Sociological Methods


A Guide to Sociology 2211

Xiaoxu Yang will be the Teaching Assistant this semester (Fall '23).  You can contact her at xyang36@lsu.edu to arrange a meeting time.

  • Final (Fall '23): Tuesday, December 5, 3:00-5:00pm, in our classroom
  • Grades

 

 

Assignments - due dates

(dates being updated; watch this section for possible changes)

  • Initial class requirement: complete the Human Subjects Protection Training.
    • Go to https://www.lsu.edu/research/compliance/training/citi_irb_training.php on the LSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) website, for general instructions.
    • Click on the link for the CITI IRB Training, and follow the instructions on the rest of the LSU IRB page. Here's what it says as of January 2022, with a couple clarifications for our class:
      1. Go to https://www.citiprogram.org/
      2. If you do not have a CITI account, click Register.
      3. Under 1: Select your Organization Affiliation by typing in Louisiana State University. Click continue to create your username and password.
      4. Under 2: Enter your name and email address.
      5. Under 3: Create a username, password, security question, and security answer.
      6. Under 4: Enter your country of residence.
      7. Under 5: Answer the questions regarding Continuing Education.
      8. Under 6: Answer the required questions. You are required to fill out your Language Preference, Institutional Email Address, Department (students should put in department of the grant), and your Role in Research.
      9. Under 7: Select question 6 in either Biomedical Research Investigators or Social & Behavioral Research Investigators (choose this one). For the courses you are not taking, you need to check not at this time or no in order to proceed to the training.
      10. Next, you will be brought to the main menu for the training program. There is a link to View Louisiana State University Instructions Page. Go to this link and read the instructions for completing the courses and getting your certificate of completion.
      11. When you are done with the institution-specific instructions, you can close that window and go to My Courses on the Main Menu page and begin the program.
      12. Take the course, "Social & Behavioral Research" (Not the course,"Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research")
      13. Users can log on and off at any time and normally will take a few sessions to complete the training program (roughly 3-4 hours). Upon satisfactory completion of the program, a copy of the completion certificate can be printed out for your files.

  • You’ll need to print out the certificate of completion, or save it as a file that you can print out. This is a class requirement necessary to pass the class. The LSU IRB is requiring this of us. See the assignment below for more information about the LSU IRB.
    • This assignment is due at the end of the second full week of the semester.
    • You need to print out and give us a copy of the certificate of completion.
    • If you already have a certificate of completion, you don't have to do it again, but you'll need to give us a copy of your certificate.
    • Note that it may take you 3-4 hours to complete this training, so pls plan ahead!
    • These are Federal & LSU requirements, and we must comply with them.

[For the following assignments, please turn in your SPSS output along with the exercise page from Healey.  Abbreviations for the following assignments: RR=Research Report; IP=Independent Project; CA=Comparative Analysis]

 

  • Sep 6: Turn in five survey questions that you find in the GSS that might be usable for your group's module for the GSS subset that we will assemble.  The GSS is the central national survey for sociology. Each group will discuss their questions and choose two of them for the group.  
    • GSS Data Explorer is the portal for searching & using GSS data. You will need to register to use it, but it only takes a moment. (You will have to confirm on an email they send you.) ... Search for questions by going to "Search for Data" or the "Explore GSS Data" button.
    • Important: Print out the exact question text from the web, including the exact answer categories, the exact years asked, and include the exact question mnemonic (the funny abbreviated question name) from the GSS, so that we can make sure to access the correct questions .  Include whatever percentaged results you find for the whole population (sub-population breakdowns optional).
    • Also. Pls email me the mnemonic of each of the 5 questions you select. Pls do that before class. I'll use that to cut & paste from the web & make a webpage of our survey-in-progress.
    • Note. If you are looking for political questions and can't find what you want on the GSS, you could look at the American National Election Studies website, https://electionstudies.org/, especially their Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior, https://electionstudies.org/resources/anes-guide/. The ANES is the central survey for political science. Caution: you can search for questions on the ANES, but we cannot include them in the dataset we are assembling, so you won't be able to analyze these questions for your final report. These questions come from a separate survey, and it's impossible to combine the surveys.
    • Also. Some sample breakdowns from the GSS, here.
  • Sep 8: Go to the U.S. Census website, especially the "Quick Facts" section (see links below).  Compare the economic level of Baton Rouge (city) to a rich place and a poor place, and look for two or three possible reasons for the differences.  Look through the Quick Facts tables till you find some statistics you think are good indicators of economic level and the other factors you are looking for.  List the results side by side by making a table with the places down the side (rows) and the variables you've chosen along the top (columns).  A spreadsheet program will make a nice table for you.  Here are some places to try comparisons for:
    • Rich places: Marin (County), CA; Fairfax (County), VA; Darien (city), CT; Scarsdale (village), NY; Lake Forest (city), IL.
    • Poor places: Harlan (County), KY; Tensas (Parish), LA; Mora (County), NM; Shannon (County), SD

