Related Courses: Research Methods
Basic fieldwork methods are reviewed in Anth 660. Students can acquire additional training in qualitative methods, the ethnography of communication, media analysis, quantitative methods, and survey techniques in a variety of graduate courses offered on campus. We list methods courses in the Anthropology, Communication, Political Science, and Sociology.
Anthropological Methods
ANTH 775 Anthropological Research. Julie Hemment. This graduate seminar offers an introduction to ethnographic fieldwork methods in anthropology, with a focus on feminist action research methodologies. Students are expected to come to the class with a research project in mind. At the same time as we consider the nitty-gritty of ethnographic methods, we will consider the ethical, political and epistemological questions they generate. In this course, students will gain experience of interviewing, transcription, keeping field notes, interpretation of data. The course is designed for graduate students of the anthropology department and beyond.
Anth 697: Topics in the Anthropology of Europe. Dr. Jacqueline Urla (this course is strongly recommended for fieldstudies participants). This seminar examines recent ethnographic work focused on the New Europe. Our interest is to ask both what issues anthropologists are studying in Europe and the role of ethnography in the study of contemporary social processes. We will also be concerned with how studies in and of Europe can contribute to the broader theoretical debates about culture and power taking place in anthropology as a whole.
Anth 641: Theory and Method in Cultural Anthropology. Jacqueline Urla. This seminar introduced graduate students in anthropology to some foundational theoretical concepts and approaches in socio-cultural theory. It provides a grounding for further study of social theory or more specialized graduate seminars in any area of cultural anthropology. This class examines the writings of key 19th and 20th century social theorists (Marx, Weber, Gramsci, Fanon, Foucault and Bourdieu) with an interest to how their theoretical formulations shed light on the relationship between culture and power. The course is also structured to examine how theoretical approaches are made use of in ethnographic research. We closely read two contemporary ethnographies seeking to identity and evaluate the theoretical concepts and approach used by the author.
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ANTH 748: Language & Culture. David Samuels.
ANTH 750: Comparative Symbolic Systems.
Anth 578: Theory & Method in Archaeology. Martin Wobst. A review of anthropological theory as applies to the sub-discipline of anthropological archaeology. The course proceeds to topically, assessing what questions are being asked, what theories and methods are available to answer them, and how to improve our understanding of the human condition in the future (with the help of the material products and material precedents of human behavior).
Anth 597B: Theory & Method of Biological Anthropology. Brooke Thomas. The aim of the seminar is to review recent advances in biological anthropology, and to assess its capacity to contribute to relevant problems of the next century. Provices a comprehensive overview of research areas which make up the subdiscipline, and of research problems currently being addressed. It will also provide a basis for critically assessing the goals and underlying assumptions which have guided the history of biological anthropology.
Communication Methods
COMM 620 A & B Qualitative Research Methods I and II. Approaches to research, conceptualizations of problems, questions, and methodologies for the field of communication, broadly defined with an emphasis on qualitative, interpretive, feminist, critical, and cultural approaches. Introduction to methodological specialties of departmental faculty. Required of all Communication graduate students.
COMM 621 Quantitative Research Methods. Introduction to the structure, process, and logic of quantitative empirical research in communication. Topics include research design, measurement, descriptive and inferential statistics, and basic multivariate analysis. Students expected to acquire an understanding of the ability to critique various methodological approaches and techniques. Fundamental concepts of data analysis; preparation for more advanced courses. Required of all Communication graduate students.
COMM 622 Advanced Quantitative Research Methods. Intensive study of statistical procedures used in current communication research, such as N-way ANOVA, multiple regression, canonical correlation, factor analysis, path analysis, etc. Prerequisites: Comm 620A and 620B.
COMM 733: Cultivation Analysis. The theoretical assumptions and methodological procedures of cultivation analysis; how the theory developed; design and execution of cultivation studies; thorough guided secondary analysis of existing databases. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
COMM 794V: Field Research in Media and Cultural Studies. Lisa Henderson. Instroduction to logics and practices and practices of field research, drawing from anthropological and sociological traditions and examining contemporary field research in media and cultural studies. It considers the place of field research in theoretical discussions of structure and action in social life, and in epistemological debates about positivism, naturalism, subjectivity, and reflexivity.
COMM 794M: Field Research in Media and Cultural Studies. Benjamin Bailey. Ethnographic approaches to observing, recording, and analyzing communicative events and practices in their sociocultural context. The course emphasizes hands-on application of theoretically-informed methods. In this course, students will practice ethnographic observation, audio-visual recording, transcription of interaction, interviewing, and presentation of analyses of interaction as a social and cultural practice.
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Political Science Methods
POLSCI 797A: Research Design. Greg Thomas. This seminar introductes graduate students to basic issues in research methods for the social sciences. The goal is to provide a solid grounding in the logic and principles of research methods, not to achieve profieciency in any one methodology. General topics include concept formation; case studies; comparative methods; interview techniques; questionnaire design; measurement issues (e.g., scaling, coding, reliability, and validity); causal inference (e.g., path dependence, process tracing, hypothesis testing, and selection bias); quasi-experiments; content analysis; and field work (e.g., observation, participant-observation, and archival research). By the end of the semester students should be able to: (1) recognize the types of methods appropriate for addressing particular research question; (2) design your own research project in a dissertation prospectus or grant proposal; and (20 identify strengths and weaknesses in research projects conducted by others in your field.
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SOCIOL 710 Research Methods I. Doug Anderton or Joya Misra. Logical analysis of sociological inquiry; survey of major research techniques and examination of principal methodological problems in sociology.
SOCIOL 711 Graduate Statistics for Sociology I. Sanjiv Gupta. An intensive introduction to general linear models (multiple regression, analysis of variance, violations of regression assumptions, alternative estimation methods, simultaneous equation models) and qualitative data analysis (logistic regression, log-linear models and event history analysis). Prerequisite: Sociol 711 or consent of instructor in spring semester in time for any assigned summer preparation.
SOCIOL 715 Survey Design and Analysis II. Rick Tessler. Design and analysis of sample surveys. All pertinent topics in design and analysis of survey data, including sampling, measurement, questionnaire design, field operations, coding and data reduction, scale and item analysis, mail and telephone surveys, interviewing techniques, and data analysis issues.
SOCIOL 718: Evaluation Research Mike Lewis. Overview of major issues and methodology of evaluation research, or the application of social science methods to planning, monitoring, and impact assessments of social programs and policies. Prerequisite: Sociol 711 or equivalent multivariate statistics.
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