Research exercises offer the opportunity to design, implement, and reflect on activities that incorporate range of methods commonly used in anthropology and sociology. These exercises emphasize the experiential aspects of research and foreground attention to validity in research design and conclusions. Keep all assignments in a portfolio that you bring to each class session.
Structure
Each assignment should be 2-3 single space pages devided into the following sections:
Heading: Name, Methodology, Date.
Description of research topic, with reseach question or hypothesis. Consider how your research question/hypothesis can be spurred by issues, arguments and theories you have encountered in SOAN classes. Diagram the relationship you will be investigating in the A ≈ B format. If possible, frame your research as the application of a question or the testing of an argument you have encountered in a cited sociological or anthropological source.
Description of research design. Describe the research activities you designed and expected to implement before conducting the research. This should include description of such things as research population, context, interview/survey questions, expected modes of recording evidence, strategies for obtaining informed consent.
Preliminary reflections on validity. Write this section prior to completing the research. What kind of evidence do you expect the research to yield? How will that evidence allow you to address your question or hypothesis?
Written record of evidence produced. The structure and content of this section will vary by assignment and may include descriptive writing, transcripts, tabulated data, charts, etc. (See respective methods guidelines below).
What valid conclusions / arguments emerge from your findings? How can the evidence produced support a specific conclusion? Link specific evidence you generated, using concrete examples, with any specific conclusion you can draw. How is that conclusion related to your initial question / hypothesis? For example, was your hypothesis confirmed or denied? Or, did your argument diverge from the terms of your original question/hypothesis based on an inductive approach to your evidence and/or a rethinking of what kind of conclusion your evidence could support? Include a diagram of your conclusion/argument that confirms, revises, leaves behind your original question/hypothesis diagram.
What extended or complementary research method might be used to address the research questions and/or forward the research argument? Option 1: Consider your research exercise as a pilot effort to design extended research using the same method. Discuss how you might revise and extend your research into a larger project. This discussion should identify a specific method and indicate specific aspects of the research design (e.g. location, context, subject pool, questions, etc.).Option 2: Consider a specific research exercise using a different method that would produce specific evidence that would relate with the question / argument. This discussion should identify a specific method and indicate specific aspects of the research design (e.g. location, context, subject pool, questions, etc.).
Critical reflections on the epistemology of the research method. How does the research design reflect positivism and/or phenomenology-hermeneutics?
Critical reflections and questions related to the practical and ethical aspects of the research. What methodological and ethical issues or questions arose during the course of your research activities?
Methods
Interview
Conduct and transcribe a 15 minute interview on a topic of your choosing. The research design section should include the list of questions you will ask and a reflection on how answers will provide evidence that will allow you to answer your research question. The interview should begin with a consent request. The record of empirical evidence should be in the form of a one page transcription excerpt.
Field Observation / Ethnography
Conduct a short session of field observation / ethnography in a social setting of your choosing. The research design section should include a reflection on where you will conduct the exercise and when and how you will record your fieldnotes. The record of empirical evidence should be in the form of a fieldnotes excerpt.
Content Analysis
Conduct a content analysis of the websites of three Lewis & Clark academic departments, each drawn from a different division (e.g. Humanities, Social Sciences, Math and Natural Sciences). Code for words that seems to indicate positivist or phenomenological approaches. The research design section should include a preliminary list of words you will track across the websites. The record of empirical evidence should be in the form of a chart that tracks the appearance of code words across departments.
Survey
Using examples considered in class, construct and conduct a one question (yes/no) survey of at least 10 respondents divided across two social categories. The description of the research topic should include reference to previously published research, situated as a "they say" with your survey aimed at supporting an "i say" conclusion. The record of empirical evidence should be in the form of a chart modeled on examples considered in class.