Sociology 380 Section AD3 website
Welcome to the pilot website for the Sociology 380 Sections. This site will serve as both a resource and a preliminary guide to lesson plans and teaching Sociology 380 sections for future TA's.
Section Dates
General Course Resources
Session 14 - Presentation Prep
Agenda
- Announcements
- Grades at this point
- Upcoming Quiz
- Check-in
- Work on Presentations!
Resources and Lecture Materials
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Session 13 - Coding - April 11th
Agenda
- Announcements
- Attendance, hand back quizzes
- Reminder: Qualitative people bring your annotated bibliographies and literature reviews!
- Check in - How many of you guys are done with coding? How many are started? How many haven't started?
- Questions: What do you need from me?
- Coding Overview
- Goal: Transform your fieldnotes into writings that speak to a wider audience
- Goal: Produce a coherent focused analysis of some aspect of the social life that has been observed and recorded
- Look for threads that can be woven together to tell a story
- Codes take a specific event, incident, or feature and relate it to other events
- Elements/examples of Coding:
- Looking to categorize
- Do not just identify but formulate higher level concepts
- Ideas (perhaps a form of interaction, behavior, or an identifier)
- Themes (on going types of ideas, a consistent type of interaction, a series of interactions, commonalities to people with certain identifiers, other patterns)
- Issues (conflict, collaboration, intersectionality, larger scale concepts such as maybe inequality or shared suffrage)
- Why do we do it this way? To avoid selective perception and just simply get ideas. We don't want to limit ourselves from the beginning. Open coding is to be less subjective if possible.
- What questions might we ask to help our coding? See the coding assignment sheet:
- What are people doing? What are they trying to accomplish?
- How exactly do they do this? What specific means and/or strategies do they use?
- How do member stalk about, characterize, and understand what is going on?
- What assumptions are they making?
- What do I see going on here? What did I learn from these notes?
- Why did I include these notes?
- Once again you can find examples of coding on pages 147-158 and 152-153 in E, F, S.
- Today's Assignment
- Budget your time as you feel is required, I'll be here for 2 hours.
- Break intro groups of two or three!
- Finish up coding your own fieldnotes
- Trade with one other person and code their fieldnotes material
- Rejoin your group and work on the Preparation worksheet! (collect all of your codes together on that and then select 6-8 of them for everyone)
- Be thinking about
(second part of today's assignment):
- How these terms could apply
- Sociological Analysis
- Selection
- Accretion
- Dissembling
- Routine and Mundane
- Initial Impressions
- Key Events
- Ethnographer as a Stranger
- Interactional Detail
- How your 6-8 codes form threads of a sociological story that you can use in your presentation
- Final Coding Assignment
- Due next Wednesday
- 4 pages single-spaced or equivalent (not counting the grid)
- Keep an extra copy
- Highlight instances of the 6-8 group codes in your fieldnotes
- Design a grid or paragraph series depicting examples from your fieldnotes of each of these codes
- Answer the 5 questions
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Session 12 - Reviewing Field Notes - April 4th
Agenda
- Announcements
- Check In
- Quiz 3 - Reactions, grading, etc...
- Clarification of Ethnography Research Project requirements
- Next set of fieldnotes due on the 9th - coding will be included after that
- Any other questions?
- Presentation - Writing Fieldnotes
- In Class Assignment
- Work with a partner and write a list of 5 ways your can improve your fieldnotes based on the material presented today
- Write these on the back of the fieldnotes due for lab, and assess or add to your fieldnotes based on these suggestions
- Make sure to keep these suggestions in mind for your last 2 sets of fieldnotes
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Session 11 - First Field Notes
Agenda
- Announcements (5 minutes)
- Welcome back!!!
- Handing back Quiz 2
- Upcoming Quiz 3 - booooo - see chapters 1 and 2, ask me specific questions in office hours or via email
- A word on presentation grading
- Evaluations of group work due next section
- Connecting the evaluation to the real world
- Any questions?
