Spring 2022 | Harvard University
This course covers the fundamentals of sociological research design. Emphasis is placed on principles that are applicable in all kinds of sociological research, including surveys, participant observation, comparative historical study, interviews, and quantitative analysis of existing data. The course also delves into current methodological controversies in several arenas.
General
Readings and Assignments
Week 1: September 6 - Course Overview; Overview of the Sociological Research Process
Class expectations, syllabus review, sociological subfields, the publication process (articles, book chapters, book reviews, peer reviews, co-authorship, etc.), why it matters for your sociological career, and how to read during graduate school.
Required Readings
Calarco, Jessica. 2018. “Beyond the Abstract: Reading for Meaning in Academia.”
Edwards, Paul N. n.d. “How to Read a Book v.5.”
Stinchcombe, Arthur L., and Richard Ofshe. 1969. “Journal Editing as a Statistical Process.” American Sociologist, 4(2): 116–117
Bol, Thijs, Mathijs de Vaan, and Arnout van de Rijt. 2018. “The Matthew Effect in Science Funding.” PNAS 115(19): 4887–4890
Week 2: September 13 - Writing Like a Sociologist; Learning a Literature
The nuts and bolts of writing a publishable article or book manuscript (or for starters, a passable QP); how to learn, and engage with, a particular literature within sociology; how to put various literatures in conversation with each other in a stunning, argument-driven literature review.
Required Readings
Becker, Howard S. 1986. “Terrorized by the Literature.” Pp. 135–149 in Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Brieger, Ronald L. 2003. “Writing (and Quantifying) Sociology.” Pp. 90–112 in Writing and Revising the Disciplines. Ithaca: Cornell University Press
White, Lynn. 2005. “Writes of Passage: Writing an Empirical Journal Article.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(4): 791–798
Matthews, Sarah. 2005. “Crafting Qualitative Research Articles on Marriages and Families.” Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(4): 799–808
Pinker, Steven. 2014. “Why Academic Writing Stinks.” The Chronicle of Higher Education
Additional Resources
Bem, Daryl J. 2003. “Writing the Empirical Journal Article.” In J.M. Darley, M.P. Zanna, and H.L. Roediger III (eds.), The Compleat Academic: A Practical Guide for the Beginning Social Scientist, 2nd Ed. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Calarco, Jessica. n.d. “Article Writing 101: A Suggested Outline for Qualitative Work.”
Jacobs, Jerry A. 2011. “Journal Rankings in Sociology: Using the H Index with Google Scholar.” PSC Working Paper Series, University of Pennsylvania
Hargens, Lowell. 2000. “Using the Literature: Reference Networks, Reference Contexts, and the Social Structure of Scholarship.” American Sociological Review, 65(6): 846–865
Moody, James. 2004. “The Structure of a Social Science Collaboration Network: Disciplinary Cohesion from 1963–1999.” American Sociological Review, 69(2): 213–238
Clemens, Elizabeth, Walter W. Powell, Kris McIlwaine, and Dina Okamato. 1995. “Careers in Print: Books, Journals, and Scholarly Reputations.” American Journal of Sociology, 101(2): 433–494
Week 2 Assignment
Find one highly-cited article in your area of interest. First, make an outline of the key points in the paper. Then, in one short paragraph, answer the following: (1) How did the author(s) structure their argument? (2) Did you find the organization and presentation of the argument effective? Why or why not? (3) How could its presentation have been improved?
Week 3: September 20 - Theory Building, Theory Testing, Sociological Questions, “Significant” Answers
What makes a good (i.e., important and answerable) research question? How do we evaluate whether an answer is meaningful? This week focuses on how sociologists generate theory, frame research questions, and test their ideas in a rigorous way.
Required Readings
Abbott, Andrew. 2004. Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. Read: Chapter 1 (entire), Chapter 3 (pp. 80–94), Chapter 4 (entire), Chapter 5 (pp. 137–149), Chapter 6 (pp. 162–167).
Stinchcombe, Arthur L. 1968. Constructing Social Theories. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read: pp. 1–56.
Sutton, Robert I. and Barry M. Staw. 1995. "What Theory is Not." Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(3): 371–384.
DiMaggio, Paul. 1995. "Comments on ‘What Theory is Not.’" Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(3): 391–397.
