Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Madame Henriette Henriot, 1876. Spacer image Syllabus

COURSE ORGANIZATION

Instructor

Dr. Steve Sapp
320 East Hall
(515) 294-1403
ssapp@iastate.edu
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Teaching Assistant

Kristen Wenke
419A East Hall
(515) 294-1403
kwenke@iastate.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; Thursday, 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Sociology 202 Web Site:

The syllabus, assignments, web pages, and Power Point presentations for Sociology 202 are available at the class web site: http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/soc202.html.

Textbook (Recommended):

Earl Babbie: The Practice of Social Research: 11th or 12th Edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadsworth.

Course Packet (Recommended):
  1. Printed copy of the Sociology 202 Course Packet: ISU Bookstore.
  2. Adobe Acrobat copy of the Sociology 202 Course Packet.
PASW Primer (Required):
  1. Printed copy of the PASW Primer: ISU Bookstore.
  2. Adobe Acrobat copy of the PASW Primer.
Guiding Principles of this Course

The course has been designed with the following principles in mind:
  1. Learning is iterative. It occurs in steps and is facilitated by mistakes, i.e. corrected mistakes.
  2. Learning is an active process. Some class material will be presented in lecture format. But class participation, group projects, discussions, exercises, and writing will accompany the lectures to encourage your active involvement in the material.
  3. The skill central to all advanced learning is critical thinking. Understanding and using sociological research methods is certainly no exception. The course exercises, papers, and exams are designed to challenge you to think critically. Critical thinking consists of four levels of mental engagement with reality.
    • The ability to describe phenomena.
    • The ability to compare, contrast, and link.
    • The ability to critique presentations of science.
    • The ability to innovate, suggest new combinations, pose new questions, and construct new explanations, conceptual frameworks, or theories.
Course Format
  1. Frequent use of class discussion and review of materials presented to date.
  2. Lectures interspersed with class exercises, small group discussions, and other forms of class participation.
  3. Accompanying the textbook is a diskette containing an excellent set of review questions and exercises covering each chapter. These are very useful to help you with the first two steps in critical thinking (define, describe, compare, and link). This diskette is not required for the course; so, if you bought a used copy of the textbook then you do not need to purchase the diskette.
  4. Ask questions. Ask questions. Ask questions. There are no dumb questions!
  5. Any student who needs an accommodation based on a disability should contact Dr. Sapp privately to discuss your specific needs. Also, please contact the Disability Resources Office (Room 1076, Student Services Building, 515-294-6624, awaoniyib@iastate.edu) to coordinate disability certification and accommodation.
  6. This course is conducted in accordance with the Department of Sociology Code of Ethics.
Assignments and Evaluation

Exams, assignments, and class participation will facilitate your understanding of the course material and provide a mechanism to evaluate your understanding of it. The course includes 310 points assigned to these evaluations. Final grades will be based upon a standard grading scale of 90% or higher = A; 80% - 89% = B; and so forth, with consideration of + and - grades at the extremes of each grade level. COURSE SCHEDULE

A listing of all assignments is provided on the Sociology 202: Calendar.

Part One: An Introduction to Inquiry
August 25 to September 10. Part Two: Measurement of Abstract Concepts
September 15 to October 1. Part Three: Observation, Sampling
October 6 to October 22. Part Four: Quantitative Design and Analysis
October 27 to November 19. Part Five: Qualitative Design and Analysis
December 1 to December 10.
Link to Home Page Link to Class Assignments Link to Reading Assignments