Research Methods
Social Science Communication
Research, 382
Winter 2004
MW 3:30-5:20 CMU 120
Department of Communication
University of Washington
Dr. Philip N. Howard
Room 227, Communications
Building
Telephone: (206) 221-6532, E-mail: pnhoward@u.washington.edu
Office Hours Mondays and
Wednesdays 2:30-3:30 or by appointment
Whitney D. Anspach
Room 340L, Communications
Building
E-mail: wda@u.washington.edu
Office Hours Tuesdays and
Thursdays, 11:00-12:00 or by appointment
Class Website: http://faculty.washington.edu/pnhoward/teaching/researchmethods/researchmethods.html
What are the important research tools used in
contemporary social sciences? How do
these tools differ, and what are their relative strengths? Since researchers often face restrictions in
time, personnel and financial resources, they must be frugal and deliberate
about the methods they choose. This
course has several objectives:
·
to teach
students about the similarities and differences between qualitative,
comparative, and quantitative research;
·
to teach
students to articulate a research question and select the research methods most
likely to help answer the research question;
·
to teach
students how to use these methods, and then to critically evaluate the data
these methods yield.
Broadly, this course will cover qualitative
(participant observation, ethnography), comparative (small set, historical,
content, archival), and quantitative (statistics, survey, social network)
methods. We will also discuss and
practice the process of data collection, sampling and measurement. Research ethics will be discussed as issues
emerge. If there is time we may explore
experimental and quasi-experimental research design.
The course itself has no mandatory component in
multivariate statistics, but we will do some simple calculations in class. Students with at least one other course in communication,
sociology or political science or other research experience will be best
prepared for the pace and expectations of this course.
This class will be a workshop in which the
instructor, students, and occasional guest lecturer can present ideas on how
and when to use different research methods.
As much as this is a class in research methods, it is also an
opportunity for you to choose the questions and themes you find most
interesting in the social sciences.
Although you are required to try your hand at different methods, you
have wide freedom to select the topics of your research; much of the content of
this class will depend on the topics that interest students. Students will finish the course with a good
reference packet of notes, reviews, and other handouts. E-mail will be frequently used to conduct
class business and carry on debates outside of class time.
This course will not have
formal section meetings or a final exam.
However, students are responsible for using the time on Friday to work
on assignments and in the first two weeks of class, students should use the
time to teach themselves how to use Catalyst.
Whitney Anspach will be administering the evaluation through the
Catalyst system, will take attendance at the beginning of each class, and will
observe participation in the context of classroom discussions. On the first Friday of the first week there
will be a training session with several
exercises for those who have not used the Catalyst system. This Friday
session is not required but we encourage you to attend and practice using the
Catalyst system before the first assignments are due. Friday's catalyst training will be held in COM304 during your
assigned section times (e.g. 8:30-9:20, 9:30-10:20, 10:30-11:20 and
11:30-12:20). There are exactly enough computers for the enrolled members of
each section, so please do not attempt to attend a section you are not enrolled
in.
We have a number of grading
criteria that apply to all assignments.
All of the grading criteria are identified in this course outline, but
we have a grading
key for 10-point essay assignments and a grading
key for interpreting your final grade.
If an assignment is not online by the time we come to grade it, you will
receive a 0 for that assignment. We
encourage you to have a friend quickly proofread your writing before you submit
the assignment to us. Since irregular attendance will disrupt our learning
community, unexplained absences will affect your grade. However, attendance will not be taken as a
formal component of the grade. We will
only consult your attendance record if you ask us to reevaluate your final
grade. Even though many of the course
handouts are available online, lecture notes and slides are not available
online. We will make every effort to return a grade for your work a week after
your work is submitted. Extensions are available for medical reasons, and you
will need a doctor’s note.
Participation
(10%). Students are expected to actively
participate in class discussions.
Regular attendance and contributions to the discussion of assigned
readings and each other’s work will result in a high grade.
In Class Quizzes (20%). Students will be given two short quizzes on terms and ideas
covered in class meetings and readings, with each quiz valued at 10% of the
final grade.
Short Writing Assignments (70%). Students will be given seven short writing assignments, no more
than one a week, of 500 words, each of the seven assignments valued at 10% of
the final grade.
