Methods-SR 111 Research Methods and Statistics . . . This course is an introduction to social science research methods and to elementary statistics.
Methods are explicit ways of gathering information.
Statistics are numerical procedures for manipulating, describing, and making inferences from existing information. Used in concert, explicit methods and subsequent statistical analyses distinguish social science propositions from mere opinions. They require supporting evidence and argumentation, and science is a particular way of arguing knowledge claims. For the first third of the semester, we will focus on social science research methods, concluding the section with an hour exam. I've chosen to cover these topics first because methods for obtaining data temporally precede data analysis in the daily business of social research.