HMSG606

RESEARCH METHODS

Syllabus

 

Instructor: W. Holmes; Office: W4-144/31

Office Hours: M, 3:00-4:30; W, 3:00-4:30; and by appointment;

Phone: 287-7328, FAX: 287-7274

E-mail: william.holmes@umb.edu ; Website: http://www.faculty.umb.edu/william_holmes/

OBJECTIVES

This course will provide students with experience in designing, conducting, and interpreting research. Students will gain experience in developing research questions; identifying ethical issues in research, measuring variables; sampling; developing research designs; interpreting data; and critiquing the results of research.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

 The course will utilize research methodology to address questions relevant to human service professionals. Experience in all phases of research will be provided during the term. Students will develop a research topic, create sampling procedures, design research, interpret findings, and critique research. The course will be run as a hybrid course.  Most sessions will be in the classroom. Some sessions will be online. Students will need to login to the Blackboard instructional system for online sessions.  The URL for Blackboard is: https://login.umassonline.net/boston.cfm. The weeks that will be run online are weeks 3, 6, 8, 10, and 12.

 

REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS

 There will be two class meetings per week. There are five assignments to be turned in. Assignments will be distributed in class or on the instructional website. The assignments will address research ethics, preparation of a literature review, measurement, data analysis and interpretation, and designing research. All students must orally present their research design.  All students are expected to attend class and participate in discussions.

 

Assignment 1.  Research Ethics. You are given a description of a research situation and are asked to evaluate it in terms of the requirements of research ethics and recommend what to do.  You must consider issues of peer review, informed consent, harm to the subject, and confidentiality.  The assignment will be graded according to the clarity and completeness of the ethical issues you identify as well as the appropriateness and feasibility of your recommendation.  Length: one to two pages.

Assignment 2.  Literature Review.  You are asked to pose a research question and write a literature review that documents the nature of the problem and the importance of answering the research question.  Discuss any major problems to answering the question that has been identified by prior research.  The assignment will be graded according to the extent to which you clarify the nature of the problem, how well you justify answering the research question, and the adequacy of the citations and references.  Bonus points will be given if there is a special problem in answering the research question for which you identify a way of minimizing or eliminating it.  Three to five pages.

Assignment 3.  Measurement.  For one of the variables in your research question, identify how you would measure that variable. Give a specific example.  Discuss how you could offer evidence of reliability and validity of the measure. Identify difficulties in its measurement, whether the difficulty would introduce bias in the measure, and how the bias might affect your research results.  The assignment will be graded according to the extent you propose a well-formulated measure, offer acceptable evidence of its reliability and validity, and deal with difficulties in measuring the variable.  Bonus points will be given if you identify a previously published measure of this variable and discuss its applicability as a measure for your variable.  Two to four pages.

Assignment 4.  Data Description and Interpretation.  You are given results of data analysis.  You are asked to describe several aspects of the data and discuss what inferences you might make from the results.  The grade will be based on the accuracy of your description, the appropriateness of your inferences, and any special difficulties in the interpretation that you identify.  Two to three pages.

Assignment 5.  Research Design.  Propose a research design to answer your research question.  Discuss whether it is an exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, or some other design.  Explain why you chose that design.  Be sure to mention how that design will provide information needed to answer the research question.  Discuss the principle threats to the internal validity of the design and how you might minimize them.  The grade will be based on the completeness and clarity of the description of the design, its appropriateness for answering the research question, and the extent to which threats to its validity are dealt with. Four to seven pages.

 

Students are expected to adhere to the University’s code of student conduct.  Use of electronic recording devices without the permission of the instructor is forbidden. Electronic communication devices should be turned off or set to silent mode during class. Students that have a disability for which they wish an accommodation are encourage to speak to the instructor.

 

READINGS

Babbie, Earl.  The Practice of Social Research.  11th edition, Thomson/Wadsworth.

Supplementary materials is distributed in class or on the instructional website.



 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLASS CALENDAR

 

Week Topic  

 

  1       Overview. Uses and Process of Human Service Research. Readings: Babbie, chap. 1

             ASSIGNMENT ONE  AND TWO GIVEN OUT AND POSTED ON WEBSITE

 

  2        Ethics of Research and Protection of Human Subjects.  Readings: Babbie, chap. 3

 

  3        #Problem Formulation. Literature Review, Paradigms, and Problem Statements. Readings: Babbie, chap. 2.  ASSIGNMENT ONE DUE (Research Ethics). ASSIGNMENT TWO ( Literature Review) GIVEN OUT

 

  4        Research Design and Causal Inference. Readings: Babbie, chap. 4.

               

  5         Sampling. Readings: Babbie, chap. 7.  ASSIGNMENT TWO (Literature Review) DUE.

            In class sampling exercise.

 

  6         #Measurement. Readings: Babbie, chap. 5.

            ASSIGNMENT THREE (Measurement) GIVEN OUT

 

  7        Survey Designs. Readings: Babbie, chap. 9.

 

  8        #Field Research. Readings: Babbie, chap 10.

            ASSIGNMENT THREE (Measurement) DUE.

 

  9        Unobtrusive Research.  Babbie, chap. 11

            In class qualitative research exercise

 

10        #Experiments: Readings: Babbie chap. 8.

