STUDY GUIDE FOR SOC 317 (RESEARCH METHODS)

 

 

A. Select/choose any 4 questions out of the following.

 

  1. Discuss research and research methods clearly and adequately.  Why research? Why use scientific methods in research? 

 

  1. Compare and contrast deductive and inductive approaches to scientific inquiry.  Where or under what kind of research problem do you use each? Which one do you prefer to use, given that kind of problem?  Explain.

 

  1. Why are research ethics important?  Discuss at least three ethical considerations in research. Did Devah Pager violate any ethic in her study of people with criminal records? Why or why not?

 

  1. What is sampling? How do you insure that your sample represents the population where it comes from? Explain at least three important factors why sampling is done.

 

  1. Think of a research problem and identify the two types of variables it covers in terms of “causes” (independent variable) and “effects” (dependent variable). Then explain and give concrete examples of how you conceptualize and measure these variables.

 

  1. Suppose you want to test the reliability and validity of the Machiavellian scale/index. How exactly do you carry this out? If all but one of the ten items does not correlate with the rest of the items, what is the implication for scale/index development?  Explain.

 

B. You are required to answer these two questions, below.  These are take home exams,  typewritten results of not more than 8 pages  to be submitted on May 15, 2004 (Saturday)

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  1. Briefly outline and provide explanations about the methodology of conducting a sound social experiment.  Make sure that you start out with a problem statement or a hypothesis for this experiment. You may use Devah Pager’s research as a model for this experimentation (or you may think of a quasi-experiment to illustrate your case)

 

  1. Suppose you want to test the idea that religion (e.g., Durkheim’s concept of integration comparing Protestants vs. Catholics - the former are more consensually integrated) has some positive effect on people’s lives (e.g., an integrated society is associated with higher lifespan of females and males, or female/male literacy).  State your hypothesis or specific problem to be tested, then perform a statistical analysis and interpret your results.  Use the SPSS dataset “World Population 1995” to calculate the mean (average) lifespan/literacy for males and females in selected countries.