Luker, Kristin. 2008. Salsa Dancing Into the Social Sciences: Research in an Age of Info-Glut. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Read: Chapters 1 and 4.
Additional Resources
Abbott, Andrew. 2004. Methods of Discovery. Chapter 7.
Maxwell, Joseph. 1996. "Validity: How Might You Be Wrong?" In Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach, pp. 86–98. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cohen, Jacob. 1994. "The Earth is Round (p < .05)." American Psychologist, 49: 997–1003.
Leahy, Erin. 2005. "Alphas and Asterisks: The Development of Statistical Testing Standards in Sociology." Social Forces, 84(1): 1–24.
Glaser, Barney G. and Anselm L. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chapters 1 & 2.
Suddaby, Roy. 2006. "What Grounded Theory is Not." Academy of Management Journal, 49(4): 633–642.
Leifer, Eric M. 1992. "Denying the Data." Sociological Forum.
Becker, Howard. 1998. Tricks of the Trade: How to Think About Your Research While You're Doing It. Chapters 1–2.
Levi-Martin, John. 2018. "The Heuristics for Discovery." Sociologica.
Week 3 Assignment
Choose and briefly skim three articles listed under the “Additional Resources” section for this week. For each article, write a 1–2 sentence summary of the main point of each article. At least one of these articles should discuss “p-values.”
Week 4: September 27 - Theory in Action: Initial Formulations & Extensions in Three Sub-Fields
This week explores how sociological theory is developed and applied across different domains—organizations, culture, and stratification. Through foundational and contemporary readings, we examine how ideas evolve into theoretical traditions.
Required Readings
Organizations
Meyer, John W. and Brian Rowan. 1977. “Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony.” American Journal of Sociology, 83(2): 340–363.
Hallett, Tim. 2010. “The Myth Incarnate: Recoupling Processes, Turmoil, and Inhabited Institutions in an Urban Elementary School.” American Sociological Review, 75(1): 52–74.
Culture
Swidler, Ann. 1986. “Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies.” American Sociological Review, 51: 273–286.
Vaisey, Stephen. 2009. “Motivation and Justification: A Dual-Process Model of Culture in Action.” American Journal of Sociology, 114(6): 1675–1715.
Stratification
Raftery, Adrian E. and Michael Hout. 1993. “Maximally Maintained Inequality: Expansion, Reform, and Opportunity in Irish Education, 1921–1975.” Sociology of Education, 66(1): 41–62.
Lucas, Samuel R. 2001. “Effectively Maintained Inequality: Education Transitions, Track Mobility, and Social Background Effects.” American Journal of Sociology, 106(6): 1642–1690.
Additional Resources
(Some recent and/or highly cited theoretical articles in sociology)
McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and James M. Cook. 2001. “Birds of a Feather: Homophily in Social Networks.” Annual Review of Sociology, 27: 415–444.
Patterson, Orlando. 2014. “Making Sense of Culture.” Annual Review of Sociology, 40: 1–30.
Lamont, Michele and Annette Lareau. 1988. “Cultural Capital: Allusions, Gaps and Glissandos in Recent Theoretical Developments.” Sociological Theory, 6(2): 153–168.
Burt, Ronald S. 1992. Structural Holes: The Social Structure of Competition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Sewell, William H. Jr. 1992. “A Theory of Structure: Duality, Agency, and Transformation.” American Journal of Sociology, 98(1): 1–29.
DiMaggio, Paul J., and Walter W. Powell. 1983. “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields.” American Sociological Review, 48(2): 147–160.
West, Candace and Don Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender & Society, 1(2): 125–151.
Granovetter, Mark. 1973. “The Strength of Weak Ties.” American Journal of Sociology, 78(6): 1360–1380.
Mahoney, James. 2000. “Path Dependence in Historical Sociology.” Theory and Society, 29(4): 507–548.
Zelizer, Viviana. 2005. The Purchase of Intimacy. Princeton University Press.
Also:
Uggen, Christopher and Jeff Manza. 2002. “Democratic Contraction? Political Consequences of Felon Disenfranchisement in the United States.” American Sociological Review, 67(6): 777–803.
