’Learning Sociology through Social Research’: A Research Methods Course Syllabus

Abstract

The Social Research course is a semester-long (15-week) course at the 3000-level. It was designed as 6-units walking students through the process, methodologies, analysis, evaluation, and finally, real-world applications of social research. At the beginning of the course, students are learning the pillars of sociological research, focusing on...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Other, Qualitative Methodology, Quantitative Methodology, Research Methods

Resource Type(s):

Syllabus

Class Level(s):

College 300, College 400

Class Size(s):

Medium, Small

Usage Notes

I designed this course originally for Fall 2023, adjusting as needed for Spring 2024. The Social Research course is a semester-long (15-week) course at the 3000-level. It is required of all University of Arkansas Sociology and Criminology majors and minors. As such, students are expected to have a pre-requisite introductory sociology course before...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Understanding the main steps of the research process
2. Applying social science techniques and methods
3. Communicating findings to others
4. Writing a coherent and effective analyses of research findings and methods

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Students are assessed throughout their semester-long methods project in which they create their own projects from the ground up. They choose a topic, review literature, write research questions, write their own survey measure, and conduct their own interview.
2. Students are assessed through "mini-research" homework assignments in which they apply what they are learning to information in their everyday lives. These homework assignments ask them to read research findings, conduct their own content analysis, and evaluate others’ work. In their 500-word responses, students learn to write coherent and effective...
3. In addition to the methods project and homework assignments, the class walks students through the research process in readings and lecture. Through in-class participation and discussion questions, students are evaluated on their applications of topics / concepts and their ability to communicate that to others.