Before we begin with the lectures it is important to stress, once again, that this is an intensive course. By that I mean that this is a full three hour 18 week course that is offered in 9 weeks. Students often get behind quickly due to not having the text on time, not doing the assigned reading as outlined, not participating in the discussion board weekly, or by not reviewing the Syllabus for due dates. It is your responsibility to maintain a steady pace and keep up with the reading, assignments, and quizzes. As you notice, there is almost one assignment a week, for this course. It is also important that you do not try to move ahead, too quickly. Don’t try to get the course completed early.

Basically, the lectures will highlight some of the main topics or interesting concepts of the text. In addition, each week a question will be posted on the Discussion Board. Think of the Board as our "classroom discussion." I review your participation and will join in the discussion at some point each week. Sometimes my comments will be directed to the whole, sometimes to one or more comments. This is your time to "comment" on the question or issue posed and to share your thoughts with each other. The discussion board can be a very interesting area of discussion if we all actively participate.

Written Assignment Format

Part of this course is the submission of a major written assignment, a research essay. You will be given an expected minimum length for your assignment to help guide you in your preparation. You will not, however, be able to format your paper as you would if you handed it in directly. It is best if you type single spaced. But, you want to insure that you have submitted a paper of sufficient length and depth. Please check the Syllabus for a full explanation.

The footnote format that we will use for this course is the standard for all of the social sciences. It is called the APA format or "in-text" format. Rather than listing footnotes in the body of the text with a number and the full information at the end of each page, you will place in the body of your presentation the author [and possibly date] of the referenced work. Please note how the author references sources from the internet as all of your references should come from the internet. When you reference please insure that you present the reference as a "link" to the internet. For example, www.bcconline.com is a link to the college’s online webpage.

Text: Our text is Sociology, A Brief Introduction, Richard T. Schaefer, 9^th Edition. Students often ask if they can use earlier editions… All of the quizzes and the final will be taken from this current edition, so…….

This text is a wonderful source for the study of sociology, as it goes to great length to provide the student with a broadened discussion, not just theory or concepts. It is theory/concepts "in action." For each major concept the author attempts to provide the student with application. In addition, at the end of each chapter is a SUMMARY SECTION which includes a summary, critical thinking questions, key concepts, and a self-quiz. Use this section wisely!

Additionally, you can access study materials online. You can find the text webpage address in the front of your text. This includes "flash cards" for each chapter.

A starting definition:

 The scientific study of social behavior and human groups.

An alternative definition is: The scientific study of the typical ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving of people who are similarly located in time and in physical and cultural space.

Science: a body of knowledge that is arranged around general laws.

Scientific method: A series of steps that researchers follow in accumulating accurate and verifiable knowledge.

Society: People, who occupy a specific territory, share a common culture and identify, and are, or who would like to be politically independent.

Social Institutions: Major areas of social life in which activities are directed toward the satisfaction of basic human needs.

Social Sciences vs Natural Sciences:

• Natural science: Study of physical features of nature and the ways they interact and change.
• Social science: Study of social features of humans and the ways they interact and change

Psychology- For the most part Psychology studies individual behavior, relationships, interactions, and personality. Often research is conducted in the "laboratory," thus allowing the researchers maximum control over variables. Sociology and psychology overlap in the field of social psychology, the study of social interaction, and how individuals are influenced (and influence) social behavior. Whereas psychology studies the individual, sociology focuses on the group, the family, and other segments of society.

Anthropology- Anthropology focuses on Cultures and cross cultural data, therefore is closely related to Sociology. Anthropology is closely related to sociology, but primarily focused on pre-industrial society whereas sociology is focused on industrial society.

Economics- The study of goods and services. This would include the creation, distribution, economic inequality, social class, and the consumption of these goods.

History- The study of the past, what happened when, why, and how.

Political Science- The study of political theory, government, and political behavior. This would include power and politics, policy making, structure and functioning of government and the judiciary.

Social Work- Social Work is not really a social science, per sea. It is the application of the social sciences toward individual and social change.

Although once pure, the social sciences no longer focus only on their own discoveries. To truly understand a sociological concept, for example, we must understand the political, social, psychological, historical, and economic forces that impact on the concept. We will explore some of the associated concepts as needed throughout this course.

Common Sense -- There are some things that we just know are true, or think that they are true! Everyone knows that "money is the root of all evil? Right? Or is it? I like having money... I can pay my bills, buy my car, take vacations.... Sociologists (and the other branches of the social sciences) test these kinds of statements..........

• Sociologists do not accept something as fact because “everyone knows it”
• Each piece of information must be tested, recorded, and analyzed

Understanding sociology requires an understanding and knowledge of the contribution of the founders. Although we will focus on the concepts of sociology, we will highlight those who have made major contributions to the field. Our primary focus will be on the contributions.

August Comte (1798-1857): Comte, a French philosopher is credited with the founding of sociology. He urged that in studying society one should model the study of physics.

	Karl Marx (1818-1883): Marx, an economist, focused on social class and class inequality, and social change.
	Herbert Spencer (1820-1903): Developed many of the standard terms and concepts and wrote the first sociology text.
	Emile Durkheim (1858-1917): Durkheim was the first professor of sociology and produced the major work on suicide.
	Max Weber (1864-1920): Pioneered the study of bureaucracy.

Schaefer notes that there are also more modern day pioneers:

Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929): Focused on the small group, including families

Robert Merton (1910-2003): Best known for his work on deviant behavior

Jane Addams (1860-1935): Although a sociologist, mostly know for her activist work and the founding of Hull House in Chicago. One of the first settlement houses, she is revered as a founding pioneer of social work.

There are three primary perspectives that frame sociological thinking and will frame much of our discussions throughout this course. If you do not understand these upon first reading, I would suggest that you reread the material again. (see Table 1.2, p. 17).