Pettit, Becky and Bruce Western. 2004. “Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration.” American Sociological Review, 69(2): 151–169.
Zuckerman, Ezra W. 1999. “The Categorical Imperative: Securities Analysts and the Illegitimacy Discount.” American Journal of Sociology, 104(5): 1398–1438.
Dobbin, Frank, Daniel Schrage, and Alexandra Kalev. 2015. “Rage Against the Iron Cage: The Varied Effects of Bureaucratic Personnel Reforms on Diversity.” American Sociological Review, 80(5): 1014–1044.
Small, Mario Luis. 2006. “Neighborhood Institutions as Resource Brokers: Childcare Centers, Interorganizational Ties, and Resource Access among the Poor.” Social Problems, 53(2): 274–292.
Week 4 Assignment
Choose one area of sociology that you think might be relevant to your research proposal and find two highly cited, ideally “paired” articles (or one highly-cited book that includes a view of the “lineage” of their argument) within that field. Write a one-paragraph summary of each of the articles, (or a three-paragraph summary of the book), that you chose. The paragraph should include this information: (1) What is the author’s research question? (2) What data and method are employed to answer the research question? (3) What does the author propose as the answer to this question? (4) How satisfied are you with his or her answer? Do you believe that the author used the best possible methods, data, and reasoning to come to his or her conclusion? What alternative conclusions might be warranted? (5) How does this article/book build on and extend an existing theoretical tradition?
Week 5: October 4 - Measurement
What variables/concepts are necessary to answer your question, and how might you best operationalize them?
Required Readings
Duncan, Otis Dudley. 1984. Notes on Social Measurement: Historical and Critical. New York: Russell Sage. (Read Chapters 1, 2, 4, and 8 only)
Campbell, Donald T. 1958. “Factors Relevant to the Validity of Experiments in Social Settings.” Psychological Bulletin 54(4): 297–312. (NOTE: pay special attention to the concept of “reactivity”)
Burton, Jonathan, Alita Nandi and Lucinda Platt. “Measuring Ethnicity: Challenges and Opportunities for Survey Research.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 33(8): 1332–1349.
Tavory, Iddo. 2014. “The Situations of Culture: Humor and the Limits of Measurability.” Theory and Society 43: 275–289.
Strauss, Valerie. 2015. “Renowned Researcher: ‘Why I am no longer comfortable’ in the field of educational measurement.” The Washington Post.
Your choice: The Annual Review of Sociology is a terrific source of insight and information on key sociological concepts, ideas, and trends. Go to the ARS website and search “measurement.” Choose one article that interests you (and flag many to read later!) We will be discussing your choices in class.
Additional Resources
Judd, Charles M. and Gary H. McClelland. 1998. “Measurement.” In The Handbook of Social Psychology, edited by D.T. Gilbert, S.T. Fiske, and G. Lindzey. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
Fukuda-Parr, Sakiko. 2014. “Global Goals as a Policy Tool: Intended and Unintended Consequences.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 15(2–3): 118–131.
Porter, Theodore M. 1995. Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Princeton University Press.
Week 5 Assignment
Write a 3–4 page summary of the research question that you plan to examine in your final paper. In it, you should introduce a potential research question for your qualifying paper and explain the significance of your question to the existing literature. Your paper must include relevant citations and a works cited list.
Please note: This week’s assignment may not be used as one of your skipped assignments.
WEEK 6: October 11 - Measurement in Action: An Extended Evaluation of How to Measure Race and Its Impacts
(Plus one “Must Read” on the topic of measurement by Peter Marsden)
Required Readings
Marsden, Peter V. 1987. “Core Discussion Networks of Americans.” American Sociological Review 52: 122–131.
Hirschman, Charles, Richard Alba and Reynolds Farley. 2000. “The Meaning and Measurement of Race in the U.S. Census: Glimpses into the Future.” Demography 37(3): 381–393.
Roth, Wendy. 2016. “The Multiple Dimensions of Race.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 39(8): 1310–1338.
Monk Jr., Ellis P. 2015. “The Cost of Color: Skin Color, Discrimination, and Health among African Americans.” American Journal of Sociology 121(2): 396–444.
Saperstein, Aliya and Andrew M. Penner. 2012. “Racial Fluidity and Inequality in the United States.” American Journal of Sociology 118(3): 676–727.
