University of Georgia

WMST 4011 Research Methods

Fall 2003 [Samdahl]

 

Dr. Diane M. Samdahl                                                                                   dsamdahl@coe.uga.edu

349 Ramsey Center                                                                                                  phone: 542-4333

 

Overview

This course facilitates students’ ability to understand and conduct research on women.  Students will gain an increased ability to see hidden bias in published research while learning techniques to better represent women’s lives in traditional and qualitative research designs.  An examination of the relationship between research methodology and epistemology provides an important link to feminist theory.  This course is designed for students who will be using published research or designing program evaluations in women-based agencies, and serves as an introduction for students who will engage in more rigorous research using feminist methods.

 

Course Goals

At the end of the semester students should be able to:

 

  • Understand basic strategies that shape experiments and surveys, and critique that research when its design, measurement, or epistemological framework is based on exclusionary assumptions about gender, race, class, sexual orientation, etc.

 

  • Understand the ways research is influenced by and reinforces those who hold power and status, and describe alternative research designs that better represent or empower people who have been marginalized

 

  • Articulate the goals and strategies of feminist research in a way that clearly links research methods to feminist theory and epistemology

 

Required Reading

 

  • A reading packet with several assigned articles will be available at Bel Jean’s

 

  • Articles will be assigned from online electronic databases accessed through Galileo

 

  • Reinharz, Shulamit (1992).  Feminist Methods in Social Research.  Oxford University Press:  NY.  This book is available as an e-text through GIL.  Some chapters are required and other chapters are recommended.

 

  • Handouts and other materials will be made available at the instructor’s web site, www.coe.uga.edu/~dsamdahl/courses

 

Students with Special Needs

Students with special needs should contact the instructor during the first week of class.  An effort will be made to accommodate all students.

  

Class Structure

This course will be a mix of informal lecture and class discussion.  Students are expected to do the readings each day before class and to ask questions and express opinions during class discussions.  Regular attendance is required, not only for the student’s sake but to build group cohesion and facilitate rapport.  Students should notify the instructor in advance for excusable absences (e.g. religious holiday, field trip, job interview).  An assignment based on the readings is due at many class sessions.

            Instructor’s statement:  As a feminist instructor teaching a women’s studies class, I am aware of the power that exists in traditional classrooms and I hope to dispel it.  This does not mean that I will forgo structure or ignore deadlines that facilitate effective learning (that is, I am not a push-over) but I do not have sole responsibility for this class.  I will willingly share the role of discussion leader with students and I’ll be responsive to student interests that take our discussions in directions different than I had intended.  In return, students are responsible for actively engaging with the readings prior to class and raising questions or issues that will aid them in learning this material.

 

Assignments

Class assignments are described on an attached sheet.   Some smaller assignments are associated with readings on a particular date; these entail worksheets or short reflection papers and they count towards the “Participation” portion of a student’s grade.  Other assignments such as the questionnaire, interview, and research paper are weighted more heavily as shown below.

 

Unless otherwise stated, assignments should be typed in 12-point font, single spaced, with 1-inch margins.  Please respect the environment and avoid plastic binders and separate title pages.  Staple all pages together and print your name at the top of the first page; the instructor will not accept loose papers or papers fastened with a paper clip.  All assignments are to be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date.

 

Exams

Material in the first half of the semester will be covered through a in-class quizzes containing objective questions (e.g. multiple choice) and some short answer essays.  The material in the second half of the semester will be covered through take home essays requiring you to synthesize and integrate the course material.  There will be no exam during finals week.

 

Grading                                                            Essay (9/2)                          5%

Quiz #1 (9/4)                   5%                           Questionnaire                    10%

Quiz #2 (9/23)               10%                           Qualitative interview          15%

Quiz #3 (10/21)             10%                           Research paper                 10%

Final essay exam            15%                           Participation                      20%

Total tests                     40%                           Total other                       60%

Academic Honesty:  Students are bound by the Academic Honesty Policy of the University of Georgia, found online at http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/main.html

Plagarism: Students must produce their own work and cannot plagarize existing sources.  To better understand what constitutes plagarism, visit one of the many web sites that discuss this issue (e.g. http://www.csubak.edu/ssric/Modules/Other/plagiarism.htm).