This perspective views society as "a living organism in which each part of the organism contributes to its survival." (Schaefer, p 13.)

This perspective views society "in continual struggle." (Schaefer, pp. 14-17.)

This perspective focuses on "everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole." (Schaefer, pp. 15-16.)

As with the other social sciences, natural sciences, and biological sciences, sociology applies the scientific method to collect information that is both reliable and valid. Reliable data, or information, is "consistent" across research. The findings can be replicated. Something is valid if the measure actually measures what it was intended to measure.

Research Process: (Figure 2.1, p. 31).

[http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml]

The research process follows a set of well defined steps. Schaefer presents the following:

1. Define the problem: What is your question that you want to study? For example, one might be interested, from a sociological perspective, why there is a high drop-out rate for students starting Barstow College.

2. Review the literature: This requires a data of all available research on the problem. One would be interested in any combination of original research, existing data related to the problem, library research (as opposed to research studies), etc.

3. Formulate a Hypothesis: A hypothesis is a statement which you plan to test. It is one’s "tentative" explanation or expectation. It should be formulated following the literature review. You may think you have an explanation why there is a high drop-out rate at the College even before you have reviewed the literature, but should come to a final determination of your hypothesis only after your review.

As part of your hypothesis you will select your variables, dependent and independent.

In other words, you will be making a statement that you want to prove. To do this you make a statement stating the relationship between two or more variables.

We call the variable that is affected, the dependent variable. The one that changes the other variable is called the independent variable. As noted in the text one example of a hypothesis is "Men who live in cities are more likely to marry young than are men who live in the country." The independent variable is location; the dependent variable is the age of marriage. Please review figure 2-3, p. 32, to help differentiate independent and dependent variables.

4. Research Design: Once the hypothesis is formulated it is time to design the project in such a manner as to be able to test it.

Survey research: As it implies, one surveys a given population. This may include mail, telephone, or face-to-face. Questions may be open-ended, or closed-ended.

Field study: In this method the researcher becomes an observer. As an "observer," the researcher insures that he/she has not involvement in what is observed. As a "participant observer," the researcher is both participant and observer.

Experimental: In this method, the researcher’s goal is to isolate the dependent and independent variables and to control all other variables

Secondary research: In this method the researcher would analyze previously collected data.

Types of questions:

Schaeffer presents the following problems with questions:

POOR QUESTION	PROBLEM	BETTER QUESTION
Do you favor urban homesteading?	People may not understand the question.	Do you favor a government program that encourages families to improve inner city housing?
Did your mother ever work?	Misleading.	Did your mother ever work for pay outside the home?
Should it be possible for a woman to obtain a legal abortion?	Too general.	Should it be possible for a woman to obtain a legal abortion if there is a strong chance of serious defect in her baby? If she became pregnant as a result of rape?
Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to drink liquor and smoke marijuana?	Double-barreled (two questions in one).	Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to drink liquor? Do you favor making it legal for 18-year-olds to smoke marijuana?
Don’t you think that the press is slanted and that we should distrust whatever it says?	Biased question; leads people toward a particular response.	Would you say that you have a great deal of confidence, some, or very little confidence in the press?

5. Collecting the data: The next stage in the process is defining the "population" and collecting the data. In studies with very large populations, it is not possible or practical to study everyone. Therefore, we use only a selected group of the population, or a "sample." To be able to generalize from the sample to the whole population the sample must be representative of the whole, it must have the same characteristics of the population. A randomized sample is one in which each member of the population had an equal chance of being included. Another method is a stratified random sample which guarantees that the proportions of the sample are equal to that of the population.

Types of data:

• Quantitative data- data that is primarily numerical
• Qualitative data- data that is observed, read, interpreted

Methods to collect data:

• Observation- Data drawn from direct observation of behavior. Observation might be in the form of participant observer, where the researcher participates and collects data, at the same time. Or, the researcher might observe "from a distance" attempting to not interact with the subjects.
• Experiment- Data collected through the creation of an artificial situation, often associated with an experimental group [provided the XXX] and the control group [no XXX].
• Secondary analysis- review and interpretation of data from previous research.

6. Analyzing the data and drawing conclusions: Through the use of statistical methods the data is analyzed. This then leads to conclusions.

Let's look at the following example:

You are interested in gangs, especially how women are treated by the gang. In your search of the literature you are further drawn to whether women are treated differently in gangs than men. One site you may have gone to was:

http://faculty.missouristate.edu/M/MichaelCarlie/what_I_learned_about/GANGS/gender_composition.htm

or

http://aca.org/fileupload/177/prasannak/Eghigian-Kirby-21.pdf

This might lead you to wonder if there are differences between women in Hispanic gangs versus women in African American gangs.

So, you decide to do a research project. If your literature review gave you clues as to the difference you would pose a hypothesis which made stated this position.

If not, you might pose a null hypothesis, such as:

Male member of Hispanic gangs treat female members of their gangs the same as male members of African American gangs treat their female members.

To test this hypothesis you might want to interview gang members, but…. So, you may change your hypothesis to:

The general public perceives that male member of Hispanic gangs treat female members of their gangs the same as male members of African American gangs treat their female members.

This would allow you to survey a random sample of the general population.

You would then write up your conclusions.

Click on one of the areas that interests you.

Answer the following questions:

1. Why is this area of interest to you. What personal or direct knowledge do you have of this.

2. Which of the historical sociological thinkers would most likely fit this issue, and why have you chosen this.

3. Try to find three internet sources related to this topic.

You will not submit this exercise. Doing it should help you when it comes to doing your written assignments.

If you have any problems finding internet sources, e-mail me so that I can assist you.