Montclair State UniversityPRIVATE
Department of Anthropology
ANTH 400 Research Methods Fall 2007
WF 10:00 am – 11:15 pm DI–282 (DI–436) Dr. Richard W. Franke
Required Readings:
Bernard, H. Russell. 2006. Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Lanham, Maryland: AltaMira Press. Fourth Edition.
Franke, Richard W. 1998. The Anthropology Student Guide to Better Grades. Montclair State Department of Anthropology. Third edition. http://chss2.montclair.edu/anthropology/skillsimprovement.htm
Franke, Richard W. 1995. The Student Guide to AnthropoLOGICAL THINKING. Montclair State Department of Anthropology.
http://chss2.montclair.edu/anthropology/skillsimprovement.htm
Gordon, Raymond. 1998 [1992]. Basic Interviewing Skills. Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc.
Hedrick, Terry E., Leonard Bickman, and Debra J. Rog. 1993. Applied Research Design: a Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Applied Social Research Methods Series 32.
All the readings except the Franke booklets are available in paperback editions in the bookstore and should be purchased.
Course Requirements:
Complete readings before class during the week they are assigned. There will be midterms on October 12 (20%), November 16 (20%) and a final on December 19 (30%). Part of the final exam will be a take-home exercise. Several assignments will count for 20% of the grade. These will include literature search and bibliography style, interviewing, and observations. Another 10% of your grade will be based on your participation in classroom discussions. If you are too shy to talk, you can receive full participation credit by attending all classes.
Timeliness of Assignments
Doing research requires that you learn to complete tasks on time. Handing in assignments late will automatically reduce the credit by at least one point. Any extra credit points made available in the course will not be applicable to make up points lost for lateness.
Grading System:
One hundred points are possible in the class.
Course points totals and letter grades are shown in the column below:
Attendance and participation 10 points
Midterm 1 October 12 20
Midterm 2 November 16 20
Assignments 20
Final exam (Dec 19) 30
Total 100
94–100 A
90–93 A-
87–89 B+
83–86 B
80–82 B-
77–79 C+
73–76 C
70–72 C-
67–69 D+
64–66 D
60–63 D-
59 and below F
Office Hours:
Come and discuss issues that arise in the course or any problems that you are having understanding the materials. My office is Dickson Hall DI-101, ext. 4133, e-mail franker@mail.montclair.edu. Hours when you can reach me:
Wednesday 11:15 – 12:00 noon
Friday 11:15 – 12:00 noon
Or other times at your request.
Topics
Date Topic/Assignments
September 5 Introduction: Overview of the course
September 7 Why study research methods?
READING: Franke: Anthropological Thinking
http://chss2.montclair.edu/anthropology/skillsimprovement.htm
September 12 How to do a literature search
MEET AT SPRAGUE LIBRARY at 10:00 am. Guest Instructor: Stephen Shapiro of the Sprague Library Staff
READINGS:Bernard, Chapter 4; Franke, ...Better grades, pp. 23–29; if using online, read the section called “How to Write a Term Paper.”
September 14 How to present your research; How to present tables
How to cite sources and prepare a bibliography
READINGS:
File Harvardlibrary.htm, posted on my Skills Improvement Page at:
http://chss2.montclair.edu/anthropology/skillsimprovement.htm
Bibliography and literature search exercise to be handed out.
September 19 How research methods developed
READING: Bernard, chapter 1
Bibliography and literature search exercise due: 5 points.
September 21 The foundations of social research → READING: Bernard chapter 2
September 26 Preparing for research → READING: Bernard chapter 3
September 28 Research design → READING: Bernard chapter 5
October 3 Participant observation→ READING: Bernard chapter 13
October 5 How to take and manage field notes → READING: Bernard chapter 14
October 10 Sampling → READING: Bernard chapter 6
October 12 MIDTERM → EXAM #1 IN CLASS
October 17 Nonprobability sampling and choosing informants Bernard chapter 8
October 19 Unstructured and semistructured interviewing Bernard chapter 9
October 24 Structured interviewing I: questionnaires Bernard chapter 10
October 26 Structured interviewing II: cultural domain analysis Bernard chapter 11
October 31 Structured Interviewing III: Scales and scaling Bernard chapter 12
November 2 Taking and Managing Field Notes in Interviews Gordon chapter 10
Interviewing assignment handed out
November 7 Interviewing–How to formulate relevant questions Gordon chapter 1-3
Interviewing assignment due: 5 points
November 9 How to arrange and carry out interviews Gordon chapter 4-7
Observation assignment 1 handed out
November 14 Doing observations Bernard chapter 15
Observation assignment 1 due: 5 points
November 16 MIDTERM → EXAM #2 IN CLASS
November 21 Ethics in field research Bernard chapter 15
Observation assignment 2 handed out
November 23 Thanksgiving: No Class Bernard chapters 16, 17, and 18
November 28 Qualitative data analysis
Observation assignment 2 due: 5 points
November 30 Network Analysis Hedrick et al. chapters 1-3
December 5 Applied research 1
Give out take-home portion of the final exam Hedrick et al. chapters 4-6
December 7 Applied research 2
Discuss take-home portion of the final exam The final exam will cover all readings and class discussions since the
second midterm. Extra credit may be available for questions from earlier parts of
December 12 LAST CLASS: review for final exam the course.
DECEMBER 19 FINAL EXAM—10:15 am - 12:15 pm in the classroom.