    • Note - as of the 2010 Census, data collection is organized in two parts.
      • As of 2010, the decennial census no longer includes facts like income, education, commute times, and various other things. Most of these issues are now on the American Community Survey (ACS).
      • The ACS is conducted every year, rather than every ten years, but because they ask fewer people, they have to aggregate data over several years if the place is too small. (see their FAQs for more information.)

    • Here are some suggestions for looking up data. (There are more links on my links page):

      • The Census "Quick Facts" (here) is the easiest place to start. Click through the prompts to select the geographical place you want, and you'll get a table with a large variety of facts.
        • When you get to one of the tables, you can then follow the links from "Want more? Browse data sets for ... [place]" just above the table on the right.
        • For instance, the table for East Baton Rouge (parish) is here.
        • I also put a version here, in case you can't get through to the census website.

      • The "Explore Census Data" (here) is the main portal now for getting census information, but it's not easy to use.
        • Try poking around here. This section is a little hard to use if you're new at the census site, and they keep changing & updating things, so if you're not a regular user, it can be confusing. Do your best, but you don't have to use this section.
        • This section replaces the old "American FactFinder" portal, if you were earlier familiar with that. It's different now.

      • The 2010 Census page (here) is not hard to use, but as noted above, it only gives very limited information about each place. I don't recommend using it for this assignment.

      • Several other section of the census site work shockingly badly, I find.

      • I found a few mobile apps some years ago, but they weren't all that great. Take a look at apps from the census & esri, for instance.

  • Sep 13: Turn in five more GSS questions that might be usable for your group's module for the GSS subset we will assemble. See the subpoints for the previous assignment for the details.

  • Sep 15: Turn in 2 of the following Exercises in Healey, Chap. 4 Religiosity - RR4.1, IP4.1, IP4.2, CA 4.1

  • Sep 20: Quiz - Read the LSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) FAQs, here.  Almost all university research everywhere in America must pass a review (or get an exemption) to make sure that no one (humans or animals) is harmed by the research.  This is an important ethical issue.  In the first assignment, above, you had to complete the Human Subjects Protection Training at the CITI website (xx), and obtain a certificate of completion. Today, we'll have a quiz on what the LSU IRB materials say, and we'll have a discussion about what this means for our research.  Here are the documents to look at:
  • Sep 22: Turn in 2 of the following Exercises in Healey, Chap. 5 Attitudes toward abortion - RR5.2, IP5.1, CA5.2
  • Sep 22: Quiz: Address-Based Sampling. Learn what it is, why it is the standard now, and what it does. See the info here.

  • Sep 27: Quiz on the article, "Visual Sociology" by Dennis Zuev and Jerome Krase, here.

