Holmes Logo SOCIAL RESEARCH: Course Syllabus

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

Office Hours: T, 11:30-12:30; W, 5-6pm;Th, 5:30-6:30, 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 competency in: developing research questions; measuring variables; sampling; choosing research designs; analyzing data; and communicating the results of research.

COURSE DESCRIPTION
 The course will utilize research methodology to address questions relevant to social science and criminal justice professionals. Experience in all phases of research will be provided during the term. Students will define a research topic, develop sampling and measurement procedures, prepare data for analysis, use computers for research, interpret findings, and present results.

REQUIREMENTS AND EXPECTATIONS
 There will be one class meeting per week. There are seven assignments to be turned in. Assignments will be distributed in class and in the instructional website. The assignments will address preparation of a problem statement, samples, measures, making a codebook, computer use, data description and inference, and research critiquing. An article critique will be presented at the end of the class. Students will also participate in a computer lab in which they use the SPSS statistical analysis program. CPCS students who satisfactorily complete all assignments will meet all requirements for the competency. CPCS students that do not complete all assignments will receive a progress until the deficiency is made up. A portfolio of the assignments will need to be turned in by CPCS students at the end of the semester. CAS and other non-CPCS students will receive grades on each assignment.  Graded assignments will be worth 15 points, except the first which is worth 5 points. All students must orally present their problem statement and their article critique. The oral presentation of the problem statement is worth 2 points and of the article critique is worth 3 points. Bonus points may be earned through website activities described in class. All students are expected to attend class and participate in discussions. 


REQUIRED READINGS
Adler and Clark How It's Done. 2nd Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thompson.
Xeroxed materials as distributed in class or on the instructional website.
CLASS CALENDAR
Week    Topic  . 
 1 Overview. Uses and Process of research. Readings: A&C, chap. 1 & 3.
 ASSIGNMENTS ONE AND TWO GIVEN OUT AND POSTED ON WEBSITE

 2 Problem Formulation. Literature Review and Problem Statement. Readings: A&C, chap. 4 and Appendix E. ASSIGNMENT ONE (Data Transfer Exercise) DUE.

 3 Research Design and Causal Inference. Readings: A&C, chap 2.

 ASSIGNMENT TWO (Problem Statement and Literature Review) DUE.

 4 Sampling. Readings: A&C, chap. 5. ASSIGNMENT THREE: In class: sampling exercise.

 5 Measurement. Readings: A&C, chap 6. ASSIGNMENTS FOUR AND FIVE GIVEN OUT

 6 Survey Designs. Readings: A&C, chap. 7 and 9.
 ASSIGNMENT FOUR (Measurement Example) DUE.

 7 Field Research. Readings: A&C, chap 10 and 11. ASSIGNMENT FIVE (Codebook) DUE.

 
 8 Experiments: Readings: A&C, chap. 8.

9 Computers and Research, Data Design and Preparation. Readings: A&C, chap. 12, Assignment 6 given out. COMPUTER LAB ON SPSS
 
10 Data Description. Readings: A&C, chap 15. ASSIGNMENT SEVEN GIVEN OUT. COMPUTER LAB ON SPSS.

11 Examining Relationships. Readings: A&C, chap. 14 ASSIGNMENT SIX (Data Description Exercise) DUE.
 
12 THANKSGIVING (NO CLASS)
 
13 Inferences from Data. Readings: A&C, chap 16.
 ASSIGNMENT SEVEN (Research Critique) DUE.

14 Presenting Data and Critiques. Readings: A&C, Appendix A. PORTFOLIOS DUE


BACK TO CLASS PAGE

 ASSIGNMENT ONE: DATA TRANSFER EXERCISE


1. If you do not have an E-mail or Internet computer account, go to Room 015, Upper Level, Healey Library and apply for a student account. Get the handout on using E-mail.

2. Create a spreadsheet file that you call “L351F04A1xx.dat”, where "xx" are your first and last initials. In cell A1 type your last name. In cell B1 type your first name. In cell C1 type your student number. In cell D1 type “CPCS” if you are a CPCS major and “NON-CPCS” if you are not a CPCS major. Save this file.

3. Send an E-mail message to william.holmes@umb.edu giving your name and attaching the datafile, L351F04A1xx.dat. 

4. When you receive an E-mail reply from me acknowledging receipt of the file, print a copy of the reply. If you are a CPCS student, save the copy of my reply to your E-mail in your portfolio.

5. Competencies will be evaluated and grades assigned on the completeness and accuracy of the 
information provided and the extent to which the instructions are followed.
ASSIGNMENT TWO: PROBLEM STATEMENT

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.


Definition of the Problem

 A 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 of the Problem

 Justify the problem as an important issues. Explain how it is every severe, extensive, or why it matters in some way. Provide documentation (literature citation or statistics) if available.


Importance and Relevance of the Research 

 Describe: 1) how your research will refine, revise, and extend existing criminal justice or other 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, 2) 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 sources.


Conceptual Framework

 Summarize the conceptual framework you will use. This means restating: 

1. The research question or hypotheses that will focus your study.  You must have an explicit research question or hypothesis.

 2. A statement of the most important variables contained in your hypothesis or question.


References

 At least five references in ACJS or other acceptable format (see handout or webpage http://omega.cc.umb.edu/~holmes/). Newspaper or magazine citations do not count toward the five sources unless there are no other types of sources at all.


Competency will be evaluated or grades will be assigned on how well you define the problem, discuss its importance, justify the importance of the research, cite relevant literature, and provide a conceptual framework and complete references for your citations.