On this page: Announcements; About the Class; Required Texts; Optional Texts; Schedule.

Announcements (recent first) Welcome! The reading schedule will be updated in week 2 after our first meeting's survey of interests. (Jun 4) (This syllablus last changed on Wednesday Aug 27.) About This Class Essentials Class Meetings: 115 David Kinley Hall, Thursdays, 2-4:50 p.m. Instructor: Professor Christian Sandvig Office: 133 Lincoln Hall Office Hours: 3-4 Wednesdays and by appointment Office Telephone: 333-0141 (use only during office hours) Messages: 333-2683 (department office) Mailbox: 244 Lincoln Hall E-mail: csandvig@uiuc.edu Course Description Any traditional research method was once unorthodox. While many are prone to see methods as boring tools (or even as a necessary but unpleasant step on the road to results), any common method was once daring and controversial. This seminar will cover very recent developments in both qualitative and quantitative social scientific research methods and attempt to address the question of how new research methods are invented, applied, transferred between problems and disciplines, and formalized. The overall focus of the course will be research design, rather than learning the procedures of a single method. In addition, we will spend some time trying to think creatively about possible new methods and designs. Readings in the course will be split between classics and readings concerning very recent innovations in methods. In discussion of recent methodological trends, particular attention will be paid to new digital sources of data, Internet / new media research, spatial / geographic methods, visualization, and unobtrusive methods. A goal of the seminar is to encourage researchers to conceptualize methodology -- whether using new or old methods -- as a creative act. Open to all students with no prerequisites, but some familiarity with a research method from any research tradition is recommended. (Restricted to graduate students.) Requirements Students will be responsible for two short assignments, a seminar paper proposal, and a seminar paper of about 25 pages. In addition, there will be short "weekly questions" due at the beginning of each class meeting when reading is assigned (these will be read but not graded). All assignments will be turned in electronically. No incompletes! The two short assignments will be (1) a proof-of-concept empirical research project and (2) an assignment related to curriculum development. Required Books Edward Tufte. (2006). Beautiful Evidence. Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press. Order direct from publisher ($52). Eugene J. Webb, Donald T. Campbell, Richard D. Schwartz, Lee Sechrest. (1999). Unobtrusive Measures. (rev. ed.) Sage Classics #2. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Order from Amazon.com Raymond M. Lee. (2000). Unobtrusive Methods in Social Research. Philadelphia: Open University Press. Order from amazon.com Christine Hine. (ed.). (2005). Virtual Methods: Issues in Social Research on the Internet. Oxford: Berg. Order from amazon.com ...and the research articles noted below in the schedule, available online as noted. Suggested Books (Not Required) Katharine Harmon. (2003). You Are Here: Personal Geographies and Other Maps of the Imagination. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press. Order from amazon.com Howard S. Becker & Pamela Richards. (2007). Writing for Social Scientists: How to Start and Finish Your Thesis, Book, or Article (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Order from amazon.com Michael Lesy. (2000). Wisconsin Death Trip. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Order from amazon.com Andrew Hudson-Smith. (2008). Digital Geography: Geographic Visualization for Urban Environments. Center for Advanced Spatial Analysis. London: University College London. Buy from the author Laud Humphreys. (1975). Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places. (rev. ed.). Hawthorne, NY: Aldine De Gruyter / Transaction. Schedule Thu 08/28: Introduction Discussed today: Preliminary Questions Notable Graduate Theses from http://www.mismethodology.org Notable Controversies from http://www.mismethodology.org Remedial / Reference Reading: Dictionary of the Social Sciences (UIUC Login Req'd) Glossary of Research Methods (from an e-learning program for a nursing school) Thu 09/04: Methods, Instruments, and Orthodoxy Readings: Popper, Karl. (1963) Conjectures and Refutations, London: Routledge and Keagan Paul. (read only pp. 33-39, Science as Falsification) On moodle. Pajares, Frank. (n.d.) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn: A Synopsis. The Philosopher's Magazine. On moodle. Bird, Alexander. (2004). Thomas Kuhn. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, California: Metaphysics Research Laboratory. (Web reading: read the section Kuhn and Social Science) Feyerabend, Paul. (1975). Against Method. New York: Humanities Press. (read "Analytical Index (being a sketch of the main argument)" and "Conclusion"). On moodle. de Solla Price, Derek J. (1986). Little Science, Big Science... and Beyond. New York: Columbia University Press. (read the chapter: "Of Sealing Wax and String") On moodle. Giddens, Anthony. (1989). The Orthodox Consensus and the Emerging Synthesis. In: Brenda Dervin, Lawrence Grossberg, Barbara J. O'Keefe, and Ellen Wartella (eds.) Rethinking Communication: Paradigm Issues, (Vol. 1) pp. 53-65. Newbury Park, California: Sage. On moodle. Bavelas, J. B. (1987). Permitting creativity in science. In D. N. Jackson & J. P. Rushton (Eds.), Scientific excellence: Origins and assessment (pp. 307-327). Beverly Hills: Sage. On moodle. Thu 09/04: Writing Method, Research as Genre, More on Orthodoxy Thu 09/11: When Old Methods Were New Thu 09/18: Unobtrusive Methods I Thu 09/25: Unobtrusive Methods II Paper proposals are due at the start of our usual class time. Class time to be used as arranged in class. Thu 10/02: e-Social Science I Thu 10/09: e-Social Science II Thu 10/16: Visualization I -- FIELDWORK DAY Seminar meeting time rescheduled as discussed in class. Thu 10/30: Visualization II Thu 11/06: Spatial and Geographic Methods Thu 11/13: Spatial and Geographic Methods Thu 11/20: Internet Research Methods Thu 11/27: THANKSGIVING -- No seminar meeting today Thu 12/04: Teaching Method This class may end 30-50 minutes earlier than usual. Mon 12/15: FINAL PAPERS DUE Final Papers due by 7pm (our scheduled final exam time)  Image Credits Coming soon.