  • Sep 27: Turn in 5 photos of some social situation to which you have access. You have to take the photos; they can't be photos you find on the internet or elsewhere. It might be family, or street shots, or an event. It CAN be photos of other students, but we'll give you a bonus point if you do something not showing students (just so they're not all the same topic!). Also write a one-page commentary discussing the social element shown in the photos. It could be the interaction among the people shown, it could be the social setting, or whatever you think would be interesting.
    • Upload the photos to the class Moodle page, together with your page of written commentary.
    • It will probably work best if you show some of the setting around the subject. It's possible to socially analyze a close-up of a face, but it's easier if you see more of the surroundings, and also easier if it's not just a blank wall in the background.
    • There are lots of ways to think about the social aspect. For instance, if the photo is a candid, you can describe what the subjects are doing in the photo. If it's a posed photo, you can describe the social "presentation of self" of the subject. You can also describe what the surroundings tell us about the social setting.
    • You can use any kind of camera you want, including the one on your phone. The photos don't have to be "artistic," but they should be clear enough that you can see what you're trying to show.
    • The photos should not all be "selfies." You can include one photo showing only yourself, and you can appear in one or two of the photos, but not more. The photos should mostly be of people other than yourself.
    • Pls do not photograph anything that is too private or sensitive or compromising to the subject. No illegal activities, violence, nudity, substance abuse/overuse, or the like. We will discuss issues of privacy and confidentiality in social research soon. For now, simply begin thinking about the issue, and know that the photos will not be published, or shown outside the classroom, or shown to the class without your permission.
    • See this page for a series of photo essays done by Weil, "portraits" of New Orleans neighborhoods. We arrange to photograph people who agree to be part of the project. We also videotape what they tell us about their neighborhoods, transcribe it, and put the pictures and their words on a web page for each neighborhood. We also walk around the neighborhood and ask other people if they would be in the project. Most, but not all, agree.
    • This assignment will help us think about qualitative methods.

  • Sep 29: Turn in 2 of the following Exercises in Healey, Chap. 7 Crime - RR7.4, IP7.1, IP7.2, IP7.3, CA7.1

  • Oct 9: Review for the Mid-term exam.

  • Oct 11: Mid-term exam in the classroom

  • Oct 13: Quiz - Read the brochure about surveys at the American Statistical Association, "What is a Survey?," here (also linked near the top of this page).  We'll have a simple quiz on what the brochure says.

  • Oct 13: Turn in 2 of the following Exercises in Healey, Chap. 9 Inequality and gender - RR9.3, IP9.1, IP9.2, CA9.1, CA9.2, CA9.3

  • Oct 18: Discussion of the 5 photos. I will project the photos, and you can choose to have them shown for class discussion.
    • The photos will not be accessible to other class members or publicly without your permission, and we will not view them in class without your permission.
    • You will get an extra credit point for showing and introducing your photos for class discussion. This is voluntary.

  • Oct 18: Turn in 5 more photos. This is a continuation of the previous assignment. Follow the same instructions as above.

  • Oct 20: Turn in 2 of the following Exercises in Healey, Chap. 10 Inequality and race - RR10.3, RR10.4, IP10.1, IP10.2, IP10.3, CA10.1, CA10.2

  • Oct 25: Discussion of the second 5 photos. I will again upload the photos to a website, and you can choose to have them shown for class discussion. The assignment will be the same as last week.

  • Oct 27: Turn in 2 of the following Exercises in Healey, Chap. 11 The Family - RR11.3, RR11.5, IP11.1, IP11.2, IP11.3, IP11.4, CA11.1

