Sociology 280.003, Fall 2006

Midterm Study Guide

The first exam (on Oct. 20) will cover Schutt Chapters 1, 3, 4 and 6; the video Junk Science; the research articles by Sherman & Berk, South & Spitze, and Humphreys; E-Reserves readings (including Mills, Neuman and Hesse-Biber et al); class lectures, team presentations and material covered in group activities both in and outside of class. The following questions are meant to guide your studying, particularly in relation to the readings.

Study Questions

Schutt Chapter 1

The four types of reasoning errors (for each, you should be able to name the type of error, define it, and give an example)

What is social science?

Pseudoscience?

Four types of research - names and definitions. In particular, make sure you understand the difference between exploratory and explanatory research. The examples in the chapter about the internet should help.

The difference between quantitative and qualitative methods (p. 17)

What is triangulation?

Mills, "The Promise"

What is the sociological imagination and what does it enable its possessor to do? What set of relations does it better enable us to understand? What are the three main tendencies, or promises, of sociology as Mills sees it? (Part 6, pp. 22-24)

Neuman Chapter 4 (from E-Reserves)

For each of the "big three" social science paradigms:

What is it called?
What are its main features? (Table 4.1 will help with the big three; I suggest you ignore Neuman's last two columns -- and short written sections -- on Feminist and Postmodern approaches)
According to each paradigm, what is the nature of reality, and what is the nature/purpose of theory? (& how does "truth" fit in?)
Who is/are the one or two most well-known social theorists associated with the paradigm (according to Neuman and class lecture)?

Definitions of nomothetic and idiographic approaches, and the paradigm with which each is most often associated (see especially pp. 84 and 91).

Hesse-Biber, Leavy & Yaiser

Have a basic understanding of the following concepts & the authors' definitions:

Epistemology

Androcentrism

Feminist empiricism

Feminist challenges to positivism

Feminist standpoint epistemology/theory & the role of difference

How do the authors define and characterize postmodern feminism?

Mills, "On Intellectual Craftsmanship"

What relationship does Mills think should exist between one's work and one's life experience?

What is the role of the "file?"

Schutt Chapter 3

What is a social research question? What are the criteria for good research questions?

What is theory, according to Schutt? (see p. 69) What's your definition of theory? (Be able to explain "theory" in your own words.)

Deductive vs. inductive research; explanatory vs exploratory research

Independent vs. dependent variables

Hypothesis

How do theory, hypotheses, data and empirical analysis/generalizations relate to one another in the "research circle" or "hermeneutic spiral?" (what is the "order of events?")

What are social scientists' main considerations with regard to research ethics? (p. 80-81)
What were two defining historical events in Europe and the U.S. that drove the establishment of new ethics standards for research with human beings? What happened in each of these instances?

What are the three basic ethical principles established by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects in 1979? What are the main criteria for satisfying each of these three principles?

Educational and research institutions seeking federal funding for research on human subjects are required by federal regulations to have what body? What is this body's role?

UNM IRB Policies & Procedures Manual (excerpt)

In a couple of sentences, what are the UNM IRB's requirements for student research projects being done "exclusively for instructional purposes?"

Schutt Chapter 4

What is a concept? Conceptualization? An operation? Operationalization? Why is it important to specify concepts and operations? How are variables and indicators related to concepts?

What are the four types of measurement tools Schutt specifies? What are the two types of questions commonly asked of people/subjects in social science (pp. 104-5)?

What is triangulation? What are its benefits?

What are levels of measurement? Know the four levels and the characteristics of each. Be able to define them and offer examples.

What is measurement validity? Reliability? What are the different forms of measurement validity and reliability?

Schutt Chapter 6

Basic definitions of nomothetic and idiographic explanations/approaches.

What are the three most important criteria for causation? How can researchers meet each of these criteria?

What are two more criteria that strengthen causal explanations, and how can researchers meet them?

Ecological and reductionist fallacies.

Cross-sectional and Longitudinal designs

Trend study, panel, event-based design, cohort

Research articles/Humphreys excerpt:

Sherman & Berk, "The Specific Deterrent Effects of Arrest for Domestic Assault"

South & Spitze, "Housework in Marital & Non-marital Households"

Humphreys, excerpts from Tearoom Trade

For each of these three, I suggest closely re-reading the abstracts, Schutt's summaries on pp. A-1 to A-16, Appendix C, your own notes and your Homeworks #2 and #4. At this point you should be able to answer questions 1-10 and 13-16 from Appendix B for each article (there might be some exceptions for Humphreys since the excerpt we read may not address all of Schutt's questions).