This assignment will show you how to use and interpret data and statistics. Since the department paper (argumentative essay) (100pts) requires the use of statistics and 1 or more graphs, you will need to become acquainted with legitimate data sources and also how to interpret it. Watch my quick tutorial for this assignment on Youtube:
So, let’s explore some data! I have looked for user-friendly websites and believe that the General Social Survey is as by far the friendliest and user friendly.
First, you will need to go here:
http://gss.norc.org/
Second, click on “ GSS Data explorer” on the very top. Next, click on “ Key trends” at the very top.
You will now see the following themes displayed “Gender &Marriage,” “Current Affairs,” “Civil Liberties” etc.
This semester students are permitted to pick their own topic areas. However, there must be data available on the topic from either the GSS or the World Values Survey websites ONLY! If you decide to use the World Values Survey check the other instruction sheet which I will make available on Blackboard. My topic in this activity comes from “Civil liberties” section. Just click on it.
The auto survey question related to the “death penalty” will now show. I am not using this one. So I click on the up-side down small green pyramid icon and a long list of other survey questions will appear.
Click on the survey question: “Approve of policeman striking male citizen.”
Notice the full graph and also the two top areas called “Question Response” and
“Breakdown.”
I will let you decide if you want to focus on those that said “Yes” or “No” in the survey question. In mine I will focus on the “not remove” responses first. Important: Not all question are set up this way, some may have different kind of responses.
The break-down function lets you pick 12 different “breakdown” areas like Age, Race, Sex, and Political Affiliation etc.
In your write-up, I will ask you to do the following:
First, create your own unique title. You may also write a few sentences why you decided to pick this specific topic and why you still think it is important. Next, inform the reader what data source you are using, what the specific survey question was used, what specific years you are looking (or what years the survey was available from) at and why. The original survey question you are using is often listed at the bottom of the page. For my survey question the original question asked was “Are there any situations you can imagine in which you would approve of a policeman striking an adult citizen? Again, the intro section should generally be detailed and give the reader some background why you think this is a good data source to demonstrate how attitudes on this important issue will likely vary and continues to vary when other factors like Age, Sex, Politics are included. Normally, this is also called the “Methods or Data Section” in standard sociology articles.
Next, do not yet look at specific “breakdown” features like Age, Sex, or Political Affiliation. Look at the whole map ( total function) and try to interpret the graph if there is a decline, increases in specific years data was taken etc. The years that you can analyze data from is from 1970 -2018.You can move the cursor over the years and it will show you details for every year. You can chew and interpret on this total year data if you think it is worth to mention
Next, pick 3 “breakdown” features you plan to analyze. I suggest doing one at a time and writing a little for each. There is a way to take a screen shot pressing the “Print Screen” button on your key-board and then copy-pasting this into the Microsoft Art editor program which lets you edit the graph before you copy-paste it into Microsoft Word (I have not yet figured out how to use the right-click mouse function to just copy the whole table from the website). In total, you should only have 4 graphs. Do a write up on every graph and discuss the numbers in each graph.
For the bigger department paper, you will need to also be able to use and apply one of the following theories to your topic. I will recommend practicing and figuring out which approach or perspective listed below might be the best to use in your own paper:
Theories
Structural Functional Approach: sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.
Social-Conflict Approach: sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change.
Symbolic Interaction Approach: sees society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals.
Feminism Approach: the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men.
Macionis, J. (2013). Society, The Basics. Upper saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