- Presentation time! Pay attention! (25 minutes)
- Fieldnotes Checklist
(20 minutes+)
- I know, not that much warning - this is an exercise - let me know if you ran into issues for this first session, we'll need to figure it out for the next few!
- Swap with at least 2 other group members!
- Which lens? Number 3 - think from different academic disciplines (psych, soc, anthro, etc...)
- Try to remain objective, explain your judgements/observations - ie. the person is nice/attractive/anti-social because...
- Avoid selective perception - try to record numbers and observe in multiple ways
- Don't worry about coding yet, but think about how you might develop a rythm or consistent minimum
- A few methods you might employ :
- Number of times key words/actions occur
- Sequence of events, how long they last
- Don't miss details
- Feel free to draw maps/diagrams, track movement
- Don't worry about spelling, use short hand, you can revise later
- Show don't tell - ie. don't say something is dirty, describe it
- Include immediate thoughts and then add thoughts when you're proofing - different perspectives/development
- Backup copies are a happy idea, especially with computers
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Session 10 - Spring Break!!!!
So should I keep my beard?
 
That is all.
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Session 9 - Presentation Week - March 14th
Agenda
- No official section this week. Feel free to come to section where I'll be running 'office hours' to help students work on their presentations.
- Also, my bad, you DO want your names on the presentation! I misunderstood something from Assata!!
- Make sure in your analysis to reference the significance level, don't worry about comparing critical values and test values.
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Session 8 - Presentation Work - March 7th
Section Agenda
- Announcements
- Quiz grades. Way to kick ass.
- The association vs. independence battle
- Extra credit assignment
- Watch other people's presentations: learn from them and remember your participation grade is important!
- I'll be grading your presentations.
- Uh yeah about the crosstab assignment.
- Get to Work!
- Let me know if you have questions
- Pay attention to assignment parameters
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Session 7 - Data Synthesis and Presentation Design - February 28th
Lecture Agenda
- New Crosstabs Assignment (to do during lecture)
- Each group member needs to turn in two (2) statistically significant (<0.05) Chi-square results and their interpretations
- Follow the Chi-Square Checklist
- These should be printed out and turned in to me during our group presentation meeting (Monday the 5th for Egypt/Philippines, Wednesday the 7th for Vietnam)
- Each group needs to select its four best Chi-square tables to employ in their presentation
Section Agenda
- Announcements
- A word on Lit Review grades
- I will go over quiz results later (booo)
- Class feedback/needs (quickly)
- MSS/NCSS Conference in Chicago! (soc club)
- Speech!
- Eye contact, face the audience (3/4 of you)
- Speak up, slow down
- Don't just read the slides, explain them
- Engage your audience
- Gestures and coat-hangers
- Avoid umb, like, aaaaand, only use silence as a filler
- Practice ahead of time
- PointPoint Design
- Better templates and pictures (create an account)
- Minimalist slides, outline style
- Understand your layout and transitions
- It's a tool, not a prop
- Dressing up isn't required but can't hurt
- Anticipate questions, cite our sources
- Presentation Requirements
- Title Page (group, members)
- Research Question(s)
- Final group Conceptual Model
- Conceptualization/Operationalization of variables
- Summarize Data/describe analysis
- Interlace with Crosstabs/X2 Results
- Revisit and assess research question
- Contributions/limitations of your study (policy implications, what new questions, what you learned)
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Session 6 - Variable Selection, Operationalization, and Analysis - February 21st
Agenda
- Announcements
- Welcome back, make sure to ask if you're confused about due-dates
- You have an upcoming quiz (Monday)! Be prepared to answer questions on ethics (IRB) and the measurement of variables.
- I'm still grading Lit Reviews, it'll be a little while before we get them back to you!
- In regards to the group evaluation sheets - self refers to how you'd rate yourself, and process refers to how you'd rate the group's process as a whole
- SPSS person on site to help us?
