STS 307: Fundamentals of Research in Science, Technology, and Society

Instructor

Professor Norbert Elliot

Course Description

This course focuses on research methods in the field of STS. We will focus on the following methods: problem statement and hypothesis formulation; research design and data generation; existing information sources and their acquisition; and analytic techniques. Our goal in the course is to allow students to develop analytic methods that will generate meaningful and significant undergraduate research projects.

Prerequisites

The Writing, Speaking, and Thinking Curriculum: Three credits of English are required.

The Basic Social Science Curriculum: Six credits of basic social science are required.

The Cultural History Curriculum: Three to six credits of cultural history are recommended.

Texts

William M. K. Trochim. 2001. The Research Methods Knowledge Base. (2nd. ed.).Cincinnati: Atomic Dog. (This is an e-text. The online cost is $19.95 and the Print/online combo is $44.95. The online version is all you will need for this course. Here are the ordering instructions:

I. Ordering directly from Atomic Dog Publishing at www.atomicdog.com
1. Go to www.atomicdog.com (You may want to bookmark this site for future access)
2. Click on the "Students-Purchase Books" link. The "Student's Guide" screen appears, enter the Course ID 2611455202030 or search by the instructor's last name.
3. The "Course Registration" screen will prompt and verify your course and instructor. Then click on the "Register" icon.
4. On the next screen you have the option to select the online or online-print version. The online version provides web-only access, meaning you will need to be connected to the Internet in order to view the book. Purchase of a print copy includes access to the online version at no additional fee. For the print version you will need to choose your preferred shipping method. A UPS shipping time map is included for your reference.
5. The "Registrar's Office" screen appears. Enter your personal information. You will choose your own unique password that you will use to access the online content in the future.
6. On the next screen the shipping options and prices will appear
7. On the Billing & Shipping Information screen fill in your credit card information or select to pay by check. The total will appear at the bottom of the screen, click "Purchase" to submit your order.
8. The credit card transaction will process. Upon approval you will receive an email message indicating your transaction has been processed. Select the "Continue" icon. The "My Backpack" screen will appear allowing you to view your personal information, purchase another Atomic Dog title, view your course information and course books, and link to the online content of the text. To access the online content in the future, go to www.atomicdog.com click on "Login-Current Users" and enter your email address and password.
II. You may also phone the sales representative at the number below to purchase the text.
Mikka Baker
Sales Consultant
800.310.5661 x20
mikka@atomicdog.com

American Psychological Association. 2001. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 5th ed.

Kenneth N. Berk and Patrick Carey. 2004. Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel. (Updated for Windows XP) Pacific Grove, California: Duxbury (Thompson Learning).

The Portfolio

Copies of all assignments--both in hard copy and on disk--will be kept by each student in a portfolio retained by the instructor at the end of the course. This document will reflect the overall quality of your work.

Late Assignments

Late assignments are not accepted and will receive a failing grade unless prior arrangements are made. If there is an emergency, I may be reached at either my office or by e-mail.

Assignments and Grading Procedures

Your assignments, their point value of your final grade, and the dates due are described below:

Major Assignments (40 pts total)
--Pre Research Proposal (10 pts)
--Near-Completion Draft of Research Proposal (10 pts)
-- Final Research Report (20 pts)
The Exercises (20 pts total)
--Exercise 1: Statement of Research Interest (2 pts)
--Exercise 2: IRB Training on the WWW (2 pts)
--Exercise 3: Qualitative Research (2 pts)
--Exercise 4: Software-Excel, SPSS, and JUMP (SAS) (2 pts)
--Exercise 5: Working with Data (2 pts)
--Exercise 6: Working with Charts (2 pts)
--Exercise 7: Calculating the correlation coefficient-Pearson r (2 pts)
--Exercise 8: Calculating the t-Test (2 pts)
--Exercise 9: Calculating the F-test (2 pts)
--Exercise 10: Putting It All Together (2pts)
The Examinations
--Mid-Term Examination (20 pts total)
--Final Examination (20 pts)

The final grade will be based on your cumulative effort in the course; that is, your grade will be based on your improvement, not solely on a sum of grades.

Syllabus (This is a sample syllabus. While the basic elements of the course remain consistent across semesters, elements of the course change. For distance learning courses, the final syllabus is provided on the WebCT site. For traditional classes, the final syllabus is provided the first day of class.)

Part 1. Background to Research

Week 1

Lecture: The Foundations of Social Research-History, Theory, and the Realities of Field Research
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 1
Lecture: Preparing for Research-Strategies for Discovery
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 2
Exercise 1: Statement of Research Interest Due

Part 2. Design and the Research Process

Week 2

Lecture: The Humanities and the Social Sciences: The Nature of Experimental Thinking
Lecture: Model Building: Prediction, Explanation, and Accuracy of Data
Trochim, Chapter 3
Lecture: The Major Issues-Reliability and Validity
Trochim, Chapter 6, Chapter 9

Part 3. Ethical Issues in Research

Week 3

Lecture: The Emergence of the Modern Institutional Review Board-Lessons from History
Lecture: Ethical Decision-Making and the Review of Research
Reading: APA, Appendix C
Exercise 2: IRB Training on the WWW

Part 4: Proposing Research in STS

Week 4

Lecture: The Library and The Internet Search
Reading: APA, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3
Lecture: Critical Review of the Literature

Week 5

Documenting Sources: APA Guidelines
Reading: APA, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
Pre-Research Proposal Due

Part 5: Qualitative Research

Week 6

Lecture: Systematic Observational Methods-Qualitative Research
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 5
Lecture: Self-Report Methods
Lecture: Doing Documentary Work

Week 7

Lecture: Structured Interviews and their Analysis
Lecture: Narrative Research
Lecture: Historical Analysis and Policy Analysis
Exercise 3: Qualitative Research

Part 6: Quantitative Research I

Week 8

Lecture: Survey Research
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 4
Lecture: Randomized Experiments
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 7
Berk and Carey, Chapter 1
Exercise 4: Software-Excel, SPSS, and JUMP (SAS) Due
Lecture: Randomized and Quasi-Experimental Design-Quantitative Research
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 8, Chapter 9 (again)
Berk and Carey, Chapter 2
Exercise 5: Working with Data Due

Part 7: Mid-Term Examination

Week 9

Mid-Term Examination
Return and Review of Mid-Term Examination

Part 8: Quantitative Research II

Week 10

Lecture: Summarizing the Data and Effective Visual Display
Lecture: Mean, Mode, Median, and Standard Deviation
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 10
Berk and Carey, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
Exercise 6: Working with Charts Due
Lecture: Summarizing Data and Examining Relationships
Berk and Carey, Chapter 8 (esp. 321 ff)
Exercise 7: Calculating the correlation coefficient-Pearson r

Week 11

Lecture: Statistical Significance and Statistical Decision Making
Reading: Trochim, Chapter 11
Berk and Carey, Chapter 6 (esp. 226 ff)
Exercise 8: Calculating the t-Test Due
Berk and Carey, Chapter 9
Exercise 9: Calculating the F-test Due

Week 12

Exercise 10: Putting it All Together Due

Part 9. Putting It All Together: Arrangement and Design of the Final Research Proposal

Week 13

Lecture: Preparing the Final Research Proposal
Peer-Review of Draft of Research Proposal
Reading: APA, Appendix A
Peer-Review of Drafts of Research Proposal
Near Completion Draft of Research Proposal Due

Part 10. Final Research Paper

Week 14

Final Research Paper Due

Week 15

Final Examination
Portfolio Due