Updated
on 11/22/11
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Announcements and Other Important
Stuff
- The final exam for this course will be on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9th from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm in 111 Memorial Hall.
- Please keep your eyes on this box for news about the course, including new postings and changes to the syllabus.
Danilo Yanich
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Class
Meeting Times and Location
Tuesdays
and Thursdays, 3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.; Room 111 Memorial Hall
Who
Can Register for this Course?
This course is potentially open to all University of Delaware graduate students and upper level undergraduates. If space becomes limited, access priority
will be given to students in the School of Public Policy and Administration, then to students within the College of Arts and Sciences, and then to all others.
On-Line
Information
This web
site, located at www.udel.edu/uapp800,
contains extensive information about this course, including class schedule,
readings, exercises, assignments, lecture notes, grading policy and links
to a variety of research related Internet sites. Students should bookmark
and consult this course web site frequently for the latest information about
the course.
Course
Scope & Learning Objectives
Given the
economic, social, environmental and cultural challenges facing our communities
today, it is vitally important for policy makers, planners, administrators and other decision
makers in the public and nonprofit sectors to have access to accurate data
and information. Without such, the
needs, conditions and potentials of our communities and organizations will
be misjudged, and efforts to design and implement highly effective programs
and policies will be compromised. High
quality, accurate data, information and analysis are absolute necessities
for modern decision makers.
This course
will expose students to how high quality research in the field of urban affairs
and public policy is designed and conducted, and how it can be utilized for
making important decisions about the design, implementation and evaluation
of projects, programs and policies. Upon the successful completion of this
course students will be able to:
- Recognize and conduct research that follows the principles
of the scientific method;
- Formulate research questions
that are unbiased and researchable;
- Determine the appropriate
use of different research designs;
- Judge when and how to use
primary and secondary data, and cross-sectional
and longitudinal
data;
- Find sources of secondary
data in libraries, administrative files, and on the
Internet;
- Design questionnaires and
other primary data collection strategies;
- Identify what qualitative
and quantitative analytical methods to use to answer different types of research
questions;
- Critically evaluate the
accuracy and usefulness of research conducted by
others.
Course
Format
Class meets
for 75 minutes twice a week according to
the schedule provided in this syllabus. The weekly class sessions on Tuesdays
and Thursdays will typically consist of a combination of: lecture, discussion,
demonstration of the use of different research and data analysis techniques, "hands on" exercises and real world examples. Occasionally,
special guests will lecture on one or more social research topics.
Academic Integrity
All students must be honest and forthright in their academic studies. To falsify the results of one’s research, to steal the words or ideas of another, to cheat on an exam or assignment, or to allow or assist another to commit these acts corrupts the educational process. Students are expected to do their own work and neither give nor receive unauthorized assistance. I vigorously support and aggressively enforce the University’s Code of Conduct as it pertains to academic dishonesty, and strongly recommend that each student review the University's Reference Guide to Academic Integrity which can be found at http://www.udel.edu/student conduct/ai.html.
Reading
Assignments
The reading assignment for each class is indicated for each meeting and must
be completed before that class meets. Reading the assigned material before class is crucial to your learning
because class presentations, discussions and written assignments will require
familiarity with the assigned reading material.
Class
Participation
All students
are encouraged and expected to actively participate in classroom discussions. Such participation is impossible if the student
is absent from class, hence, absences can affect a student’s final course grade.
Written
Assignments
There will
be a series of out-of-class written assignments with strictly enforced due dates
and times. One of these assignments is a group assignment. Assignments submitted late will receive a
lower grade. It would be prudent to begin
each assignment within a day or two after it is assigned.
You will find that trying to do the assignments at the last minute will
be very difficult because of unanticipated problems with conceptualization,
data collection or analysis.
Final
Exam
The course
will culminate with an in-class final exam. It will contain both short and long
answer essay questions drawn from any of the material covered during the course.