- It's pronounced kie squared (and written X2) - don't embarrass yourself like I do!
- Operationalization Table
- You need to complete this today!
- One dependent variable (must find match in SPSS!) and make sure it's a valid variable
- At least nineteen (19) independent variables. Make sure SPSS has data for them!!
- Make sure there are at least 20 people in each category of definition (frequencies, see part 3)
- Ensure that you recode any variables with more than 4 representations. We want to keep this simple!
- If you don't have proper documentation on what a variable means, state your assumptions, and continue to use the variable based on them
- In the event that you're studying children, make sure to just use the first child in the series. These are the variables coded with $ signs in their identification number.
- Many times general conceptual categories can be represented through alternative variables, for instance qualifying class based on ownership of a car
- Run Frequencies - I don't want your paper - just make sure they match the requirements, I can help take a look - save your output
- Run Descriptives - Again, no paper, we love trees! Save your output (in word or whatever)
- Run Chi-Square (Crosstabs) if we have time
- Independent variables in columns, dependent in rows.
- Request column percentages.
- Remember the “Percentage down, read across” rule
- State the null hypothesis
- Decide whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis - remember we're using a 0.05 level of statistical significance! Ask me if you don't know what this means.
- Write out interpretation of the table (each cell)
- How does this table help you to answer your research question?
- If you have more questions about looking at multiple or complex variables with SPSS Chi-Squared
- Chi-square tests for statistical independence between two variables
- The variables may be nominal level or higher, but it is best suited for discrete variables with limited categories.
- Strictly speaking, chi-square is only a test of significance, not a measure of a relationship between variables; translation: indepdence
- To get SPSS help
- 204 Lincoln Hall Open Lab: available 8am - 5pm Monday through Friday. Statistics & GIS software available.
- 204 Lincoln Hall: Consulting available Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm.
- G8 Foreign Language Building: Consulting available Monday, Tuesday, Friday from 6pm to 8pm.
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Session 5 - Snow Day!! - February 14th
Agenda
- Enjoy the snow (even in graduate school)
- Also, if you were all here I would have asked you collectively to be my valentine and then taunted you with candy.
- And remember, if you're depressed about being single on Valentines Day just remember there's somebody who's day has got to suck more than yours - see if you can't make them a valentine or do nice things for those people. In the past I've (and others have) done orphans and the elderly, but maybe you could try something new! (family, friends, etc...)
Resources and Lecture Materials
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Session 4 - Advanced Uses of SPSS and Operationalization - February 7th
Agenda
- Announcements
- Pay careful attention to the lecture notes and use them for guides - you will want to look at the conceptualization and operationalization table PowerPoints specifically.
- Ensure you have access to the SPSS data sets and make sure everyone in your group can get to them. You will need use these for the Operationalization Table. Pick either the household or individual recodes and stick with one of them.
- Remember, the Literature Review is due on the 19th! It is worth a significant portion of your grade!
- For those of you that spent extra effort conceptualizing your variables on your conceptual model I'm giving +1 extra credit. If you completed the assignment you of course still get full credit.
- We have developed a grading rubric for the Annotated Bibliography - each article is worth 25 points with the most emphasis placed on #2 (Assata's decision). In the future I'll do my best to make sure you know the grading weight of each section of an assignment when you get it.
- Oh and By the Way
- The Video Handout just counts for your participation grade in lecture on the day it was given.
- We will hand back the Annotated Bibliography next Monday (the 12th) during class.
- Any missed absences can only be excused with doctor or dean's approval - it's your responsibility to catch up!
- You don't have to do the descriptive statistics written on the syllabus - instead we're doing the operationalization tables!
- I added links for citation style guides above - feel free to try on the ASA (American Sociological Association) method for size, you might use it later in your career.
- SPSS People Go!
