5 pages

Social Science 101 R. S. Deese Boston University Fall 2015

ANALYTICAL METHODS PROJECT

The Analytical Methods Project will take place in three phrases: 1) research & consultation, 2) class presentation, and 3) summary analysis.

KEY DATES:

RESEARCH & CONSULTATION: FROM SEPT. 17th to OCT. 26th ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES: DUE IN CLASS OCT. 29th CLASS PRESENTATIONS: BETWEEN OCT. 30th and NOV. 17th SUMMARY ANALYSIS: DUE IN CLASS ON NOV. 19th

1. RESEARCH & CONSULATION PHASE: During the research phase, students will beassigned to study groups and each group will meet with me twice before October 29th as it selects its topic, gathers research material into annotated bibliographies,and prepares its presentation. 2. CLASS PRESENTATION PHASE: During the presentation phase, each group willpresent a five to ten minute presentation to the class on its research duringdiscussion section. Each group will present at least three methods for analyzing itstopic derived from distinct disciplines in the social sciences (e.g. history, sociology,psychology, social psychology, economics, political science, anthropology, etc.). Thepresentation should address the question of which analytical methods are the best,but each team can approach this task in a different way. Some may present a unitedfront, in which they all agree on which analytical method is the best for their topic,while some may opt for an adversarial format, in which they present a debatebetween two or more factions on which research strategies make the most sense.Before we begin the class presentations, each individual student will be required tosubmit an annotated bibliography to me of no fewer than ten and no more thanfifteen print sources on October 29th. The combined grade for your presentationand annotated bibliography will account for 15% of your course grade. 3. SUMMARY ANALYSIS: Each student will describe his or her own researchexperience in a paper of 1000 to 1500 words, due in class on November 19th. Thatpaper should indicate how the student’s thinking about that subject has changed

over time, and conclude with a discussion of which social science methods thatstudent has found the most useful for understanding that subject. Each individualSUMMARY ANALYSIS should include a bibliography of no fewer than ten citedsources. Each source should be quoted and analyzed in the text itself, as well as citedin the bibliography. For each topic below, there are two Required Sources from thecourse readings that must be included among the ten cited and analyzed sources inyour SUMMARY ANALYSIS. SS101 TOPICS & REQUIRED SOURCES:

1. Racism & Socialization in America. How have racism and segregationaffected the process of socialization for children and adolescents in post-WWII America, in both the north and the south? Required sources: All Souls(Michael Patrick MacDonald) and “Black in Selma” (J. L. Chestnut). 2. The Political & Cultural Impact of Economic Stratification. How has theradical increase in economic stratification affected contemporary politics andculture in the U.S. and around the world? Required sources: Plutocrats(Chrystia Freeland), “Who Rules America?” (G. William Domhoff) 3. Globalization and the Transformation of Traditional Cultures. How havethe historical processes of imperialism and economic globalizationtransformed traditional cultures around the world? Required sources: Things

Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) and “Steel Axes for Stone Age Australians”(Lauriston Sharpe). 4. Authority, Obedience, and Dehumanization. How does obedience toinstitutional authority sometimes lead to dehumanization, and is there anyway that this process be prevented? Required sources: “The Dilemma ofObedience” (Stanley Milgram) and “The Mind is a Formidable Jailer” (PhilipG. Zimbardo, et al.) 5. Power, Authority, and Gender. What elements did Machiavelli see asessential to the acquisition of power and authority, and to what extent havethose elements changed when women have acquired power and authority?Required sources: The Prince (Niccolo Machiavelli) and “How WomenReshape the Prison Guard Role” (Lynn Zimmer)