|
Date |
Topic |
Due at the beginning of class
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In-class lab |
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Wednesday 8/25
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Introduction to the course |
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1/Infographic critique and math review |
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Monday 8/30 |
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When + why are quant methods useful in research? |
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2/When are quantitative methods appropriate?
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Wednesday 9/1 |
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When, how, + why to measure/ quantify social “stuff”
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Read Harvard University Program on Survey Research, Tip Sheet on Question Wording ) + Read Raskoff, “Measuring Abortion Beliefs” http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2009/06/measuring-abortion-beliefs.html |
3/ Operationalizing |
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Monday 9/6 – Wednesday 9/8 |
NO CLASSES
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Monday 9/13 |
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When/why to design surveys |
Read Sternheimer, “The Art and Science of Survey Writing” http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2018/04/the-art-and-science-of-survey-writing.html
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4/Online surveys |
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Wednesday 9/15 |
NO CLASS
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Monday 9/20 |
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How to design sampling strategies |
* Exercise 1 due * + Read: Guide to sampling methods and best practices: Find out how sampling works, when to use it and how to select a representative sample for your research survey.: https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/research/sampling-methods/ + Read Sternheimer, “Sociology and the Census” http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2010/03/sociology-and-the-census.html
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5/Sampling strategies |
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Wednesday 9/22 |
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Putting it all together: research design + spreadsheets |
Read KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: Parents and the Pandemic: Aug 11, 2021: https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-parents-and-the-pandemic-methodology/ + Read through this Google Forms tutorial: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9991170?hl=en&ref_topic=9348489 |
Group proposal work – turn in progress by end of class |
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Monday 9/27 |
|
You have a spreadsheet! Now what?: Basic descriptive statistics |
* Exercise 2 due * + Read and examine infographic: Absolutely everything (including housing) is more expensive in NYC, BY VIRGINIA K. SMITH | FEBRUARY 3, 2017 – 9:59AM https://www.brickunderground.com/live/cost-of-living-infographic-NYC |
Group proposal due by end of class |
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Wednesday 9/29 |
|
Visualizing data |
Read Steelberg, “Data Presentation: Showcasing Your Data with Charts and Graphs,” from Creating Data Literate Students: http://datalit.sites.uofmhosting.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Chapter_7_Steelberg.pdf |
6/Graphs and charts in Excel |
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Monday 10/4 |
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Summary statistics: measures of central tendency |
Read “Central Tendency and Variability” https://soc.utah.edu/sociology3112/central-tendency-variability.php + Read Raskoff, “Measures of Central Tendency” http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2015/04/measures-of-central-tendency.html |
7/Measures of central tendency in Excel |
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Wednesday 10/6 |
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Summary statistics: measures of dispersion |
Read and examine the infographic: Infographic: shows most common birthdays. Emma Waverman. September 17, 2014 https://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/birthdays-most-common/ Look at these examples of histograms, pick a favorite, and come prepared to explain why: Examples of histograms: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/search/?q=histogram&restrict_sr=1 |
8/Measures of dispersion in Excel |
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Monday 10/11 |
NO CLASS
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Wednesday 10/13 |
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MIDTERM REVIEW |
Come prepared with questions! |
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Monday 10/18 |
|
MIDTERM EXAM |
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Wednesday 10/20 |
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Probabilities + Z-scores + the “normal distribution” |
Listen (9 minutes): NPR Podcast (9 minutes): https://www.npr.org/2021/05/19/998375633/were-bad-at-calculating-risk
Read Stewart, Evan. “Normal Distributions in the Wild – Sociological Images.” The Society Pages (blog), September 11, 2019. https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2019/09/11/normal-distributions-in-the-wild/.
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9/Probabilities and risk |
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Monday 10/25 |
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The logic behind polling: the sampling distribution |
Read Nate Silver, The Polls Weren’t Great. But That’s Pretty Normal. NOV. 11, 2020, AT 12:53 PM. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-polls-werent-great-but-thats-pretty-normal/ SUST students read “Developing a Wastewater Surveillance Sampling Strategy | Water-Related Topics | Healthy Water | CDC,” June 23, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/surveillance/wastewater-surveillance/developing-a-wastewater-surveillance-sampling-strategy.html. |
10/Evaluating polls |
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Wednesday 10/27 |
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Estimation, confidence intervals, + the margin of error
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Read Sternheimer, “Get to Know MoE: Why the Margin of Error Matters” http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2016/02/get-to-know-moe-why-the-margin-of-error-matters.html (on Blackboard) + Read Lopes, Lunna, Mellisha Stokes, et al. “KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: Parents and the Pandemic – Methodology.” KFF (blog), August 11, 2021. https://www.kff.org/report-section/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-parents-and-the-pandemic-methodology/ |
11/Confidence intervals + margin of error |
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Monday 11/1 |
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QUIZ REVIEW |
Come prepared with questions! |
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Wednesday 11/3 |
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QUIZ |
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Monday 11/8 |
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Intro to bivariate analysis + T-tests |
Everyone read: Urban Institute. “Paired Testing,” December 10, 2014. https://www.urban.org/research/data-methods/data-analysis/quantitative-data-analysis/impact-analysis/paired-testing SOC students read: Whaling et al. (2020), “Reduced child maltreatment prevention service case openings during COVID-19” : https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-30930/v1
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12/T-tests |
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Wednesday 11/10 |
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Bivariate tables + Chi square |
Read Misra et al. (2020), “Determinants of Depression Risk among Three Asian American Subgroups in New York City” (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7518536/) |
13/Bivariate tables and chi square |
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Monday 11/15 |
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Working with bivariate tables in Excel |
Sue, V., & Griffin, M. (2016). Data visualization & presentation with microsoft office. SAGE Publications, Inc https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781483397375 https://methods.sagepub.com/Book/data-visualization-and-presentation-with-microsoft-office
(EMILY F – help?) |
14/Bivariate tables in Excel |
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Wednesday 11/17 |
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Visualizing info from bivariate tables |
https://methods.sagepub.com/Book/data-visualization-and-presentation-with-microsoft-office (EMILY F – help?) |
15/Visualizing bivariate relationships |
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Monday 11/22 |
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When you have interval variables: Scatterplots Correlation |
* Exercise 3 due * + Read Ryzin et al. (2008), “ Measuring Street Cleanliness: A Comparison of New York City’s Scorecard and Results from a Citizen Survey“ (https://www-proquest-com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu/docview/197174673?OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:primo&accountid=7286)
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16/Scatterplots + correlation in Excel |
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Wednesday 11/24 |
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Getting fancier: Simple regression |
Read Regression Analysis: In: Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods Edited by: Paul J. Lavrakas Published: 2008 DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412963947.n461 https://methods.sagepub.com/reference/encyclopedia-of-survey-research-methods/n461.xml (Emily F – help?)
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17/Regression in Excel |
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Monday 11/29 |
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Bivariate analysis review |
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18/Interpreting bivariate analyses |
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Wednesday 12/1 |
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Group research and preparation |
* Exercise 4 due *
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|
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Monday 12/6 |
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Group research and preparation |
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|
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Wednesday 12/8 |
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Presentations |
* Individual report + Infographic due *
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Monday 12/13 |
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Review for final |
Come prepared with questions! |
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Monday 12/20 |
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FINAL EXAM |
NOTE: 1-3p |
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