Week 1
An Introduction to
Social Research

Soci—316

Sakeef M. Karim
Amherst College

SOCIAL RESEARCH

Let’s Get Started–
January 27th

Student Introductions

The First Group Exercise

Four Broad Questions

  1. What’s your name?

  2. What are your majors?

  3. Why did you sign up for this class?

  4. What does sociology mean to you?

Student Introductions

Now, it’s my turn.

An Odd Introduction

My Journey

The Broad View

My Journey

Places Defined By International Migration

Click Image to Launch Gallery

My Research

Personal Culture of Immigrant-Origin People

Figure 8 from Karim (2024a)

My Research

Personal Culture of Immigrant-Origin People

Adaptation of results from Karim (2024b)

My Research

Exclusionary Politics

Figure 1 from Soehl and Karim (2021)

My Research

Exclusionary Politics

Karim and Lukk’s The Radicalization of Mainstream Parties in the 21st Century

My Research

Political Conflict

Preliminary results from Broćić and Karim (2026)

My Research

Political Conflict

Preliminary results from Karim, Broćić and Katz (2026)

This Class

The Syllabus

Full Page

The Syllabus

Office Hours

Fridays, 12:30 to 2:30 PM in Morgan Hall, Room 306

Office Hours

Appointment Policy

All meetings, even during office hours, must be scheduled in
advance via Google Calendar.

Readings

The Art and Science of Social Research
(Carr et al. 2020)
Data Analysis for Social Science: A Friendly and Practical Introduction
(Llaudet and Imai 2023)
Qualitative Literacy: A Guide to Evaluating Ethnographic and Interview Research
(Small and Calarco 2022)

Course Readings

Supplemental readings can be accessed via our eReserves page on Moodle.

Course Structure

The course consists of four distinct units.

Course Structure

Unit I will provide a high-level overview of quantitative approaches to sociological inquiry and briefly address their
epistemological foundations.

Course Structure

Unit II shifts focus to qualitative methods in sociology
and cognate fields.

Course Structure

Unit III spans two weeks and will provide an opportunity for students to refine their research proposals.

Course Structure

Unit IV will feature a series of in-class presentations.

Evaluations

Note: Scroll to access the entire table

Task Description Weight Deadline or
Evaluative Time Horizon
Participation This is a small research seminar. Ergo, class participation is vital. Students must actively engage in class discussions—sharing their thoughts, providing feedback to peers, asking clarifying questions, and keeping me (i.e., the course instructor) abreast of any developments vis-à-vis their research proposal. 20% Evaluated during class sessions throughout the term.
Memo on
Research Interests		 Students are required to submit a concise, 500-word reflection detailing their research interests. In this reflection, students should specify the kinds of social phenomena they would like to scrutinize in their final proposal—fertility behaviour, sexuality, affective polarization, ethnic boundaries, artificial intelligence, cultural consumption, international migration, economic inequality, carceral policy and so on. 5% Friday, February 13th
at 8:00 PM.
Qualtrics Survey In pairs, students will design a 10-minute Qualtrics survey on a topic that meaningfully blends or integrates their research interests. The survey will be evaluated on both substance (e.g., how well survey items capture the latent constructs of interest) and design (e.g., clarity, avoidance of clutter, and appropriate use of forking sequences). More guidelines will be posted online later in the term. 15% Friday, February 27th
at 8:00 PM.
Annotated Bibliography Students must submit an annotated bibliography before spring break. This annotated bibliography will, in principle, directly inform—or serve as the foundation for—the literature review they include in their final research proposal. In the bibliography, students must identify at least 10 sources germane to their topic of interest. For each source, students must provide a 100–150-word summary of the key argument(s) proffered by the author(s). Detailed guidelines will be uploaded online later this term. 10% Friday, March 13th
at 8:00 PM.
Essay on Proposed Methodology Students must submit a brief, 1000-word paper outlining how they will subject the theoretical propositions motivating their proposed study—that is, their main arguments or claims—to empirical scrutiny. A concrete overview of expectations will be provided during a lecture session later this term. 10% Friday, April 17th
at 8:00 PM.
Final Presentation In Unit IV of the class, students will deliver a 10–12-minute presentation on the research project they have developed over the term. A rubric with evaluation criteria will be uploaded later this semester. 10% During Unit IV.
Final Research Proposal Students are required to submit a detailed, 15-25 page research proposal (double spaced) on a topic of their choice, subject to the approval of the course instructor. The chosen topic must be related to the study of human societies and fall within sociology’s broad intellectual mandate. A detailed set of expectations will be provided later this semester. 30% Monday, May 11th
at 8:00 PM.

