Course Guide for Sociological Research Methods

Course Guide for
SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH METHODS
(last updated 10/2011)

Developed by Lisa Wade
Occidental College

Disclaimer: This course guide is far from comprehensive, but it does collect what we have in an organized way. If you’re a methods instructor, and would like to write a guest post, please do!

Research Design

On Objectivity

• Are Numbers Objective?

Sampling

• The Trouble with Using the Population of (Cell) Phone Owners
• Comparing the Results of Landline-Only Polls and Cell Phone Inclusive Polls
• Using Starving Female Praying Mantis’ Increases the Likelihood that they Will Eat their Suitors
• Who “Skews” the Data?

Delimiting Variables

• How Race Categories Can Obscure Difference
• Considerations in Collapsing Continuous Variables into Categories

Operationalization

• Of Unemployment
• Of Maternal Mortality
• Of Abortion Beliefs
• Of Graduation Rates
• Failing to Differentiate Between Sex Identity, Gendered Behavior, and Sexual Orientation

Research Ethics

• Tuskegee Syphilis Study Recruitment Letter
• The Original Milgram Experiment Recruitment Flyer
• Video of a Replication of the Milgram Obedience Experiment

Methodological Approaches

Surveys

• A Leading Question in a Survey on Latino Attitudes about Women’s Roles
• The Problem with Forced Choice Questions
• The Trouble with Multiple Choice (hint: people will answer them) (humor)
• Question Language and Likelihood of Being an Organ Donor
• Know Your Respondent (humor)

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Data Requires Interpretation

• What Explains Color Preference By Sex?
• Stereotypes are not Theory: Explaining State Variation in Conscientiousness

Correlation vs. Causation

• Cancer vs. Cell Phone Usage
• Which Religion is the Opiate of the Masses?
• Do Statistics Classes Cause Statistical Knowledge? (humor)

Spurious Relationships

• Does Passport Ownership Cause Diabetes?
• Does Knowing a Gay Person Increase Tolerance for Homosexuality?

Mean vs. Categorical Difference

• Do Overlapping Curve Reveal Gender Difference or Similarity?

Paying Attention to Variance

• Uneven Variance in Income among Racial Groups

Statistical Significance

• The Margin of Error Matters
• “I’m Your Statistically Significant Other!” (humor)

Communicating Results

Types of Graphs

• What is a Venn Diagram? (humor)
• Venn Diagramming “Crazy, Insane Ethnocentrism” (humor)
• Illustrations of Statistical Relationships and Distributions (humor)
• Popular Songs Represented in Figures and Graphs (humor)

The X and Y Axis

• How (Not) to Manipulate the X and Y Axis
• Grades vs. Drinks per Week
• Is Divorce Waning? Depends on Your X Axis
• Mismatched Y Axes: Are Women Marrying Younger Men?
• When 40% Looks Like 100%: White People’s Perceptions of Black People

(Mis)Representing Data

• Cumulative vs. Daily Collection of Oil by BP after the Gulf Spill
• Absolute vs. Relative Charitable Giving
• Misleading Title Misrepresents Findings
• Contextualizing Data: Psychiatric Prescriptions in the U.S.
• Cherry Picking: Is the U.S. #1?
• Misportraying the Occupy Wall Street Protesters

Lying with Statistics

• Examples from The Daily Show
• Statistical Illiteracy on the O’Reilly Factor
• The Folly of Two Data Points: Husband Acquisition (humor)
• Misrepresenting the Risk of Death Associated with “Normal” and “Overweight” BMI

Publishing

• The Peer Review Process (humor)