PAM 3120

Research Design, Practice, and Policy

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

Examines systematic approaches for addressing questions about poverty, family life, racial inequality, and a range of other issues central to public policy. It emphasizes the logic and methods of social science research, including the measurement of social phenomena, generalizing results to groups of interest, establishing cause and effect, social experiments, survey research, and qualitative methods. It develops skills to critically evaluate the research of others and provides hands-on experience applying research methods to policy-related problems.

When Offered Spring.

Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: PAM 2100 or equivalent.

• To gain an understanding of the possibilities and problems of studying the social world.
• To gain familiarity with a variety of research methods, their strengths, and their limitations.
• To gain skills for critically evaluating the research of others.
• To gain hands-on experience applying research methods to policy-related issues.
• To gain a critical awareness of ethical issues in the responsible conduct of social research.

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