Pager, Devah. 2003. “The Mark of a Criminal Record.” American Journal of Sociology 108(5): 937–975.
Additional Resources
Marker, David. 2008. “Estimating Iraqi War Deaths by Household Survey.” Public Opinion Quarterly 72(2): 345–363. (shows why estimates are sometimes better than measures)
Blackwell, Matthew, James Honaker, and Gary King. 2017. “A Unified Approach to Measurement Error and Missing Data: Overview and Applications.” Sociological Methods and Research 46(3): 303–341.
Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James A. Robinson. 2001. “The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation.” The American Economic Review 91(5): 1369–1401. (example of an “instrumental variable” approach)
Rosenfeld, Bryn, Kosuke Imai, and Jacob N. Shapiro. 2015. “An Empirical Validation Study of Popular Survey Methodologies for Sensitive Questions.” American Journal of Political Science.
Paik, Anthony and Kenneth Sanchagrin. 2013. “Social Isolation in America.” American Sociological Review 78: 339–360.
Week 6 Assignment
Choose one concept that you will need to measure for the research project that you proposed last week and write a paragraph about how you plan to operationalize that concept (note: if the concept is race, the discussion must expand on and intervene in the literature covered this week). Who else has measured this concept, and how? Will you measure the same way they did, or will you propose an alternative strategy? Justify why this is the best possible operationalization given the available data.
Week 7: October 18 - Sampling, Generalizability, and the Unnecessary Roughness of the Qual/Quant Divide
Required Readings
Schutt, Russell K. (2015). “Sampling and Generalizability.” Chapter 5 in Investigating the Social World, Eighth Edition.
Ragin, Charles. (1992). “Introduction: Cases of ‘What is a Case?’” pp. 1–18 in What is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry, edited by Charles Ragin and Howard Becker. Cambridge University Press.
Weiss, Robert S. (1994). “Respondents: Choosing Them and Recruiting Them.” Chapter 2 (pp. 15–37) in Learning from Strangers: The Art and Method of Qualitative Interview Studies. New York: The Free Press.
Glaser, Barney G., and Anselm L. Strauss. (1967). “Theoretical Sampling.” Chapter 3 in The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research.
Small, Mario L. (2009). “‘How Many Cases Do I Need?’ On Science and the Logic of Case Selection in Field-Based Research.” Ethnography, 10(1), 5–38.
Couper, Mick P. (2017). “New Developments in Survey Data Collection.” Annual Review of Sociology, 43(1), 121–145.
Additional Resources
Earl, Jennifer. (2013). “Studying Online Activism: The Effects of Sampling Design on Findings.” Mobilization, 18(4), 389–406
Simmons, Alicia, and Lawrence D. Bobo. (2015). “Can Non-Probability Internet Surveys Yield Useful Data? A Comparison with Full-Probability Face-to-Face Surveys in the Domain of Race and Social Inequality Attitudes.” Sociological Methodology
Heckathorn, Douglas D. (1997). “Respondent-Driven Sampling: A New Approach to the Study of Hidden Populations.” Social Problems, 44(2), 174–199
Becker, Howard S. (1998). “Sampling.” Chapter 3 (pp. 67–108) in Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You’re Doing It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Hedges, Barry. (2004). “Sampling.” pp. 63–72 in Social Research Methods: A Reader, edited by Clive Seale. London and New York: Routledge
Winship, Christopher, and Robert D. Mare. (1992). “Models for Sample Selection Bias.” Annual Review of Sociology, 18, 327–350
Rossi, Peter. (1988). “On Sociological Data.” pp. 131–154 in Handbook of Sociology, edited by Neil Smelser. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Mahoney, James, and Gary Goertz. (2004). “The Possibility Principle: Choosing Negative Cases in Qualitative Research.” American Political Science Review, 98(4)
Ragin, Charles, and Howard Becker (eds). (1992). What is a Case? Exploring the Foundations of Social Inquiry. Cambridge University Press
Ragin, Charles. (1987). The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies, especially Chapter 1
Stuart, Alan. (1984). The Ideas of Sampling. New York: Macmillan
Miles, Matthew B., and A. Michael Huberman. (1994). “Sampling: Bounding the Collection of Data.” pp. 27–34 in Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Gerring, John. (2007). Case Study Research: Principles and Practices. Cambridge University Press, especially Chapters 1 and 5
Week 7 Assignment
Choose one of the following sampling challenges and write a paragraph about how you would solve it (assume resources are unlimited):
New York State (NYS) recently introduced the Excelsior Scholarship, enabling free public college attendance for students whose families make $125,000 or less. You want to use in-depth interviews to determine whether and how the introduction of Excelsior is affecting NYS high school students’ decisions about going to college. What would your ideal sampling design look like?