Work must be 12-point, times roman font, and free of
spelling mistakes. It must appear on
your UW website by the due date specified in the outline below. Use gender-neutral language. We will not mark for grammar but if it
impedes our ability to understand your arguments your grade will suffer, so it
is a good idea to have at least one other person proofread your writing. Use William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, The Elements of Style (New York: Macmillan, 1979) for writing style
questions. Purdue University
owl.english.purdue.edu has an excellent collection of documents about writing
and research. Citations should be
formatted according to the APA style
guidelines. Please refer to the
“Statement of Academic Responsibility” in the UW Bachelor’s Degree Handbook for
definitions of plagiarism. Please
submit your work using Catalyst’s
Peer Review System.
Both books will be available at the Bookstore and
additional materials will be found online at the class website.
--Charles Ragin, Constructing Social Research: The
Unity and Diversity of Method (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1994), $26.95, ISBN: 0803990219.
--Darrell Huff and Irving Geis, How to Lie With
Statistics (New York: Norton, 1993), $11.00, ISBN: 0393310728.
In most weeks, Monday afternoons will have a
substantive lecture and Wednesday afternoons will be a work session during
which we discuss the readings or each other’s work.
Week 1: Formulating Research Questions.
Dates: January 5th and
7th.
Reading: Ragin Chapter 1.
Handouts: Designing
Social Science Communication Research, Types
of Evidence.
Evaluation: None.
Week 2: Research Challenges.
Dates: January 12th and 14th.
Reading: Ragin Chapter 2 and 3.
Handouts: Types
of Causality, Argumentative
Fallacies.
Evaluation: Evidence
in News Assignment, 10% of final grade, due beginning of class on the 14th.
Week 3: Qualitative Methods.
Dates: January 21st.
Reading: Ragin Chapter 4, Technology
as An Occasion for Structuring, Barley.
Handouts: None.
Evaluation: Formulating
Research Questions Assignment, 10% of final grade, due beginning of class
on the 21st.
Week 4: Qualitative Methods.
Dates: January 26th and 28th.
Reading: Ragin Chapter 5, Popular
Music as a Confidence Game, Grazian.
Handout: Connecting
Arguments to Theoretical Paradigms, Organizing
an In-Depth Interview,
Evaluation: Participant
Observation Assignment, 10% of final grade, due beginning of class on the
28th.
Week 5: Comparative Methods. Internet Research
Methods Guest Lecturer by Dr. Foot.
Dates: February 2nd and 4th.
Reading: Doing
Internet Research, Jones, and The
Web As An Object of Study, Schneider & Foot.
Evaluation: Wired,
Tired and Expired Archive, 10% of final grade, due beginning of class on
the 4th.
Week 6: Comparative Methods.
Dates: February 9th and 11th.
Reading: Ragin Chapter 6 and Afterward.
Handouts: Major
Forms of Cross-Case Research, Focus
Group Exercise, Draft
Music Survey.
Evaluation: In class test, 10% of final grade, during
class on the 11th.
Week 7: Quantitative Methods.
Dates: February 18th.
Reading: Huff, Introduction, Chapter 1 to 5.
Handouts: In-Class
Survey Design Scenario.
Evaluation: Survey
of Information and Communication Technology Use, 10% of final grade, due on
midnight of the 22nd. See
the report
or data.
Week 8: Quantitative Methods.
Dates: February 23rd and 25th.
Reading: Huff, Chapter 6 to 10.
Handouts: Frequency
and Sampling Distributions, 20
Ways To Critique a Political Poll.
Evaluation: In class test, 10% of final grade, during
class on the 25th.
Week 9: Social Network Analysis, Experimental &
Quasi-Experimental Methods. Research
Ethics Guest Lecture by Whitney Anspach.
Dates: March 1st and 3rd.
Reading: Excerpt
Frey, Botan, & Kreps, General Human Subjects Review
Facts
Handouts: Social
Network Analysis Exercise, Research
Ethics. Additionally, you may wish
to refer to the General
Guidelines for Ethnical Internet Research, or links about the "Sokal Hoax".
Evaluation: Interview
Exercise, 10% of final grade, due beginning of class on March the 3rd.
Week 10: Unobtrusive and Documentary Methods.
Dates: March 8th and 10th.
Handouts: Unobtrusive
Research Exercise.
Reading: Excerpt from Unobtrusive Measures, Chapter
1 and Chapter
5.
Evaluation: Documentary
Assessment, 10% of final grade, due midnight on March the 15th.