Evaluations


Guidelines for Major Assignments

Guidelines for key deliverables will be gradually rolled out (or uploaded online) as deadlines come into focus.

Norms, Rules, Regulations & More

Accessibility and Accommodations

If you require accommodations, please contact Student Accessibility Services as soon as possible and submit an application through the AIM Portal. More generally, if you have any suggestions about how this class can be more accessible and inclusive, please let me know via e-mail or during office hours.

Norms, Rules, Regulations & More

Class Policies

Please review the Amherst College Honor Code, which can be accessed in its entirety here.

Violations of the Honor Code will be promptly reported to the Dean of Students. As Section 1.1 of the Honor Code indicates, plagiarism is a serious offense. In most cases, students who plagiarize the work of others will fail this class and may face additional disciplinary penalties. Moreover, as detailed in Sections 1.2 to 1.4 of the Honor Code, students must respect others in the classroom, including those whose views deviate from their own. Failure to do so will prompt disciplinary action.

There is no reason to pretend like generative artificial intelligence (GAI) does not exist in the world out there. These systems have arrived, and they may revolutionize how higher education “works.” With this in mind, you are free to use ChatGPT and its analogues for class assignments—but you have to cite the GAI you are using. Failure to do so amounts to plagiarism.

To reiterate:

Generative AI Policy

If you use a GAI tool (like ChatGPT or Claude) and do not cite it, it is a form of plagiarism.

You are expected to attend each and every class. If you do not, you will lose points for participation. That said, I am aware that you are all human beings whose lives are often fraught with uncertainty. If something comes up, please let me know and I will do my best to be as accommodating as possible. Extended absences may, however, require additional documentation (e.g., note from a physician).

Provisionally, I have decided to allow students to use laptops and tablets in class. This is, however, highly conditional. If I observe students using their electronic devices for non-academic pursuits (e.g., shopping, consuming social media and so on), I will institute a sweeping ban on electronics.

Do not be the one to contravene our social contract.

On weekdays, I will respond to e-mails within two days. If I fail to meet this standard, please send me a follow-up message with a gentle reminder. On weekends1 and breaks, I will not respond to e-mails unless you have an emergency. If you do, please remember to include EMERGENCY in the subject line.

Assignments must be submitted on time. A late submission will result in a penalty of 5% for each day beyond the deadline.2 However, as noted, I am well aware that life can present unexpected challenges. If you anticipate missing a deadline or have an emergency, please let me know soon as you can. Extensions may be granted on a case-by-case basis.

Three Basic Expectations


  1. Read carefully but efficiently.

  2. Contribute to class conversations.

  3. Consistently work on—and update—your research proposal.

A Brainstorming Session

Let’s Talk Shop

Take a few minutes to jot down your preliminary research ideas and interests. How can you empirically test your guiding assumptions Quantitative modelling? Ethnographic observation. Be as detailed as you can! ? In 10 minutes, we’ll go around the room so that you can “pitch” your preliminary project and provide feedback to your peer colleagues.

SMK on the Hot Seat–
January 29th

Some Reminders

The Class Syllabus

Full Page

Some Reminders

Office Hours

Some Reminders

Add/Drop

The “shopping period” will end on Thursday, February 5th.

What is Americanness?

Polarization and Consensus?

Okura and Karim (2025)

The paper can be accessed below:

Pre-Print

Polarization and Consensus

Analytical Goals

What were our key analytical goals?

More generally, what were the research questions
guiding our analyses?

Polarization and Consensus

Empirical Strategy

Our analyses relied on the integration of two popular approaches to survey research. What are these approaches or estimation techniques Conjoint Experiments and Latent Class Models. ?