You want to use text/discourse analysis to assess media coverage of the Democratic candidates for president in 2020. Specifically, you are curious about whether/how gender impacts the quantity or quality of coverage received during the primary campaign. What would your ideal sampling design look like?
Using an online or phone survey, you want to understand how college students in the U.S. and in Europe perceive their economic futures. What would your ideal sampling design look like?
Week 8: October 25 - Sampling in Action: Heat Waves, Gender, and Social Networks
Required Readings:
Klinenberg, Eric. (2002). “Race, Place and Vulnerability.” Chapter 2 in Heat Wave – A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
Duneier, Mitchell. (2006). “Ethnography, the Ecological Fallacy, and the 1995 Chicago Heat Wave.” American Sociological Review, 71(4): 679–688.
Haney, Lynn. (1996). “Homeboys, Babies, Men in Suits: The State and Reproduction of Male Dominance.” American Sociological Review, 61(5): 759–778.
Schilt, Kristen. (2006). “Just One of the Guys? How Transmen Make Gender Visible at Work.” Gender and Society, 20(4): 465–490.
McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and Matthew E. Brashears. (2006). “Social Isolation in America: Changes in Core Discussion Networks over Two Decades.” American Sociological Review, 71: 353–375.
Lee, Byungkyu, and Peter Bearman. (2017). “Important Matters in Political Context.” Sociological Science, 4: 1–30.
Additional Resources
Colen, Cynthia. (2014). “Is Breast Truly Best? Estimating the Effects of Breastfeeding on Long-term Child Health and Well-being in the United States Using Sibling Comparisons.” Social Science and Medicine, 109: 55–65.
Regnerus, Mark. (2012). “How Different Are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study.” Social Science Research, 41: 752–770.
Braga, Anthony, and Brenda J. Bond. (2008). “Policing Crime and Disorder Hot Spots: A Randomized Control Trial.” Criminology, 46(3): 577–607.
Young, Alford A. (2004). “Framing Social Reality: Stratification and Inequality.” Chapter 4, pp. 107–136 in The Minds of Marginalized Black Men: Making Sense of Mobility, Opportunity, and Future Life Chances. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Duneier, Mitchell. (2004). “Scrutinizing Heat: On Ethnic Myths and the Importance of Shoe Leather.” Contemporary Sociology, 33(2): 139–150.
Klinenberg, Eric. (2004). “Overheated.” Contemporary Sociology, 33(5): 521–528.
Fischer, Claude S. (2009). “Comment: The 2004 GSS Finding of Shrunken Social Networks: An Artifact?” American Sociological Review, 74: 657–669.
McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and Matthew E. Brashears. (2009). “Reply: Models and Marginals: Using Survey Evidence to Study Social Networks.” American Sociological Review, 74: 670–681.
Paik, Anthony, and Kenneth Sanchagrin. (2013). “Social Isolation in America: An Artifact.” American Sociological Review, 78(3): 339–360.
Week 8 Assignment:
Write a first draft of the introduction to your final paper for this course (approximately 2–5 pages). The introduction should: Clearly introduce your research question. Explain why the question is important. Make an argument about the best methods to answer your question Write a first draft of the introduction to your final paper for this course (approximately 2-5 pages). The introduction should efficiently and articulately introduce your question, establish why the question is important, and make an argument regarding what the best methods are to answer that question. You are encouraged to leave a space where you would put your findings once your data
collection is complete. Turn in your assignment both to me and to your assigned partner.
Week 9: November 1 - Correlation, Causation, and Mechanisms
Required Readings
Small, Mario. 2013. “Causal Thinking and Ethnographic Research.” American Journal of Sociology 119(3): 597–601.
