Introduction

Exam One covers materials presented in the class lectures and chapters 1-3 of the Babbie textbook. It contains two sections. In the first section, students will be asked to answer fifteen multiple-choice questions worth 2 points each. In the second section, students will be asked to answer two short-answer questions worth 15 points each.

Dr. Sapp's Office Hours are MWF, 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., or by appointment. Students are invited to come to the office at any time and I will be happy to discuss the class materials with you.

Readings:

Babbie Textbook: Chapters 1-3.
Paradigms in Sociology
The Philosophy of Science
Class Notes.

Key Terms

Chapter One
attributes, deduction, induction, dependent variable, independent variable, idiographic, nomothetic, theory, replication

Chapter Two
positivism, structure-functionalism, symbolic interactionism, Marxism (conflict theory), propositions, hypotheses, empirical generalization, community of scholars

Chapter Three
anonymity, confidentiality, debriefing, informed consent

Discussion Topics

This is an example of a question regarding ethics that I used on a previous exam

You are conducting research on criminal gang behavior in a large city. You have succeeded in gaining the trust of the members of an adult gang to the point where they include you, or ignore you, as they discuss their gang activities.

For each of the scenarios described below state whether you would report the information you learn to the police.

1. Explain your reasoning using the principles of confidentiality of research information as provided in the textbook and class lectures.
2. Describe what you think to be your ethical and legal obligations regarding each scenario.

Scenarios

• The members of the gang discuss robbing a convenience store clerk at gunpoint the previous evening.
• The male members of the gang talk about an incident in the previous week where they raped a female prostitute at gunpoint.
• In some gangs, female members can choose to be "beaten in" to the gang (i.e., initiated by a beating, which is the only choice for new males) or "sexed in" (i.e., new female members can choose to have sex with the males in the gang). A new female, who is 14 years old, freely chooses to be sexed into the gang you are studying.

These are other examples of questions you might be asked

1. Describe the key principles of the structure-functionalist, Marxian, and symbolic interactionist paradigms?
2. What are the rules of positivism and why are they impossible to follow in practice? What is the value of the positivist paradigm for scientific inquiry?
3. Describe the hypothetico-deductive approach to decision making. Describe the problems of deduction and induction that hinder the objectivity of this approach.
4. Describe the community-of-scholars approach to conducting good science. Describe why this approach cannot guarantee objective decisions about the quality of scientific investigations.

Help Session

Monday, September 15th, 5:00pm to 6:00pm, First Floor, East Hall.