Department of Sociology
College of Liberal Arts
Texas A&M University
(2017 Fall) SOCI 420 – Advanced Methods of Social Research
– Course information
Meeting location: Academic Building 308, campus map
Meeting times:
Section 903, Tuesday and Thursday, 9:35–10:50am
Section 904, Tuesday and Thursday, 2:20–3:35pm
– Instructor information
Ernesto F. L. Amaral
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
Office location: Academic Building 415
Office hours: Tuesday, 12–2pm and by appointment
Phone: (979)845–9706
Email: amaral@tamu.edu
– Teaching assistant information
Michael Upchurch
Graduate Student, Department of Sociology
Office location: Academic Building 414A
Office hours: Tuesday, 4–5pm; Thursday, 11am–2pm and by appointment
Email: michaelj.church@tamu.edu
– Lectures, Stata codes, and Exams
August 8, 2017 – Tuesday
Lecture canceled due to Hurricane Harvey
Day 01 – August 31, 2017 – Thursday
Introduction
Healey (chapter 1)
Lecture
Day 02 – September 5, 2017 – Tuesday
Day 03 – September 7, 2017 – Thursday
Basic descriptive statistics
Healey (chapter 2)
Lecture
Excel: Person-years, rates, probabilities
Excel: Examples of charts
Day 04 – September 12, 2017 – Tuesday
Day 05 – September 14, 2017 – Thursday
Day 06 – September 19, 2017 – Tuesday
Sample weights
Statistical software
Class with laptop
Lecture about sample weights
Stata code 01 (chapters 1 and 2)
Stata twoway bar command
Stata color codes
Stata graphics by Dawn Koffman
Stata extra graphics programs
Day 07 – September 21, 2017 – Thursday
Measures of central tendency
Healey (chapter 3)
Lecture
Day 08 – September 26, 2017 – Tuesday
Measures of dispersion
Healey (chapter 4)
Lecture
Stata code 02 (chapters 3 and 4)
Excel: Examples of measures of central tendency and dispersion
Day 09 – September 28, 2017 – Thursday
The normal curve
Healey (chapter 5)
Lecture
Stata code 03 (chapter 5)
Excel: Examples of normal distribution
Day 10 – October 3, 2017 – Tuesday
Introduction to inferential statistics
Healey (chapter 6)
Lecture
Day 11 – October 5, 2017 – Thursday
Estimation procedures
Healey (chapter 7)
Lecture
Day 12 – October 10, 2017 – Tuesday
Statistical software
Class with laptop
Stata code 04 (chapters 6 and 7)
Stata code 05 (append different years)
Day 13 – October 12, 2017 – Thursday
Exam 1
Healey (chapters 1–7)
Day 14 – October 17, 2017 – Tuesday
Hypothesis testing I: The one-sample case
Healey (chapter 8)
Lecture
Day 15 – October 19, 2017 – Thursday
Hypothesis testing II: The two-sample case
Healey (chapter 9)
Lecture
Day 16 – October 24, 2017 – Tuesday
Statistical software
Class with laptop
Stata code 06 (chapters 8 and 9)
Day 17 – October 26, 2017 – Thursday
Hypothesis testing III: The analysis of variance
Healey (chapter 10)
Lecture
Day 18 – October 31, 2017 – Tuesday
Hypothesis testing IV: Chi square
Healey (chapter 11)
Lecture
Day 19 – November 2, 2017 – Thursday
Statistical software
Class with laptop
Stata code 07 (chapters 10 and 11)
Day 20 – November 7, 2017 – Tuesday
Bivariate association for nominal- and ordinal-level variables
Healey (chapter 12)
Lecture
Day 21 – November 9, 2017 – Thursday
Association between variables measured at the interval-ratio level
Healey (chapter 13)
Lecture
Day 22 – November 14, 2017 – Tuesday
Statistical software
Class with laptop
Stata code 08 (chapters 12 and 13)
Day 23 – November 16, 2017 – Thursday
Elaborating bivariate tables
Healey (chapter 14)
Lecture
Day 24 – November 21, 2017 – Tuesday
Partial correlation, multiple regression, and correlation
Healey (chapter 15)
Lecture
November 23, 2017 – Thursday
Thanksgiving
Day 25 – November 28, 2017 – Tuesday
Day 26 – November 30, 2017 – Thursday
Day 27 – December 5, 2017 – Tuesday
Statistical software
Class with laptop
Stata code 09 (chapters 14 and 15)
Day 28
Section 903, December 8, 2017 – Friday, 12:30–2:30pm
Section 904, December 13, 2017 – Wednesday, 1–3pm
Exam 2
Healey (chapters 8–15)
– Assignments
Assignment 1
Instructions
Rubric
The Joy of Stats with Professor Hans Rosling
from Gapminder
Assignment 2
