Content analysis is a valuable research tool for social scientists that unfortunately can prove challenging to teach to undergraduate students. Published classroom exercises designed to teach content analysis have thus far been predominantly envisioned as lengthy projects for upper-level courses. A brief and engaging exercise may be more…

Asserts that training in social research methods is a central part of sociology education. Maintains that, while social and communication skills are managerially and epistemologically important to successful research, they often are ignored. Argues for the inclusion of these skills in research methods courses. (CFR)

Compares providing staged assignments for teaching research methods to providing a spotter for safety in gymnastics. Describes guidelines for a research proposal. Discusses problem definition, literature review, hypothesis development, data collection, and analysis. Argues that students must know the rules and reasons for the ideal model of…

Describes a research project that takes a problem-solving approach to teaching about social stratification. Students identify a local issue related to stratification (homeless, welfare reform, etc.). They break into small groups and design a research plan, conduct a literature search, perform the fieldwork, and arrive at a synthesis. (MJP)

Maintains that undergraduate sociology students often are intimidated by course requirements in statistics and research methods. Describes course content and instructional strategies used to enhance student understanding and motivation. Reports that student evaluations of the course were uniformly positive. (CFR)