  • Nov 1: Introduction to the Covid-19 interview project. This will be our third class project area. Over the past few years, students working in Weil's Covid research project conducted 450 hour-long qualitative interviews with community members about their experiences and views while Covid was dominating so much of our attention. See here for background and descriptions of the project.
    • This semester, you will break into 2 or 3 groups and choose themes to examine in the interviews. A detailed list of themes we have identified is here. You can choose your themes from this list, adapt the themes, or choose different themes.
    • Each student will read through 5 interview transcripts this week, and 5 additional interviews next week. You will mark up the transcripts with the themes, and after each round of mark-up, we will come together in your groups and discuss the themes you've found. This will give you experience in doing qualitative data analysis.
    • The lectures on Qualitative Methods on 3/10 and Qualitative Data Analysis on 3/24 will give you background on how to analyze and interpret qualitative data.
    • You will be able to choose to do your final report on your qualitative/thematic analysis of the Covid interviews. More information is given below.
    • Go to the class Moodle pages, "5 Covid IV Themes (1st set & 2nd set)," for instructions and links.
      • In MS Word, find interview answers that seem important to you.  Change the font color of the quotes you choose to Red for most important, or Green for somewhat important.
      • Then, at the end of each transcript, make your own notes about the themes you found.  Create "theme" categories, and cite the quotes that you feel exhibit this theme.  Refer back to the place in the transcript where you color coded quotes.  Note that each location has a time stamp.  Put in a few words to describe the theme and what the quote says, and identify it by the time stamp.

  • Nov 3: Turn in 2 of the following Exercises in Healey, Chap. 12 Voting - RR12.3, RR12.4, IP12.1, IP12.3, IP12.4, IP12.5, CA12.1, CA12.2

  • Nov 8: Turn in your first five marked-up Covid transcripts. We will discuss your findings in class today.

  • Nov: You will be doing one of three things, depending on what independent project you chose, Covid project, photo project, or survey-based project. See the assignment for the final reports below for more details about what you need to do.
    • Interpret interview transcripts for the Covid project. The instructors will help you do this work in class.
    • Prepare a photo essay from photos you take. Again, the instructors will help you do this work in class.
    • Analyze the results of the GSS survey subset we assembled. You will develop a set of interrelated hypotheses, analyze the data, and write a final report. The instructors will help you do this work in class.
    • You can work in groups to do your analyses, and you can give presentations in groups of your work in the last week. However, the final reports must be written individually.

  • Nov 10: Proposals for final report. Your proposal is a very first draft of what you plan in your report. Don't worry about getting everything right this time. We will help you develop your report, so this is just a first attempt to set your agenda. Your proposal will only be graded (1) you did something, or (0) you didn't do the assignment, so don't worry too much about quality at this stage.
    • See full instructions below
    • If you are doing a survey project: Develop five hypotheses to test using the GSS survey subset we assembled.  State briefly what causal relationship you expect to find in the data and why (e.g., women are more likely than men to support the Democrats because they support more liberal policies, say, in health care and education). These will probably form the core of your report, which will be due May 5.
    • If you are doing a photo-based project: Write a one-page description of the photos you will take, or have taken, and the description you plan to write of the project.
    • If you are doing a Covid project: Write a one-page description of the themes you find in the interview transcripts you reviewed, and a description of what you plan to write in the report.

  • Nov 13: First progress report due for final project. Turn in a 1-page progress report on how your final report is progressing. Also attach a copy of your 1-page proposal, including any modifications you have made. In the new section, tell us about about the analyses you are performing on the data and/or the photos you have made, and tell us about the interpretations of results that are starting to emerge from your analyses. We will meet with each of you in class individually to discuss your progress report.

  • Nov 15: Turn in your second five marked-up Covid transcripts. We will discuss your findings in class today.

  • Nov 20: Second progress report due for final project. Turn in a 1-page progress report on how your final report is progressing. Also attach a copy of your 1-page proposal, including any modifications you have made. In the new section, tell us about about the analyses you are performing on the data and/or the photos you have made, and tell us about the interpretations of results that are starting to emerge from your analyses. We will meet with each of you in class individually to discuss your progress report.

  • Nov 27: Optional, Extra credit. Class presentations of final projects. You can do these in groups if you want.

  • Nov 29: Optional, Extra credit. Class presentations of final projects. You can do these in groups if you want.

  • Dec 1: Optional, Extra credit. Class presentations of final projects. You can do these in groups if you want.

  • Dec 1: Turn in your final report, based on your Covid interviewing, your photo project, or your analysis of the GSS survey subset we assembled. The final report must be individually written, though you may expand on the group work you did for a presentation. Fuller details of the assignment are below.  

