Topics in Sociological Practice
In this project-based course, we will use tools of data analysis and digital methods to explore sociological research topics. We will learn the fundamentals of coding and statistics in order to conduct original data analyses using publicly available data from sites such as the Opportunity Atlas, Social Explorer, the General Social Survey, and the Department of Education. We will reflect on how our computational and research practices relate to data ethics, principles of data visualization, and digital pedagogy. Students will build on their previous coursework to develop interactive exercises to analyze and interpret data which will be integrated throughout the department's curricula. Students will extensively use programs such as R, Shiny, and Datawrapper but no previous experience with these tools is required.