Polarization and Consensus

Conjoint Experiments

Attribute Level
Political Ideology
Race
Residence
Voting
Education
Immigrant Status
Americanness Rating
Rate 1 (low) to 7 (high)
1 7 4

Polarization and Consensus

Conjoint Experiments

With traditional conjoint analysis, we would see results—in the form of tables, visualizations etc.—that look something like this:

This image comes from Andrew Heiss’ excellent overview of conjoint analysis in . It is a truncated adaptation of Figure 1 in Leeper, Hobolt and Tilley (2020).

Polarization and Consensus

Conjoint Experiments

Our results look more like this— why We use latent class modelling! ?

Click to Expand Image & Launch Gallery

Adaptation of Table 1 in Okura and Karim (2025)

Polarization and Consensus

Latent Class Regressions

Figure 1 in Okura and Karim (2025)

Polarization and Consensus

Latent Class Regressions

Click to Expand Table & Launch Gallery

Table 2 in Okura and Karim (2025)

Polarization and Consensus

Key Substantive Finding

Click to Expand Table & Launch Gallery

Table 3 in Okura and Karim (2025)

Transmitting Social Worlds?

Majority Ties and Politics

Karim (2026)

The paper can be accessed below:

Pre-Print

Majority Ties and Politics

Analytical Goals

What were my key analytical goals?

More generally, what were the research questions
guiding my analyses?

Majority Ties and Politics

A Theoretical Framework

Click to Expand Image

Adaptation of Figure 1 in Karim (2026)

Majority Ties and Politics

Three Key Results

Click to Expand Image & Launch Gallery

Figure 3 in Karim (2026)

Majority Ties and Politics

Three Key Results

Click to Expand Image & Launch Gallery

Figure 4 in Karim (2026)

Majority Ties and Politics

Three Key Results

Click to Expand Image & Launch Gallery

Figure 7 in Karim (2026)

More Brainstorming

Let’s Talk Shop (Again)

Think about your own research interests again. Take what you “pitched” on Tuesday and push it forward–i.e., get more concrete. After 10-15 minutes, present your ideas to a classmate you haven’t gotten to know yet.

Enjoy the Weekend

References

Note: Scroll to access the entire bibliography

Broćić, Miloš, and Sakeef M. Karim. 2026. “Lay Theories of the ‘Woke’ Phenomenon.” Working Paper.
Carr, Deborah S., Elizabeth Heger Boyle, Benjamin Cornwell, Shelley J. Correll, Robert Crosnoe, et al. 2020. The Art and Science of Social Research. Second Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Karim, Sakeef M. 2024a. “Islam and the Transmission of Cultural Identity in Four European Countries.” Social Forces 103(2):756–79. doi: 10.1093/sf/soae076.
Karim, Sakeef M. 2024b. “The Organization of Ethnocultural Attachments Among Second- Generation Germans.” Social Science Research 118:102959. doi: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2023.102959.
Karim, Sakeef M. 2026. “The Intergenerational Transmission of Majority-Group Ties and Their Political Consequences.”
Karim, Sakeef M., Miloš Broćić, and JB Katz. 2026. “Brahmin Left vs Populist Right? Higher Education and Affective Polarization in America, 1978-2026.” Working Paper.
Leeper, Thomas J., Sara B. Hobolt, and James Tilley. 2020. “Measuring Subgroup Preferences in Conjoint Experiments.” Political Analysis 28(2):207–21. doi: 10.1017/pan.2019.30.
Llaudet, Elena, and Kōsuke Imai. 2023. Data Analysis for Social Science: A Friendly and Practical Introduction. Princeton (N.J.) Oxford: Princeton University press.
Okura, Keitaro, and Sakeef M. Karim. 2025. “Heterogeneity and Convergence in Cultural Logics of Americanness.”
Small, Mario Luis, and Jessica McCrory Calarco. 2022. Qualitative Literacy: A Guide to Evaluating Ethnographic and Interview Research. University of California Press.
Soehl, Thomas, and Sakeef M. Karim. 2021. “How Legacies of Geopolitical Trauma Shape Popular Nationalism Today.” American Sociological Review 86(3):406–29. doi: 10.1177/00031224211011981.

Footnotes

  1. Concretely, Friday at 5:00 PM to Monday at 8:00 AM.

  2. If an assignment is due at 8:00 PM and you submit it at 8:01 PM, you will be considered a day late and lose 5%.