- Operationalization Tables (if we have time)
- Download and look at the Operationalization Table model - you can do it on PowerPoint or Excel - I don't care which (Excel is probably better, though!)
- I know this may seem a little confusing at first - you'll have three columns of analysis:
- Biggest and most important are your overall conceptual categories for a variables (say like SocioEconomic-Status) .
- Within each conceptual category you're likely to have numerous model variables (so in the case of SES - Education, Income, Accumulated Wealth, and Prestige).
- Each of these model variables will have a corresponding SPSS variable. You may not find exact matches for your original conceptual diagram. This is okay - just make sure you have at least three! Open up your data set and look through it to find variables that best match your model variables. Honestly using the Label View is probably easier - you can look through variables by their names. I don't know of any find or search utility in SPSS though, so you might have some trouble. If for any reason you cannot find information about gender in your data set this may mean it was part of the women's health survey - some of these data sets were conducted only on female population samples - if you can't find that variable, just drop it. You can find SPSS on the computers in the ATLAS labs - information here.
- Important! State your assumptions for your presentation! These data sets are not well documented - so variables like 'Use of birth control' may not specify what this actually means - use of birth control regularly, once in a while, only certain types, etc... Since we don't have adequate documentation and we're doing this as a learning activity you can just state your assumptions of what these variables mean specifically. I'm not suggesting you conjure up elaborate definitions, but that you flush out your variables to make sense in context.
- You all know how the various measures work, ask me if you have questions.
- And as Alyssa corrected me in section (Thank you!) you only need one per group.
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Session 3 - Introduction to SPSS - January 31st Section
Agenda
- Announcements
- Say hello to our SPSS training people! Listen intently. Do not hesitate to stop them and ask questions!!
- IRB Feedback to be given by group at the end of class - finals are due Monday
- Reminder: Conceptual models due Monday (group and individual). Explain how you are operationalizing your variables! Put your name and group on it.
- Annotated Bibliography vs. Literature Review: Lit Review is a lot of #7 on the Annotated assignment sheet, less about author's findings and more about their importance to your study!
- SPSS People Go!
- Give IRB Feedback
- Missing signatures and contact information
- Sections of the IRB that need to be changed
Resources and Lecture Materials
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Session 2 - DHS and IRB Requests - January 24th Section
Agenda
- Announcements
- Way to kick ars with the articles!
- Pass around attendance sheet
- Welcome our newcomers - they'll be assigned to groups, get their contact information and fill them in
- Once again, make sure you've got everyone's contact info
- Print articles for yourself - don't give me paper! It makes trees cry!
- Use the four best and approved articles for your annotated bibliography
- Any questions not about DHS or IRB?
- Homework
- Everyone: Read the Belmont Report and keep up with Babbie (remember, quiz!!)
- Qualitative People - DHS - start to specify your variables, request access to the data set
- Quantitative People - Ethnography - do the full IRB form!
- Break the groups!
DHS (Quant People)
Go to the DHS web site and request permission for access to the DHS data set. This is your address:
Sociology 325 Lincoln Hall MC 454
702 S. Wright Street Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: 217-333-1950
Fax: 217- 333-5225
Use the format:
- “We are interested in studying relationship between…”
- “____ (independent variable) and ___ (dependent variable).
- “Other factors that we think might be associated with ___ (dep var) are ___ (other indep vars).
- We are interested in this topic because…. (say something about its sociological significance).
- We are completing this project for SOC 380 Social Research Methods Class at the University of Illinois.
Make sure you request the individual recode data (survey data) and not geographic data.
See the Research Intro 2, slides 24-30 for more details. Let me know if you have questions.
Ethnography (Qual People)
Work on the IRB form. Just one per group, cluster around one computer.
Go ahead and model it after this one. Follow the IRB Powerpoint for guidance. Use the IRB website for a guide if you are creating consent forms for interviews or surveys. Use this consent form if you are conducting ethnographic research in a business establishment (such as a coffee shop or privately owned gym).