Lieberson, Stanley. 1985. Making It Count: The Improvement of Social Research and Theory. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Chapter 1)
Morgan, Stephen L., and Christopher Winship. 2007. Counterfactuals and Causal Inference: Methods and Principles for Social Research. Cambridge University Press. Chapters 1–3 and 10.
Mahoney, James. 2000. "Strategies of Causal Inference in Small-N Analysis." Sociological Methods and Research 28(4): 387–424.
McAdam, Doug, Sidney Tarrow, and Charles Tilly. 2008. “Methods for Measuring Mechanisms of Contention.” Qualitative Sociology 31: 307–331.
Additional Resources
Angrist, Joshua D., and Jörn-Steffen Pischke. 2009. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Lieberson, Stanley. 1991. “Small N’s and Big Conclusions: An Examination of the Reasoning in Comparative Studies Based on a Small Number of Cases.” Social Forces 70(2): 307–320.
Freedman, David A. 1991. “Statistical Models and Shoe Leather.” Sociological Methodology 21: 291–313.
Gerring, John. 2005. “Causation: A Unified Framework for the Social Sciences.” Journal of Theoretical Politics 17(2): 163–198.
Strauss, Anselm. 1987. Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. New York: Cambridge University Press. Pages 249–264, Chapter 12 (on how to present a causal argument in writing).
Emirbayer, Mustafa, and Ann Mische. 1998. “What is Agency?” American Journal of Sociology 103(4): 962–1023.
Winship, Christopher, and Stephen L. Morgan. 1999. “The Estimation of Causal Effects from Observational Data.” Annual Review of Sociology 25: 659–707.
Week 9 Assignment
Provide comments on your partner’s introduction using track changes and the “insert comment” function. Help your partner write clearly and with authority. Make sure your partner asks a clear question and explains why the question is important to both the real world and sociology. Submit your comments to both your partner and the instructor prior to the start of class.
Week 10: November 8 - Causality/Mechanisms in Action: The Case of Neighborhood Spaces (and One, Nice, Only-Loosely-Related Overview)
Required Readings
Hedström, Peter, and Richard Swedberg. 1998. “Social Mechanisms: An Introductory Essay.” Pages 1–31 in Social Mechanisms, edited by Peter Hedström and Richard Swedberg. Cambridge: Oxford University Press.
Sampson, Robert J. 2012. Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect. Chicago: Chicago University Press. (Chapters 3 and 15)
Legewie, Joscha, and Jeffrey Fagan. 2019. “Aggressive Policing and the Educational Performance of Minority Youth.” American Sociological Review 84(2): 220–247.
Wodtke, Geoffrey T., David J. Harding, and Felix Elwert. 2011. “Neighborhood Effects in Temporal Perspective: The Impact of Long-Term Exposure to Concentrated Disadvantage on High School Graduation.” American Sociological Review 76(5): 713–736.
Harding, David J. 2007. “Cultural Context, Sexual Behavior, and Romantic Relationships in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods.” American Sociological Review 72(3): 341–364.
DeLuca, Stefanie, Susan Clampet-Lundquist, and Kathryn Edin. 2016. Coming of Age in the Other America. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. (Preface and Chapters 1, 3, and 5)
Additional Resources
Hedström, Peter, and Peter Bearman. 2009. “What Is Analytical Sociology All About? An Introductory Essay.” Pages 3–24 in The Oxford Handbook of Analytical Sociology. Oxford University Press.
Mahoney, James. 2008. "Toward a Unified Theory of Causality." Comparative Political Studies 41(4/5): 412–436.
Ragin, Charles. 2008. Redesigning Social Inquiry: Fuzzy Sets and Beyond. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Chapter 1 only)
Lucas, Samuel R., and Alisa Szatrowski. 2014. “Qualitative Comparative Analysis in Critical Perspective.” Sociological Methodology 44: 1–79.
Ragin’s response: “Lucas and Szatrowski in Comparative Perspective,” pages 80–94.
Vaisey’s response: “QCA Works—When Used with Care,” pages 108–112.
Collier’s response: “QCA Should Set Aside the Algorithms,” pages 122–126.
