Course Focus & Objectives
The single highest priority of this course is for you to acquire a research competency that will be of practical value for the rest of your life and to have "fun" in the process. In the pursuit of this mega-goal we will deconstruct the process of doing social scientific research in a step-wise fashion. We will begin by clarifying what distinguishes "scientific" thinking from "non-scientific" thinking. Our next objective is to understand how to construct testable hypotheses and how to conceptualize different ways that the same set of variables may be related to one another. Another course objective that we have is to learn the skill of questionnaire construction so that we may employ this skill in the attempt to test various research hypotheses. As this will require us to analyze data, we have the adjunct goal of learning to use "SPSS for windows" for the purpose of drawing conclusions about how "a selected set of variables" are really related to one another. Finally, we will be doing an overview of the various research methodologies of the social sciences so that we may appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of each such that we will know when one method of research is to be preferred over another.
Throughout the semester you will be expected to demonstrate your grasp of the course materials through a wide variety of activities. These will include both classroom and lab projects. During the semester you will be working with a minimum of six independent data files. Beginning with our first lab you will be reviewing data files already assembled and with all variables fully labeled. You will also design and conduct a secondary research project using General Social Survey data. In all of these undertakings assistance will be made available to you as needed. In the end, however, you will be expected to have mastered the basics of social scientific research methodology and you will go forth into the world with a newly elevated sense of self-esteem and marketability.