Spring 2022  |  SOC 4881 Section 001: Population Studies Research Practicum (65712)

Instructor(s)
Class Component:
Lecture
Credits:
3 Credits
Grading Basis:
A-F or Audit
Instructor Consent:
No Special Consent Required
Instruction Mode:
In Person Term Based
Times and Locations:
Regular Academic Session
 
01/18/2022 - 05/02/2022
Mon, Wed 09:45AM - 11:00AM
UMTC, West Bank
Blegen Hall 215
Enrollment Status:
Open (10 of 35 seats filled)
Also Offered:
Course Catalog Description:
Students enrolled in this course will gain hands-on experience with population studies research by (1) working under the mentorship of an individual researcher or a research team at the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) and (2) attending and reflecting in writing on MPC's weekly research seminar. In addition, students in the course will meet weekly with the instructor to discuss their research experiences and to develop and present a final research poster.
Class Notes:
Click this link for more detailed course information: http://classinfo.umn.edu/?kampdush+SOC4881+Spring2022
Class Description:
(I cannot stop laughing about the thumbnail on this video, hopefully it makes you laugh too)

The University of Minnesota is among the most vibrant and productive research universities in the country. Its faculty are leaders and pioneers in many scientific (including social scientific) fields, and the university annually attracts tens of millions of dollars in federal and private research support. However, undergraduate students often have a hard time connecting to the research going on around them in a way that improves their skills, provides valuable experiences to them, or helps them explore their professional interests.

Sociology 4881 is designed to meaningfully connect undergraduate students to an ongoing population studies research project, to see that project through from the "idea stage" to a finished product, and to explore scientific research as a potential career option. (Population studies, by the way, is an interdisciplinary field of study that uses demographic data and methods to describe, explain, and predict social phenomena.)

Students in Sociology 4881 will be involved in every phase of the project - including problem formulation; literature review and critique; decisions about conceptualization and measurement; empirical analyses; writing; and the presentation and publication of results. Each week, students will also listen to a research presentation at the Minnesota Population Center (MPC) and reflect on the presentation in a way that will further their exposure to all phases of the research process. Along the way, students will also learn about ethical issues as they pertain to population and social scientific research; how research projects are funded; how scientists present, discuss, and critique one another's work; and how scientific publishing works. Finally, students will develop specific skills in the analysis of quantitative data.

SPRING 2021 RESEARCH TOPIC: In spring 2022, students will use the National Couples' Health and Time Study data to examine family relationships during the pandemic. The National Couples' Health and Time Study (NCHAT) is the first fully-powered, population-based study of couples in America that contains representative samples of racial and ethnic diverse and sexual and gender diverse individuals. NCHAT entered the field on September 1, 2020, and data collection completed in April 2021. The sample includes 3,642 main respondents and 1,515 partners. NCHAT is uniquely suited to address COVID, stress, family functioning, and physical and mental health and includes an abundance of contextual and acute measures of race and racism, sexism, and heterosexism.
Who Should Take This Class?:
Do you like writing? Do you like numbers? Do you like figuring out problems? Do you like research? Do you like hands on classes? If so, this is the class for you!!! This course will be especially valuable for students who are (1) interested in learning more about the scientific research process and/or (2) considering careers in scientific research. It might be most valuable for students interested in social scientific, public health, or population studies research. Students considering attending graduate programs in those fields are especially likely to benefit from the course. Students who have not taken undergraduate courses in research methods or statistics may find Sociology 4881 more challenging, but they are still welcome to enroll.
Learning Objectives:
Students in Sociology 4881 will learn how scientific research projects are conceived, defined, funded, and executed and how their results are communicated, evaluated, critiqued, and disseminated. Beyond this, the University of Minnesota has defined several "Student Learning Outcomes" that will be pursued in Sociology 4881. These include:
1. Identifying, defining, and solving problems;
2. Locating and critically evaluating information;
3. Mastering a body of knowledge and a mode of inquiry;
4. Communicating effectively; and
5. Understanding the role of creativity, innovation, discovery, and expression across disciplines.
Grading:
Your grade will comprise of individual and group assignments. You will work with the same group all semester. Assignments are due about every week to two weeks, and there are daily quizzes. I like Canvas, and will be setting everything up in Canvas so you can use the To Do List function to keep track of everything.
Exam Format:
There is no exam, just quizzes.
Class Format:
This class will be taught flipped classroom style. I am not going to lecture readings at you. When we are in class, we are going to have short lectures, lots of discussion, and many activities.
Workload:
Hmm, this is a hard one. I would say the word load is moderate. This is a 4000 level course that involves actually doing research, so you are going to do work. But, hopefully it will be fun and interesting work, rather than several tedious readings that are so jargon-y that you have to re-read each sentence multiple times.
Textbooks:
https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/65712/1223
Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
26 October 2021

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