Instructions
Rubric
Assignment 3
Instructions
Rubric
Assignment 4
Instructions
Rubric
– Resources to write about numbers
Manuscript formatting (American Sociological Association – ASA style)
Site
Writing with statistics
Site
Examples of tables and figures
PDF file
– The General Social Survey (GSS)
GSS official website
Site
GSS Data Explorer
Site
GSS resources for this course
Material
– Stata Resources
Stata: Data Analysis and Statistical Software
Resource links
Institute for Digital Research and Education (IDRE)
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Stata material
Carolina Population Center (CPC)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC)
Introduction to Stata
Generalized Linear Latent And Mixed Models (GLLAMM)
Stata Programs for estimating, predicting, simulating
Stata extra modules
Material
– U.S. Census Bureau
Census Bureau official website
Site
American Community Survey (ACS)
Site
American FactFinder
Site
Current Population Survey (CPS)
Site
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
Site
– Demographic data and resources
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS)
Minnesota Population Center (MPC)
University of Minnesota
Site
Population Division
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
United Nations
Site
Population.io
The World Population Project
Site
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Site
Population Reference Bureau (PRB) DataFinder
Site
Population and Poverty Research Network (PopPov)
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
Site
The Human Mortality Database
Site
Latin American Human Mortality Database
Site
The Human Fertility Database
Site
Human Fertility Collection
Site
European Fertility Project
Office of Population Research (OPR)
Princeton University
Site
World Migration Map
Site
Foreign-Born Population: A Nation of Overlapping Diasporas
Digital Scholarship Lab
University of Richmond
Site
Internal Migration Around the GlobE (IMAGE)
School of Geography Planning and Environmental Management
The University of Queensland Australia
Site
Mexican Migration Project (MPP)
Princeton University & University of Guadalajara
Site
Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS)
Iberoamerican University (UIA)
Center fo Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE)
Duke University
Site
The New Immigrant Survey
Princeton University
Site
– Other microdata and surveys
American Life Panel
RAND Corporation
Site
Health and Retirement Study (HRS)
Institute for Social Research
University of Michigan
Site
World Values Survey
Site
Latinobarómetro: Opinion Pública Lationamericana
Site
Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP)
Site
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES)
Site
– Aggregated-level data
Gapminder: Unveiling the beauty of statistics for a fact-based worldview
Site
World Bank Data
Site
Beta site
National Vital Statistics System
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Site
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME)
Data Visualizations
Site
Pew Research Center Data
Site
Brookings Institute
Site
– Academic associations
American Sociological Association (ASA)
Site
Population Association of America (PAA)
Site
American Political Science Association (APSA)
Site
American Marketing Association
Site
American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR)
Site
– Sources for literature review
Web of Science
Scientific citation indexing service
Site
JSTOR (Journal Storage)
Digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources
Site
American Journal of Sociology
Site
American Sociological Review
Site
Annual Review of Sociology
Site
Science Direct
Source for scientific, technical, and medical research
Site
PubMed
Citations for biomedical literature, life science journals, and online books
Site
– Public-opinion polls
RealClearPolitics
Political news and polling data aggregator
Site
FiveThirtyEight
Statistical analysis about elections, politics, sports, science, economics and culture
Site
