothesis should be testable and falsifiable. Explain
the reasoning behind your hypothesis and how it is both testable and
falsifiable.
Step 5: Survey
items/questions
For this section, you will
create the actual items/questions that will go in your survey. You have to
create at least 10 items/questions for this assignment. You can create more if
needed for your topic. These survey items/questions can be laid out in bullet
form in the paper. You will be graded based on validity of the items/questions
and whether or not the items/questions follow the design requirements mentioned
in the contents this week.
Step 6: Explain the
validity and reliability of the survey
In this final section, you
will explain why your survey is valid and reliable. How does the survey address
your original topic? Would participants be likely to give the same answers if
they took your survey over again?
Also, you can watch the
following video to learn about important pitfalls to avoid when designing
questions for your survey.
SOCI331
Week 5 Discussion Ethical Standards in Research
In 2012, Facebook conducted
an experiment on 700,000 Facebook users without these users knowing about the
research. Facebook divided these users into two groups and displayed more
negative content in the news feed of one group and more positive content in the
news feed of the other group. Facebook found that those users who had more
negative content in their news feed were more likely to make more negative
posts themselves. The opposite was found with the other group as more positive
posts were made by individuals who experienced more positive content. You
can read more about the above study
https://about.fb.com/news/2017/12/hard-questions-is-spending-time-on-social-media-bad-for-us/
https://www.wired.com/2014/06/everything-you-need-to-know-about-facebooks-manipulative-experiment/
1. What other findings did
this study fine?
2. Considering what you have
learned about ethics in research this week and throughout the course, what
ethical issues are raised by this Facebook study? What consent issues were
present in this Facebook study? Could there have been any issues with regards
to vulnerable populations in this study? How would you feel if you found out
that you were unknowingly part of this Facebook study?
3. Finally, considering the
hypothesis of the study that more negative content would lead to more negative
posts and vice versa, could Facebook have addressed this hypothesis without
manipulating the news feed content of these 700,000 Facebook users?
Remember that your initial post
should be at least 250 words. You need to respond to at least two other
students. Responses should be at least 150 words. Initial Discussion posts are due Thursdays,
peer responses are due Sundays. To motivate engaged
discussion, posts are expected to be on time with regular interaction
throughout the week.
SOCI331
Week 6 Assignment 2 Conceptualizing and Operationalizing Variables
Assignment
2: Measurement
Due
11:59pm EST on Sunday of Week 6
When social researchers create
survey question they often have to create indexes and/or scales to measure
variables. An index is several scaled questions that measure a concept
(e.g. religiousness as discussed in this module). When we create an index
we often start with a concept or variable and then create an index that
measures that concept. This assignment is designed to help you gain a
better understanding of index creation.
Example: Measuring Religiousness
How could one measure
religiousness among Christians? One may simply ask respondents how often they
attend church. Several studies, however, have found that upper-class persons
attend church more frequently than lower-class persons. Lower-class persons, on
the other hand, may actually be more religious on a personal basis. They may,
for example, be more likely to pray and read the Bible than upper-class
persons. A valid measure of religiousness, therefore must not only ask
questions concerning church involvement, but most also include questions
concerned with personal religious involvement. The following is an example of
an index that could measure religiousness among Christians:
For the following questions please circle one of the following answer
categories:
1 = never
2 = occasionally
3 = weekly or more
1. How
often in the last year have you attended church?
2. How
often in the past year have you given money to your church?
3. How
often in the past year have you gone to other church affairs, such as meetings,
Bible study, or trips?
4. How
often do you read the Bible?
5. How
often do you pray?
6. In
the last year, how often have you listened to or watched Christian programming
on TV or radio?
7. How
often in the past have you read a religious book other than the bible?
Assignment
For this assignment, you will create three indexes that
measure or assess three common psychological disorders: (1) ADHD (Hyperactivity
Disorder), (2) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and (3) Anti-Social
Personality Disorder (Psychopathy). This will require each student to do
internet research on all three psychological disorder before they create their
survey.
- Conduct Internet research on the subject of
ADHD. Read over the symptoms of ADHD. Now create
an index that measures ADHD. You index should at least have seven
closed-ended questions.
- Conduct Internet research on the subject of
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Read over the symptoms of
OCD. Now create an index that measures OCD. You index
should have at least seven closed-ended questions.
- Conduct Internet research on the subject of
psychopathy (antisocial personality disorder). Read over the
symptoms of psychopathy or antisocial personality. Now create
an index that measures psychopathy (antisocial personality disorder).
Your index should have at least seven closed-ended questions.
- Now write at least seven closed-ended questions
that could used as predictors or correlates (independent variables) of
ADHD, OCD, or anti-social personality disorder.
Your survey should be comprised of at least 28 questions.
Here is another example of an Index or Scale:
Using Indexes to Measure Variables
Some variables can
be defined in several different ways or can have what social scientist call,
different dimensions. For example, how would you define the variable
"morale"? Morale could be defined in several different ways. It could
be a feeling of confidence in the group, a feeling of togetherness, a feeling
of happiness in the group, or a willingness to endure hardship for the common good
of the group. We could say that the variable morale had four different
dimensions. To measure the variable morale we would have to have several
questions in the form of a scale.
Example:
1. On
a scale from 1 to 10, how confident that this group can get reach its goals? 1
being no confidence and 10 being extremely confident.
2. On
a scale from 1 to 10, how close to you think the members of this group are? 1
being not close at all and 10 being extremely close.
3. On
a scale from 1 to 10, how happy are you in this group? 1 being not happy at all
and 10 being extremely happy.
4. On
a scale from 1 to 10, how likely are to endure hardship and pain in order for
the group to reach its goals? 1 being not very likely and 10 being extremely likely
to endure hardship.
The previous four questions could then be added together to
get a morale score for each respondent. The scores could range from 4 to 40.
SOCI331 Week 8 Discussion Data Analysis
Week
8: Data Analysis
This
final discussion forum
Methods
Week 8
This
week's lesson covers some of the basic concepts of social statistics.
Sociologists often used large data sets to analyze when conducting quantitative
research. Two data sets that have examined crime in the United States
over the last several decades are the UCR and the NCVS. Use the Internet
to obtain information about the UCR and NVCS and to help you answer the
following information.
What
are the UCR and the NVCS? How are the data collected for these
studies? What are the differences between the two data sets? What
are some of the strengths and weakness of the UCR? What are some of the
strengths and weakness of the NCVS? What are several trends in crime
as shown by both the UCR and the NCVS?
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