 

11        Evaluation Research. Readings: BABBIE, chap. 12, ASSIGNMENT FOUR (Data Description) GIVEN OUT.

 

12        #Data Description. Readings: Babbie, chap 14

            ASSIGNMENT FIVE (Research Design) GIVEN OUT. COMPUTER LAB ON SPSS. 

 

13        Examining Relationships. Readings: Babbie, chap. 14

            ASSIGNMENT FOUR (Data Description) DUE.

 

14        Inferences from Data. Readings: Babbie, chap 16.

           

15          Presenting Data and Critiques. Readings: Babbie 17.

            ASSIGNMENT FIVE (Research Design) DUE.

#Online Sessions.

ASSIGNMENT ONE: RESEARCH ETHICS

 

            Suppose you are administering a questionnaire to clients in an agency.  The procedure requires having the clients sign an informed consent statement.  An agency administrator has approved the informed consent procedure.  Some of the individuals seem reluctant to sign the statement, but they do so after you tell them the information is really important to providing them needed services and that they can always discuss it with their case manager afterwards to get their questions answered.  You make a note on their questionnaire that the client was reluctant to participate with the intention of discussing this with your supervisor.

 

1.         Should you give the questionnaire to this client?  State your justification for doing so or not doing so. Are there any modifications to the procedure that would make you more willing to give out the questionnaire?

 

2.         Should you make a note on the informed consent form of any reasons the clients were reluctant to sign the statement?  What would be the purpose of this?

 

3.         What aspects of the situation raise questions about maintaining confidentiality of the data?  If there are problems with confidentiality, what would you do to improve confidentiality?

 

4.         The informed consent form says the clients will be paid $100 for answering the questions, but only if they fully complete the questionnaire.  Do you see any problems with this and, if so, what are they?

 

You should write at least one paragraph for each question.  You must consider issues of peer review, informed consent, harm to the subject, and confidentiality.  The assignment will be graded according to the clarity and completeness of the ethical issues you identify as well as the appropriateness and feasibility of your recommendation.  Length: one to two pages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASSIGNMENT 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

 

You are asked to pose a research question and write a literature review.  The review must address three issues: the nature of the problem, its importance, and any special problems in answering the question that prior research has identified.

 

The nature of the problem.  This section describes what the problem is.  You may give examples, provide a narrative description, or cite the descriptions or explanations of the problem found in the literature.

The importance of answering the research question.  Offering arguments or citing literature that the problem is very severe; very extensive; or that it has drawn the attention of news media, interest groups, or policy makers justifies the importance of answering the research question.  The importance of answering the question may also be justified by discussing the consequences for society if it is or is not answered.

Problems to answering the question that have been identified by prior research.  If prior research has identified roadblocks or problems to answering the question, those problems should be described and, if possible, suggestions made for reducing those problems.

 

The assignment will be graded according to the extent to which you clarify the nature of the problem, how well you justify answering the research question, and the adequacy of the citations and references.  Bonus points will be given if there is a special problem in answering the research question for which you identify a way of minimizing or eliminating it.  Three to five pages.

 

 

ASSIGNMENT 3: MEASUREMENT

 

ASSIGNMENT 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

 

ASSIGNMENT 5: RESEARCH DESIGN
ASSIGNMENT TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

 

Choose a topic or problem in criminal justice. Write a short problem statement (3-5 pages, excluding a reference page). For criminal justice majors, it must be in the format used by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in its professional journals (see instructional website). Non-criminal justice majors may use an alternative format. A handwritten problem statement is not acceptable. Use subheadings to separate problem definition, importance and relevance of the study, and conceptual framework and literature. See that the problem statement includes the following elements.

 

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This includes defining the problem, justifying the importance and relevance of researching the problem, and formulation of a research question or hypothesis.  It also needs references.

 

Problem Definition

This is concise statement of the problem you are proposing to study. Define any concepts used that might be unclear. Give an example if necessary to clarify what problem you are studying.

 

Importance Justification

Justify the problem as an important issues. Explain what is not known about the problem,  how it is every severe or extensive, and why it matters in some way. Provide documentation (literature citation or statistics) if available.

 

Describe: 1) how your research will refine, revise, and extend existing knowledge and 2) how your research will contribute to policy and program operation. You may also cite publications that call for research addressing this issue.  Discuss: 1) prior research, theory, opinions, or practice that relates to the problem, and 2) what is known about the problem.  Facts included must contain a citation of their source. Direct quotations must have a page citation. 3) your conclusions about what needs to be studied based on the literature. The references must contain at least five (5) citations of professional sources.

 

Research Question or Hypothesis

You must have an explicit research question or hypothesis.  This means stating a question that the research would answer.  It must be a question that can be answered by empirical data.  If you provide an hypothesis, it must be possible to demonstrate whether the hypothesis is false by reference to empirical evidence.

 

References

At least five references in a recognized format .  Newspaper or magazine citations do not count toward the five professional sources unless there are no other types of sources at all.

 

Competency will be evaluated on how well you define the problem, justify the importance of the research, cite relevant literature, and provide a clear, empirically based research question or hypothesis.  Complete references are also needed for your citations.