Let me know if you have questions.
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Session 1 - Introduction and Subject/Source Gathering - January 17th Section
Agenda
- TA Introduction
- Under no circumstances should you call me Mr. Ginger. I'm all about the respect the title gives, but not about the age. Just refer to me as Jeff.
- I'm a first year graduate in the PHD Sociology program...
- I did my undergrad here and maintain connection to numerous groups and organizations...
- I took this course so I know what it's like.
- Email me, Facebook me, AIM me, find me at office hours, all of it works.
- Pass around attendance sheet
- Course Expectations
- Learning and Enjoyment - Learn about both quantitative and qualitative research in a real-world resembling environment
- Opportunity - Conduct your own research! You get to call many of the shots and can use this as an opportunity to volunteer or help make a difference in a broad way.
- I am Your Resource! - Don't be afraid to contact me with questions. Stop me if I'm going too fast or if I say something that is unclear. I'd rather be a little slow or boring than lose any of you.
- Teamwork and Participation! - Speak up, work with your group, make sure you're involved and helping spread the work. Exchange contact information - AIM, email, get to know one another, meet once a week, etc...
- Attendance - Show up so you don't fall behind. It also counts for your grade. Remember your group is counting on you, let them know if you can't come if you can. I know life happens - I'll be flexible as I can though proof of sickness or emergencies may be required. Don't be overly late for class. More than 10 minutes and I count it as an ab sense. Come on time or you'll miss things. Don't falsely sign your name to the attendance sheet.
- Grading and Course Load- Take a look once again at the grading criteria sheet. Make sure you note what counts for the most amount of points and schedule your life accordingly. If you don't understand or have questions about a grade, come talk to me. The workload will shift up and down at different parts of the course - it will be less intense and more intense at times.
- Professor Trumps ALL - Anything the professor says goes. Her rulings and statements over-ride mine. If she says the assignment is worth x amount of points or is due on a certain day, follow her instructions.
- Office Hours - I'm available for office hours right after class (so we can stay after and continue to work if needed) in the section classroom or ATLAS labs (easy to find and access to SPSS). If you can't make lab hours right after section I can schedule specific appointments by request on Fridays. Just ask.
- Email - We will communicate with you via Email. You should be checking it at least daily!
- Student Introductions
- We don't have a lot of time today so quickly go around and tell us your
- preferred name
- major(s) and any minor(s)
- and something cool (or not cool?) / memorable about you
- Make sure to fill out the Student Information Sheet if you haven't already!
- Course Structure
- One half of your group will be assigned to do Qualitative (the ethnography subject) for their lit review...
- The other half of your group will be assigned to do Quantitative (the country subject) for their lit review...
- Emphasize: Your personal research consists of...
- Emphasize: Your group research consists of...
- Everyone works with the DHS data set and everyone conducts ethnographic research.
- Scouring for Articles!
- Demo Method 1: Library Search Assistant
- Demo Method 2: A Guide to Library Resources for Sociology 380
- Demo Method 3: Sociological Abstracts
- Demo Method 4: Rock the Jstor
- Demo Method 5: Scope out Ebsco
- Demo Method 6: Search by Individual Journal - type in name of journal and then search through their web resource
- AVOID: Book Reviews/Summaries, Books (unless you want to go get them or if they're online), Dissertations, Conference Papers, Newspaper Articles and anything else that's not a published journal article.
- AVOID: Particularly old research (older than the 1980's), research on people not in your studied age range (kids, adolescents), and studies conducted in other countries.
- Consult the first assignment sheet for suggested journals that you might find good articles in
- Remember: The TA will be checking each source to make sure it's a good journal source and reviewing the abstracts to make sure the content applies to your study!
- Demo: How to copy text or screen shots from PDF's into word
- Remember: Turn in at least 8 articles with their bibliographic entries and abstracts. Attach them on to an Email and send them to me. Include your name and country group.
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