Master
2023/2024
Applied Research in Inequalities
Type:
Compulsory course (Modern Social Analysis)
Area of studies:
Sociology
Delivered by:
Department of Sociology
When:
2 year, 1 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Instructors:
Yulia Moreva
Master’s programme:
Modern Social Analysis
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
28
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This course is designed as a hands-on course where students are supposed to learn how to study inequalities of various sources in comparative perspective. We’ll work on operationalization of the terms finding proper indicators for measuring some vague and controversial concepts such as race, ethnicity, religiosity etc. This course is designed to teach how to use the best statistical and methodological practices for inequality research which is often done in qualitative fashion, whereas quantitative sociologists and political scientists are often underestimating many of these issues. The focus of this course is predominantly empirical; however, some readings are also needed. The basic competence in statistics (such as sampling principles, scaling, and basic regression models) is the only prerequisite for the course, R is preferable software. The workload of the course includes mandatory participation and preparation for in-class discussions, use of open datasets for analyzing the effects of inequalities in cross-country perspective, and an individual project in essay form that could be developed into a journal article.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Being able to access the results of modeling and interpret them sociologically.
- To conduct multivariate data analysis fitting race, migration, religion and gender in statistical models.
- To operationalize theoretical concepts of race, ethnicity, religiosity, etc, and associate them with certain predictors in the data.
Course Contents
- Introduction. Studying small and vulnerable groups using large datasets: limitations of analysis and ways of overcoming. How do we discuss the issues of inequality and how it results in operationalization of terms.
- Inevitability of gender and making sense of it in cross-country comparative research.
- Race vs ethnicity. European and American ways of thinking about the problem.
- Mid-term presentation of models and statistical results for the individual project.
- Religiosity, religion, and migration
- Social class and income inequality
- Intersectionality. Health and class, gender issues in migrant communities, race and imprisonment rate, and other overlaps.
- Essay
Assessment Elements
- PresentationParticipation in class work and discussions, including one obligatory presentation on the topic of the lesson as a member of a small group (25%).Presentations will be held for about 20 minutes each week. Each student will present at least once (as a member of a small group). Presenters are supposed to have required and supplementary readings for the week covered. Through the discussion and presentation, presenters should demonstrate understanding of all required texts, to include some that are not assigned, and studentsare supposed to lead the discussion that integrates these into a wider theme. Presenters must use visual presentation as an aid for the others.
- Mid-term presentationMid-term presentation of models and statistical results for the individual project (25%). Students are supposed to show their preliminary statistical work on modeling the effects of inequality of any type that they prefer to choose for their individual project. No theory or literature review is required at this stage. Other members of the group will be expected to comment on modeling and to give advice. The presenter must use a PDF or a powerpoint for illustrative purposes. The timeline is 15 minutes for each presentation.
- Final essayIndividual research project essay in English (final project): 3000 words (50% of total grade). The final work for the course is an essay of about 3000 words in English related to any type of inequality, preferably analyzed in cross-national comparative perspective. It cannot be an overview of the existing articles on the topic, but an original piece of research done in quantitative or qualitative framework. This text is intended to be a draft for an article that can be published in a peer-reviewed journal after some revisions. The essay is supposed to include a theoretical section, literature review, hypotheses derived from the theory, some methodological discussion, a model built on one of the cross-country datasets, and a results section. The most important aspects to be graded are the creativity of the research idea, the operationalization, and refinement of hypotheses, proper modeling, and clear understanding of the limits of research. - Late assignments will be graded down. - Plagiarism will result in failure. Papers submitted for other classes cannot be reused.
- In-class participation
Interim Assessment
- 2023/2024 1st module0.5 * Final essay + 0.1 * In-class participation + 0.2 * Mid-term presentation + 0.2 * Presentation
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Autin, F., & Butera, F. (2016). Institutional Determinants of Social Inequalities. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.C11E5F41
- McLeman, R. A., Schade, J., & Faist, T. (2015). Environmental Migration and Social Inequality. Cham: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1124225
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Grusky, D. B., & Szelényi, S. (2018). The Inequality Reader : Contemporary and Foundational Readings in Race, Class, and Gender (Vol. Second edition). New York: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1795599