Instructions for Final Reports (choose one of the following three projects)

When you are finished, please submit your final report Moodle.

  • Covid-19 project.
    • Your report should analyze and interpret the interview transcripts.  You should find and develop themes that emerge from the interviews.  These themes may follow along the lines of the interview protocol, and/or you may develop your own themes. 
    • You will want to compare and contrast the statements of the different interviewees, in order to show how the Covid crisis affects different people according to their different circumstances.  Thus, your report should include both detailed, in depth observations, and also a discussion of the context in which each interviewee lives and how it affects him/her.
    • Your method of analysis and your write-up should be guided by what you learned from the lectures and textbook chapters on qualitative research.  Here is a guide for writing a good report.
    • Examples of good Covid project reports from previous years is here.
    • The report should be about 5-10 pages of text (based on 10-12 point, 1 inch margins, double spaced), though it can be longer.
  • Survey-based project.
    • The reports should be about 5-10 pages (10-12 point, 1 inch margins, double spaced) plus supporting output of data analysis (tables, graphs, etc.).  The reports should cover 5 or more connected hypotheses which, together, give a causal picture - or tell a story - of the situation you are investigating.
    • Your basic analysis will probably involve differences among different social groups. You can also consider explaining changes over time and/or differences among different regions of the country. You can also explore differences among rural/urban, ideology or party preference, religiosity, etc. If you think changes over time or between regions are due to demographic change or differences, consider accessing census information to back up your arguments. For instance, what are the effects of de-industrialization, immigration, changes in family/household composition, etc. 
    • You should also discuss what questions your analysis raises that can't be answered with the available data, and you should suggest what new data would be desirable to answer these open questions, and what sort of study design would be appropriate to acquire these new data.  
    • An outline of the sections of a good report is given here.  You can use the reports from the workbook as a guide in developing your report.  The instructors will help you develop the report in class in the weeks leading up to the due date.  Examples of reports from previous years are here.

  • Photo-based project.
    • Your report will build on what you learned from the class photo exercises earlier in the semester. See the instructions above for guidance on how to approach photo-based qualitative sociology.
    • Here is a guide for writing a good report, here.
    • Examples of good photo reports from previous years is here.
    • The report should include about 10-20 photos, plus about 5-10 pages of text discussing the photos. (The 5-10 pages of text are based on pure text - 10-12 point, 1 inch margins, double spaced - prior to embedding the photos.)
    • The photo project should explore a unified theme, that is, the photos should be thematically connected, exploring different aspects or dimensions of a theme. As before, you will get more credit for the assignment if the theme is not student life. We want you to explore the social world around you. Likewise, you can include yourself in a photo or two, but it should not be a project of selfies.
    • As before, do not photograph anything that is too private or sensitive or compromising to the subject. No illegal activities, violence, nudity, substance abuse/overuse, or the like. Remember, the photos will not be published, or shown outside the classroom, or shown to the class without your permission.
    • Your text should describe the social situation shown in the photos. This can include the setting or situation in which the photo was made. It can include a discussion of "presentation-of-self" or the interaction of photographer and subject, if the photos are taken with the knowledge of the subject (i.e., not candids).
    • One approach would be to interview the photo subjects and include some of their statements in the reports. A good way to do this is to videotape your interview and transcribe it. Then you could follow some of the methods of textual analysis we have explored in this class. You can, but don't have to, use text analysis software like NVivo or Atlas.ti. However, the whole report text cannot consist only of quotations of the subject: it must include your own analyses and interpretations of the images and settings.
    • Weil's "neighborhood portraits" (see this page) provide an example of combining photos and text. However, Weil used only quotes from the subjects. Your report can include such quotes, but must also include your own analyses and interpretations of the images and settings.
    • If you want to modify this approach, discuss your ideas with the instructors, and we may approve your approach. You should begin this when you submit your original proposal, above. We may not approve any proposed modifications if they are not well ahead of the due date.

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