SOC 403 Research Methods in the Social Sciences

3 Credit(s) WIII

This course provides an introduction to the fundamentals of social research by presenting different research methods employed by social scientists. This includes interviews, surveys, ethnography/field research, experiments, and content/text analysis, among other methodologies. This class will focus on the logic and practice of research design, the relationship between theory and research, forms of data collection, the ethics of research, data analysis, and the writing of research proposals and empirical papers. We will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the different methods, and will combine research theory with practical skills. Three lecture hours per week. Requirement for sociology majors. This course fulfills the W-III core requirement.
Prerequisites: W-II, SOC 206, junior standing and 12 hours of sociology, or permission of department chairperson.