Firebaugh, Glen. 2007. “Replication Data Sets and Favored Hypothesis Bias: A Comment on Freese and King.” Sociological Methods and Research 36(2): 200–209.
Goertz, Gary, and James Mahoney. 2005. “Two-Level Theories and Fuzzy-Set Analysis.” Sociological Methods and Research 33(4): 497–538.
Katz, Aaron, Matthias vom Hau, and James Mahoney. 2005. “Explaining the Great Reversal in Spanish America: Fuzzy-Set Analysis Versus Statistical Analysis.” Sociological Methods and Research 33(4): 539–573.
Alcacer, Juan, and Paul Ingram. 2013. “Spanning the Institutional Abyss: The Intergovernmental Network and the Governance of Foreign Direct Investment.” American Journal of Sociology 118(4): 1055–1098.
Schrank, Andrew. 2013. “Quantitative Cross-National Sociology and the Methodological Abyss: Comment on Alcacer and Ingram.” American Journal of Sociology 118(4): 1099–1111.
Liu, Ka-Yuet, Marissa King, and Peter Bearman. 2010. “Social Influence and the Autism Epidemic.” American Journal of Sociology 115(5): 1387–1434.
Correll, Shelley, Stephen Bernard, and In Paik. 2007. “Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?” American Journal of Sociology 112(5): 1297–1338.
Bail, Christopher. 2012. “The Fringe Effect: Civil Society Organizations and the Evolution of Media Discourse About Islam Since the September 11th Attacks.” American Sociological Review 77(6): 855–879.
Pfeffer, Fabian T., and Alexandra Killewald. 2017. “Generations of Advantage: Multigenerational Correlations in Family Wealth.” Social Forces: 1–31.
Viterna, Jocelyn. 2006. “Pulled, Pushed, and Persuaded: Explaining Women’s Mobilization into the Salvadoran Guerrilla Army.” American Journal of Sociology 112(1): 1–45.
Week 10 Assignment
Write a first draft of the literature review for your final paper (approximately 4–8 pages). The literature review should be divided into topical sections. It should be crystal clear to your reader how each section helps you forward your research question. Each section should begin by broadly reviewing the key themes in that subfield, then narrowing quickly to an in-depth analysis of the aspects most relevant to your project. Clarify how your research will extend or challenge this subfield. Append your literature review to your revised introduction and turn your assignment in to both your assigned partner and the instructor.
Week 11: November 15 - Asking Questions; Analyzing Answers
Allison Daminger will lead class discussion this week. Lucky us!
Required Readings
Schaeffer, Nora Cate and Stanley Presser. 2003. “The Science of Asking Questions.” Annual Review of Sociology 9: 65–88.
King, Gary, Christopher J. L. Murray, Joshua A. Salomon, and Ajay Tandon. 2004. “Enhancing the Validity and Cross-Cultural Comparability of Measurement in Survey Research.” American Political Science Review 98: 567–583. (Vignettes)
Jerolmack, Colin and Shamus Khan. 2014. “Talk is Cheap: Ethnography and the Attitudinal Fallacy.” Sociological Methods and Research 43(2): 178–209.
DiMaggio, Paul. 2014. “Comment on Jerolmack and Khan.” Sociological Methods and Research 43(2): 232–235.
Lamont, Michèle and Ann Swidler. 2014. “Methodological Pluralism and the Possibilities and Limits of Interviewing.” Qualitative Sociology 37(2): 153–171.
Deterding, Nicole M. and Mary C. Waters. 2018. “Flexible Coding of In-Depth Interviews: A Twenty-First Century Approach.” Sociological Methods & Research.
Additional Resources
Taylor-Powell, Ellen. 1998. “Asking Questions With a Purpose.” University of Wisconsin Extension.
Czajka, Ronald and Johnny Blair. 1996. Designing Surveys: A Guide to Decisions and Procedures. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge.
Presser, Stanley et al. 2004. “Methods for Testing and Evaluating Survey Questions.” Public Opinion Quarterly 68(1): 109–131.
Fowler Jr., Floyd J. and Thomas W. Mangione. 1990. Standardized Survey Interviewing: Minimizing Interviewer Related Error. Sage: Applied Social Research Methods Series.