Assignments will be graded on a scale of 1-5, with 5 representing superior quality work. A grade of 4 represents satisfactory work; a grade of 3 or lower is unsatisfactory work. Caution: assignments submitted late will receive a lower grade. A student's final grade for the course will be determined by the following elements weighted as indicated:
- Individual (non-group) assignments (collectively) -- 45%
- The group assignment -- 15%
- In-class final exam -- 35%
- Class participation -- 5%
Required
Text (purchase required)
Babbie,
Earl (2010). The Practice of Social Research. Twelfth Edition. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning
Best, Joel
(2001). Dammed Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians
and Activists. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Additional
Assigned Readings (on reserve in grey file cabinet located in the lounge area
on the 2nd floor of Graham Hall, purchase not required)
Berg,
B. L. (1995). Qualitative Research
Methods for the Social Sciences. Chapter 4: "Focus Group Interviewing,"
pp. 68-85. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Best, Joel (2004). More Dammed Lies and Statistics: How Numbers Confuse Public Issues. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Guba,
E. G. and Lincoln, Y. S. (1985). Effective Evaluation. Chapter 7: "Interviewing,
Observation, and Nonverbal Cue Interpretation," pp. 153-225. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Useful
Reference Texts (purchase not required)
Bernard,
H. Russell (2006). Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative
Approaches. Fourth Edition. Walnut
Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Foster, Jeremy
J. (2001). Data Analysis Using SPSS for Windows, New Edition: Versions 8-10.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Majchrzak, Ann (1984). Methods for Policy Research. Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol.3. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
Miller, Delbert
C. and Dr. Neil J. Salkind (2002). Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement.
Sixth Edition. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
StatSoft, Inc.
(2010). Electronic
Statistics Textbook. Tulsa, OK: StatSoft. WEB: http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html.
Web Center for Social Research Methods. This website is for people involved in applied social research and evaluation. You'll find lots of resources and links to other locations on the Web that deal in applied social research methods. Of particular interest is the Research Methods Knowledge Base which is a comprehensive web-based textbook that addresses all of the topics in a typical introductory undergraduate or graduate course in social research methods.
Babbie, Earl (2009). Guided Activities
to Accompany The Practice of Social Research, 12th Edition. Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Inc.
Other
Learning Resources
An important
part of good research is expressing your ideas, methods and conclusions clearly.
Need some help with your English writing skills? If so, check out the University
of Delaware Writing Center.
Go here
for links to a variety of secondary data sets.
Qualitative Tools
for Multimethod Research
For an overview of survey research, go to www. whatisasurvey.info
Go here
for a list of resources pertaining to evaluation research (courtesy of Dr. Leslie
Cooksy).
September 1st: Course Overview, Requirements and Logistics
Find
lecture slides in HTML format here,
or in PowerPoint format here.
September 6th: The Research Process
Readings: Babbie, Chapters 1 & 2
Find lecture slides in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint format here.
September 8th & 13th: The Ubiquity of Research & Developing Research Questions
Reading: Joel Best. Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians and Activists. Read entire book.
Readings: Babbie, Appendix G, "Twenty Questions a Journalist Should Ask about Poll Results", pp A28-A33.
Is the truth being told? Take a look at the "Twenty Questions a Journalist Should Ask about Poll Results" (in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint format here).
Assignment 1: Formulating Research Questions (Deadline: hard copy due in class on September 15)
Find lecture slides in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint format here.
Go here to see the video used for the exercise on perception done in class.
September 15th
and 20th: Research Design, Conceptualization, Operationalization & Measurement
Readings: Babbie, Chapters 4 & 5
Assignment 1 due in class on September 15th
Find lecture slides in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint format here.
September 22nd: Indices and Scales
September 27th and 29th: Types of Experiments and Research Designs
Readings: Babbie, Chapter 8
Assignment 2 due in class on September 29th
Assignment 3: Research Question and Experimental Design (Deadline: hard copy due in class on October 13th)
Group Assignment: Development of
a "detailed outline of a full empirical research proposal." (Deadline: class presentation and hard copy due in class on December 1st)
Find lecture slides in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint format here.
