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Sociology 494C: Practicum in Applied
Research Winter 2008 Syllabus Course Information: Meeting times: Mondays,
1:30-3:20 Research times: To be
determined Meeting place: Condon 128 Course web site:
http://staff.washington.edu/nkabiri/Soc494C.html Instructor
Information: Nika Kabiri Office: Condon 235A Office Hours: By
Appointment Email:
nkabiri@u.washington.edu Course Summary This practicum partners with Helping Link, a
grass-roots organization located in the International District, to assess the
needs of the local Vietnamese community. Students will design a study,
collect and analyze data, and produce a final report to the organization. Helping
Link will use the findings to further their mission and to improve their
services. Though this is technically a class, it is also a practicum. This
means the class will be treated like a “real-world” a research team. Everyone
is expected to work together to accomplish the research goal. The instructor
is not your “boss,” meaning she will not tell you what to do every step of
the way. You will be expected to take quite a bit of initiative in order to solve
problems and get things done. The Research
Project The research project
conducted by UW Sociology students (“the researchers”) will focus on the
following two questions: 1) do Helping Link adult services – specifically,
ESL classes, computer literacy classes, and naturalization exam preparation
courses – meet clients’ needs; and 2) what new services (if any) should
Helping Link develop to better meet the needs of the adult Vietnamese
community? The research will be conducted in three phases. Phase
1: Nature of Helping Link Services The
goal of this phase of research is to determine the exact nature of the
above-mentioned adult Helping Link services. The researchers will interview
Helping Link staff and instructors as well as analyze non-confidential print
material delineating the components of these programs. Interviews will be
conducted by phone or email; the tentative dates of these interviews are
January 7 through 14. Phase
2: Success of Current Helping Link Services The
goal of this phase of research is to assess the extent to which the
above-mentioned Helping Link Services meet the specific needs of Helping Link
clients and how they can be improved in innovative ways. A focus group study
of previous Helping Link clients will be conducted; the tentative date of
this focus group interview is January 18 (time to be determined). Phase
3: Meeting the Needs of the Community The
goal of this phase of research is to determine whether Helping Link needs to
develop any new programs or update existing ones so as to better meet the
needs of greater Responsibilities of UW Research Students (You) On or before March 30,
2008, UW researchers will deliver to the agency an electronic copy of the
research project’s final report. A hard copy will also be mailed to the
agency. This final report will include the following: o
A discussion of
the research questions and their purpose; o
A summary of
the existing Helping Link programs studied; o
A description of
the research project’s methodology, data, and data analysis; o
A summary of
the findings; o
Recommendations. Helping Link understands
that issues may arise during the course of this research that could result in
an incomplete final report. If the final report submitted on March 30 is
incomplete, UW agrees to complete the report as soon as is possible. UW
researchers promise to exercise diligence in completing the report. Assistance from Helping Link Helping Link agrees to:
Grading Your grades will be determined by the following: Research journal:
20% You will keep a journal documenting
your research. The instructor will ask to review and grade the journal
intermittently throughout the quarter. You must regularly record the
following in your journals:
Your final journal is due Monday,
March 17, 5pm via Catalyst. Individual
Assignments: 30% Individual assignments will be given
on a semi-regular bases. All assignments will be submitted via Catalyst. NO
LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Final report: 50% The final research report will be
the product of a joint effort of all students. For this reason, the report
will be given one grade; this one grade will constitute 50% of each student’s
final grade. The final report is due Monday, March 17, 5pm via email (to the
instructor). Research Outline
(Subject to Change as the Quarter Progresses) Students must be aware that a research timeline, though
necessary, is rarely set in stone. Challenges often arise that delay aspects
of the research process; it is also likely that some parts of the project
will move more quickly than anticipated. Therefore, the following timeline
should be seen as a guide, though we should try to stick to it the best we
can. Goals for Week 1
(Jan 7-13): o Understand
the research project’s objectives o Learn about
one-on-one interviewing o Review
Helping Link print media (Phase 1) o Conduct
one-on-one interviews of Helping Link staff (Phase 1) o Start
learning about focus group research Goals for Week 2
(Jan 14-20): o Review
research findings from last week o Plan and
conduct focus group interview of past Helping Link clients (Fri., Jan. 18,
6:30pm) (Phase 2) o Start
learning about surveys Goals for Week 3 (Jan 21-27): (Monday, Jan 21 is a holiday – NO CLASS) o
Draft survey instrument for Seattle-are Vietnamese
community (Phase 3) Goals for Week 4 (Jan 28 –Feb 3): o
Finalize survey instrument o
Translate and make copies of survey instrument o
Administer surveys at Tet in Goals for Week 5 (Feb 4-10): o
Translate survey responses (due Feb 11, before class) o
Learn about data set management Goals for Week 6 (Feb 11-17): o
Enter survey data into database o
Learn about data analysis Goals for Week 7 (Feb 18-24): (Mon, Feb 18 is a holiday – no class) o
Begin analyzing data Goals for Week 8 (Feb 25-Mar 2): o
Continue analyzing data o
Start outlining final report (if time) Goals for Week 9 (Mar 3-9) o
Write draft of final report Goals for Week 10 (Mar 10-14) o
Complete final report, due Monday, March 17, 5pm, via
EMAIL (to instructor). |