Lee, Raymond. 2004. “Recording Technologies and the Interview in Sociology, 1920–2000.” Sociology 38(5): 869–889.
Viterna, Jocelyn and Douglas W. Maynard. 2002. “How Uniform is ‘Standardization’?: Variation Within and Across Survey Centers Regarding Protocols for Interviewing.” Pp. 365–397 in Standardization and Tacit Knowledge: Interaction and Practice in the Survey Interview, edited by Douglas W. Maynard et al. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Singer et al. 2010. “The Effect of Question Framing and Response Options on the Relationship between Racial Attitudes and Beliefs about Genes.” Public Opinion Quarterly 74(3): 460–476.
IQSS Webinar on Atlas.ti: http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/qualitative/announcements/atlasti-online-webtraining-video-series-now-available
Computing Resources for Qualitative Social Sciences at Harvard University: http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/qualitative/pages/computing-resources
Week 11 Assignment
Provide comments on your partner’s introduction and literature review. Use track changes and insert comments. Help your partner write clearly and with authority. Make sure that your partner asks a clear question and establishes why the question is important to both the ‘real world’ and to sociology. Make sure your partner makes clear how each aspect of the literature review is relevant to forwarding the overall argument. Suggest any relevant literature you think of. Turn your comments in to both your partner and to me prior to the start of class.
Week 12: November 22 - Ethics and Power in Sociological Research
Required Readings
American Sociological Association. “ASA Code of Ethics.”
Clancy, Kathryn B.H., Robin G. Nelson, Julienne N. Rutherford, and Katie Hinde. 2014. “Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault.” PLOS ONE 9(7).
Irvine, Janice. 2006. “Sex, Lies and Research.” Mobilization 11(4): 491–494.
Kirsch, Gesa. 2005. “Friendship, Friendliness and Feminist Fieldwork.” Signs 30(4): 2163–2172.
Halse, Christine and Anne Honey. 2005. “Unraveling Ethics: Illuminating the Moral Dilemmas of Research Ethics.” Signs 30(4): 2141–2162.
“Problems with Scientific Research: How Science Goes Wrong.” The Economist, October 19, 2013.
Parry, Marc. 2015. “Conflict Over Sociologist’s Narrative Puts Spotlight on Ethnography.” The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Singal, Jesse. 2015. “The Case of the Amazing Gay-Marriage Data: How a Graduate Student Reluctantly Uncovered a Huge Scientific Fraud.” New York Magazine.
Carey, Benedict. 2015. “Journal Science Releases Guidelines for Publishing Scientific Studies.” The New York Times.
Jahren, Hope. 2016. “She Wanted to Do Her Research. He Wanted to Talk ‘Feelings.’” New York Times Opinion.
Chenoweth, Erica, Page Fortna, Sara Mitchell, Burcu Savun, Jessica Weeks, and Kathleen Cunningham. 2016. “How to Get Tenure (If You’re a Woman).” Foreign Policy.
Bernhagen, Lindsay. 2017. “What the ‘Trailing Spouse’ Teaches Us About the Stickiness of Gender Inequality.” Slate.
Additional Resources
Stein, Arlene and Jessie Daniels. 2017. Going Public: A Guide for Social Scientists. University of Chicago Press.
Hoeyer, Klaus, Lisa Dahlager, and Niels Lynöe. 2005. “Conflicting Notions of Research Ethics: The Mutually Challenging Traditions of Social Scientists and Medical Researchers.” Social Science & Medicine 61(8): 1741–1749.
Elliott, Carl. 2008. “Guinea-pigging: Healthy Human Subjects for Drug-safety Trials Are in Demand. But Is It a Living?” The New Yorker, January 7, 83(42): 36ff.
Shea, Christopher. 2000. “Don't Talk to the Humans: The Crackdown on Social Science Research.” Lingua Franca 10(6).
Scarce, Rik. 2005. “A Law to Protect Scholars.” The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Rosenbloom, Stephanie. 2007. “On Facebook, Scholars Link Up With Data.” The New York Times, December 17.
Bibliography on Gender Discrimination in the Academy.
Week 12 Assignment
Turn in your completed IRB application form for your QP research, including all of the required appendices (questionnaires, permissions, etc).
Note: If you do not need IRB approval for your QP, then this would be a good week to skip!