Writing:  Students are encouraged to use a writing lab to strengthen their writing skills.  One online resource is http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm

 

 

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTIONS

(see Expanded Readings / Assignments for due dates)

 

 

Worksheets and associated assignments            ongoing

On a regular basis, particularly during the first half of the semester, short worksheets or reflection papers will be assigned to help students synthesize and understand the readings.  These activities will be described as they are assigned.  While not formally graded, these papers will be turned in and assessed in terms of student effort.  These papers will count towards the participation portion of the final grade.

 

Initial essay  (5%)                                 Due Sept 2

Write an essay on the topic, “What is feminist research?”  Admittedly, it is early in the term and your understanding of this topic will evolve throughout the semester.  However, the assigned readings and class discussion should provide some basis for your thoughts at this point in time.  There is no right or wrong answer to this essay; the goal is simply to get you to articulate as clearly as you can the focus or purpose of a feminist research methods course.  This essay will serve as a benchmark for you to assess, later in the term, whether your understanding of feminist research has changed.

 

Questionnnaire  (10%)              Draft due Sept 30; final questionnaire due Oct 7

Questionnaires are used in many situations, not only in formal research.  For example, intake forms at social service agencies are essentially questionnaires.  Working alone or in groups of no more than two, design a questionnaire using concepts discussed in class.  The topic of the questionnaire will be determined by the class.  The questionnaire must be at least two pages in length and will be graded on question wording, response formats, and overall design.

 

Qualitative Interview  (15%)                 Due October 28

Interviews are used in many situations, not only formal research, so proficiency at feminist interview strategies is a good skill to possess.  In this assignment, you are to interview a stranger or distant acquaintance about a topic that will be announced later.  You should attempt to employ feminist interview strategies that stem from class readings and discussion.  Tape record the interview so you can (a) transcribe a portion of it, and (b) critique your own performance as a feminist interviewer, as described below:

 

·        Transcribe one interesting section of the interview that lasted a 1-2 minutes (about 3-4 pages transcribed).  Transcription should attempt to capture exactly what you hear on the tape including pauses, laughter, and grammar.  This exercise will give you a sense of what transcription entails.

 

·        Listen to the entire interview several times then write a 3-5 page paper reflecting on yourself as a feminist interviewer.  What was difficult for you during the interview itself?  What do you hear when you listen to the interview now?  Were there missed opportunities and follow-up questions that you could have asked but didn’t?  What did you do fairly well?  In general, does your interview have the qualities of feminist research as discussed in class?

 

Methodological Examination of Research  (10%)           Bibliography due Nov 4; paper due Dec 2

Working alone or with one other student, identify a topic relevant to women’s lives about which research data are being reported.  The topic might entail descriptive measurement (e.g. Title IX equity) or conflicting research (e.g. are children of gay parents more likely to be gay?).  Find articles reporting research on this topic (articles must include a discussion of the methods used to obtain those data).  Provide a methodological critique of that research, examining aspects of measurement, sampling, and research design.  Are there biases or unfounded assumptions embedded in these studies?  If the research reports conflicting results, which studies are methodologically stronger?  Why?  Remember this is a methodological critique.  Focus your discussion on the strengths or weaknesses in specific aspects of the research design that produced these data.

 

Your report should include:  (a) two to three pages that summarize the research findings, giving clear reference to the studies you are reviewing, and (b) four or more pages offering a methodological critique of that research.  Your discussion must clearly indicate your assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of research on this topic and, if appropriate, identify the studies or methodologies that you feel produced the stronger data.

 

Possible topics include (but are not limited to this list; discuss other topics with the instructor):

·        Proportion of people who are gay and lesbian in the U.S.

·        Incidence of domestic violence in the U.S.

·        Effects on young children if mothers return to the workforce fulltime

·        Safety of using midwives instead of registered MDs when giving birth

·        Equity between men’s and women’s sports under Title IX

 

Students can do this project alone or with no more than one other student. I encourage students to work together because a lot of learning goes on through group interaction.  Some class time will be spent sharing and brainstorming on these papers so everyone, even students who are working alone, will benefit from additional input.  If two students work together on this assignment, each student should turn in her own paper (the first part of the paper that summarizes the literature can be written together but the second part that compares the strength of the different research strategies must be written independently).

 

Presentations:  Students will give class presentations on their papers at the end of the term.