SOSC 13100-13200-13300 - Social Science Inquiry

Institution:

University of Chicago

Subject:

Description:

PQ: These courses must be taken in sequence. Students registered in this sequence must attend the first and second class sessions or their registration will be dropped. How much can we trust public opinion polls Can we determine if people in one country are better off than another How can we tell if conventional wisdom is correct How can we judge whether or not a public policy is working How do economists or psychologists see the world differently than sociologists or political scientists This course seeks to answer these and other questions by examining classic works of social science and by teaching students how to conduct their own social science research. In the Autumn Quarter, the course starts by examining the history and philosophy of the social sciences. Then, using prominent examples from anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology, it explores the major epistemological approaches to social science including experimental methods, deductive methods (such as formal models and game theory), inductive methods (such as survey analysis, epidemiology, and econometrics), and ethnography. In Winter Quarter, students will study the specific research tools that social scientists employ. Students will learn how to collect data, how to conduct experiments, and how to make statistical inferences. Students will gain hands-on practice at empirical analysis using the General Social Survey, the National Voting Studies, the World Values Survey, and other data sets. In the Spring Quarter, students will study practical applications of social science and conduct their own empirical research on a topic they choose. From both classic examples and their own research, students will learn what makes a good social science concept, how to translate their theories into testable hypotheses, how to report their results, and how to draw broader inferences from their findings. By the end of the sequences, students will have produced a significant research paper. E. Oliver, Staff. Autumn, Winter, Spring.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

WWW.UCHICAGO.EDU

Phone Number:

(773) 702-1234

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Quarter

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