Methods for Social Research · Sociology
Methods to assist in conducting social research and applications to data analysis.
3 papers, one of which uses a coding program.
Easy, at times unnecessary, reading. Two studies and subsequent write-ups: one observational, one experimental. Three easy homework assignments and two quizzes.
4 projects take home final easy grading.
3 Projects – Ethnography, Interview, and Experiment 3 Quizzes – "pop" quizzes that she'll announce with a day or two noticed based on readings within the past few days 15-50 pages of reading per lecture
Easy grading. Bi-weekly homework assignments consisting of 15-25 multiple choice questions each given a week ahead of time. One 50-question multiple choice midterm to which he basically gives out the answers that takes about 25 minutes to complete in class. Readings that you never have to do. Final.
not a small amount of work, but he tells you that up front. 2 quizzes (one on general scientific methods and the other on comparative and historical methodology) 3 research projects: one experiment, one survey, one ethnography. The first two you are free to collaborate with people on to write the "lab report," the last one is a personal written piece. 1 book evaluation - read some articles and a book, appreciate the strengths of the methodology, offer a few critiques that reveal your knowledge of research methods
I learned about different methods of social research
Very good professor. She was my most enthusiastic lecturer that I've had so far, and I really enjoyed going to her class (I took Methods for Social Research with her). The writing assignments for the class are reasonable and educational. My only gripe is that I wish we did more work with the readings (i.e: if you're going to assign 3+ hours of reading a week, at least give students a good chance to show that they've read it). I didn't really like the haphazard nature of the pop-quizzes. But other than that --- she really is an excellent lecturer and I'm glad that Columbia has her hired.
Okay, Methods for Social Research was not exactly the most exciting topic to take a class on, but I think that Professor Fisher did as much as she could to make it bearable. The book was extremely dry (emphasis on "Methods"), save a couple of interesting case studies. The nice part was that Prof. Fisher did a decent job summarizing the readings and going through the main points. Class wasn't always boring since we always went off topic, though she always managed to cover the material (sometimes by speeding through it). I think that people ran into problems in her class because they failed to understand the simple nature of the class: if you do what she tells you to do, exactly how she tells you to do it, you'll do fine. People tried to over-complicate studies and assignments. Really, they were really simple and one could get away with doing the bare minimum. As long as you grasp the main points (at minimum), you'll do fine. Grading was not subjective: there was always a rubric. If you complete everything on the rubric, you'll do fine. If you're thinking about taking this class, do it. It's really easy, sometimes time-consuming (if you try to scramble to finish stuff last minute -- and I did), but Prof. Fisher is a really enjoyable person. Honestly, she's funny and really easy-going -- someone other professors should try to learn from.