October 4th and 6th: Sampling
Readings: Babbie, Chapter
7
Assignment
4: Sampling Issues (Deadline: hard copy due in class on October 18th)
Find lecture slides
in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint format here. Go here for the example of calculating sample sizes used in class.
You may find this article from the Wall Street Journal entitled "Spotting Likely Voters Key to Predictions" to be interesting.
October 11th and 13th: Survey Research
Readings: Babbie, Chapter
9
Assignment 3 due in class on October 13
Assignment
5: Developing Questions/Conducting a Structured Survey (Deadline:
hard copy due in class on November 3rd)
Find lecture notes
in HTML format here,
or in PowerPoint Format here.
For an overview of survey research, go to www.whatisasurvey.info
Check out this video on push polling :-)
Check this out: National Survey done by the National Parks and Conservation Association
October 18th: Ethics and Politics of Social Research
Readings:
Babbie, Chapter 3
Assignment 4 due in class today
Find lecture notes
in HTML format here,
or in PowerPoint Format here.
Go here for University of Delaware Guidelines for Human Subject Review
October 20th: Status Reports from Project Groups and Mid-Term Course Review
Come with your questions!
October 25th and 27th: Qualitative and Unobtrusive Research, Using Focus Groups
Readings: Babbie, Chapters 10 & 11
Find lecture notes in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint Format here.
Find more lecture notes in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint Format here.
November
1st and 3rd: Types and Sources of Data
Readings: Babbie, Chapter 17
Assignment 6: Critiquing a Published Article that Uses a Qualitative Method (Deadline:
hard copy due in class on November 15th.)
Find lecture notes in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint Format here.
Go here for some of the major sources of secondary data on the web.
November 3rd: Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Guest Presenters: John Laznik, Center for Applied Demography & Survey Research, University of Delaware
Go to www.gis.com to get an overview of GIS
Go here to find the UD GIS website that John Laznik uses in class.
Assignment 5 due in class today
November
8th: Reviewing the Literature
Readings: Babbie, Chapter 17
November 10th and 15th: Univariate, Bivariate and Multivariate Data Analysis
Readings: Babbie, Chapters 14, 15 and 16
Check out the Electronic Statistics Textbook. It's a great reference on a variety of statistical techniques.
Assignment 6 due in class on November 15th.
Find lecture notes in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint Format here.
November
17th and 22nd: Evaluation Research
Readings: Babbie, Chapter 12
Assignment 7: Designing an Outcome Evaluation (Deadline: hard copy due in class on November 29th)
Find lecture notes on "Program Evaluation" in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint Format here.
Go here for a list of resources pertaining to evaluation research (courtesy of Dr. Leslie Cooksy).
Go here for the "Planning Process Flow Diagram" we discussed in class.
November 24th: No Class--Thanksgiving!
November 29th: Public Policy Research
Readings: Majchrzak, Ann (1984). Methods for Policy Research. Applied Social Research Methods Series, Vol.3. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications. (On reserve in file cabinet outside Dr. Yanich's office)
Assignment 7 due in class today
Find lecture notes on "Policy Research" in HTML format here, or in PowerPoint Format here.
December 1st: Group Presentations
Group assignment presentations: go here for group presentations.
An electronic copy of each group's presentation is due to instructors by 9:00 a.m. on December 1st, and each group must also submit a hard copy of their presentation in class before their presentation. In addition, each student is to submit a hard copy of their 2-3 page "reflection" in class.
December 6th:
Review Session
Come with your questions!
December 8th:
No Class--University Reading Day
December
9th: Final exam (date and time is confirmed!)
The final exam for this course will be on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9th from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm in 111 Memorial Hall.
Click
here to see copies
of recent final exams!
Course
Information | Course
Requirements | Grading
| Calendar
| Links
and Study Guides
