Spring 2020  |  SOC 8890 Section 001: Advanced Topics in Research Methods -- Sex, Death, & Mobility: Population Modeling (65636)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
2-3 Credits
Repeat Credit Limit:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
Student Option
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Class Attributes:
Topics Course
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/21/2020 - 05/04/2020
Wed 11:45AM - 02:15PM
UMTC, West Bank
Social Sciences Building 1183
Enrollment Status:
Open (6 of 15 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Advanced Research Methods (e.g., multilevel models), historical/comparative, field, survey research. Topics specified in Class Schedule. prereq: 8801, 8811, or instr consent. Cr will not be granted if cr has been received for the same topics title
Class Notes:
1 seats reserved for Sociology PhD student through 12/4/19. Click this link for more detailed course information: http://classinfo.umn.edu/?helgertz+SOC8890+Spring2020
Class Description:

Populations are made up of people whose lives are changing all the time: growing up; moving around; having kids; gaining and losing jobs and spouses; entering and leaving schools and prisons; getting sick; and dying. This course covers population modeling techniques from the demographic tradition, organized around these kinds of life changes. These techniques excel at describing social and epidemiological changes occurring along multiple time scales simultaneously;
identifying the inequalities lurking beneath population averages; and figuring out what population a research question is really about. The course assumes no prior knowledge of demography and will cover a range of applications from across the social and health sciences.
Who Should Take This Class?:
Students with basic knowledge of demographic methods and with an interest to acquire more breadth and depth in this topic. A prerequisite is the course PA5301 (Population Methods & Issues for the United States and the Global South).
Grading:
5 Assignments (50%)
3 Research proposals (40%)
Class participation (10%)
Exam Format:
Assignments: They will largely, but not exclusively, take the form of problem sets. Assignments will be distributed at the end of class in a given week, and will be due at the beginning of class the following week.

Research proposals: These are essays about how you will use methods covered in class to answer your own research questions. For the first two (week 5 and 10), the student will write about a method discussed to that point. For the last (week 15), the student will either write about a method discussed during the final weeks of class, or revise a previously submitted one, allowing to explore the topic even more in depth.

Class participation: Weekly participation in class is expected. Not only in person but through participating in class discussion.
Class Format:
The class is discussion and activity based. While each class will contain teacher-lead lecturing, each week's class assumes that you have done the readings and come ready to participate.
Workload:
Required readings for each class will be between 50-100 pages, with an additional 50-100 pages of suggested readings.
Each assignment consists of 4-6 problems for the student to solve, using methods discussed in class. Each problem may consist of several questions.

Each research proposal should be around 1,000 words
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65636/1203
Syllabus:
http://classinfo.umn.edu/syllabi/helgertz_SOC8890_Spring2020.docx
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
6 November 2019

ClassInfo Links - Spring 2020 Sociology Classes

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