This course is a postgraduate level seminar designed to increase knowledge of research methods commonly used in social science research. Through lecture, discussion and class activities, this course will introduce different methods of conducting research. The seminar will focus on issues related to theory development, hypothesis formation, variable construction, research design, sampling methodology and the techniques and methods of data collection. Students will write a research proposal that details a research question and the research design appropriate for addressing that question. Pre-requisite: None

CILO-1: Special attention will be devoted to understanding, use, evaluating, and interpreting social research using original data. The goal of this class is for methods to be approachable to you, so that you can understand the results of original research and critique the study, its design and findings. You will also learn how to design and write a research proposal here. CILO-2: Identifying various types of research questions and the proper strategy for answering them. CILO-3: Becoming acquainted with the research process. CILO-4: Becoming acquainted with issues related to sociological research, including objectivity, empiricism, skepticism, and ethical issues. CILO-5: Identifying various types of investigative theories and assessing which theory is best for a particular research question. CILO-6: Identifying and becoming familiar with various research designs. CILO-7: Identifying and becoming familiar with various ways to collect data, including the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques. CILO-8: Identifying and becoming familiar with various measurement issues. CILO-9: Identifying and becoming familiar with various ways to analyze and interpret research results. CILO-10: Designing and writing up a research proposal from scratch.