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MAIS 602: Researching Society and Culture (Rev. 1) Report a Broken Link

In this research course students have the opportunity to learn about various approaches to research and to propose an integrated study of their own.

Course activities include
 

  • reading and writing about various research methods
  • discussing these methods online with your professor and your fellow students
  • preparing a draft proposal for your research
  • giving and receiving feedback on research proposals
  • submitting a revised and enlarged final draft of your proposal

    Throughout the course students are encouraged to work across disciplinary boundaries, so that their work becomes an interdisciplinary, integrated project. The course is designed in the hope that students will learn something new, challenge themselves, engage with their colleagues in the course, and have fun.

    This is a required course for the Masters of Arts—Integrated Studies.

Week 1 Required Reading

Lazar, D. (2004). Chapter Two: Selected issues in the philosophy of social science. In C. Seale (Ed.), Researching Society and Culture (2nd ed., pp. 7-20). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.
Seale, C. (2004). Chapter Nine: History of qualitative methods. In C. Seale (Ed.), Researching Society and Culture (2nd ed., pp. 99-114). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.
Silverman, D. (2012). Chapter Four: Research and policy. In C. Seale (Ed.), Researching Society and Culture (3rd ed., pp. 45-57).Thousand  Oaks, California: SAGE.

Week 4 Required Reading

Seale, C. (2012). Chapter 30: Validity, reliability and the quality of research. In C. Seale (Ed.), Researching Society and Culture (3rd ed., pp. 528-543). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.

Digital Reading 1

Required Readings
Pryse, Marjorie. (2000, Summer). Trans/feminist methodology: Bridges to interdisciplinary thinking. NWSA Journal 12(2), 105-118.
Szostak, Rick. (2007). How and why to teach interdisciplinary research practice. Journal of Research Practice 3(2), Article M17.
Unit 4
Athabasca University. Athabasca University Calendar: Undergraduate Programs—Concentrations/Majors
Heintz, Christophe, & Origgi, Gloria. (2003, April). Rethinking interdisciplinarity: Emergent issues. Interdisciplines.
Unit 5
Athabasca University. Athabasca University Policy Manual: Policy for Research Involving Humans
Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Tri-council policy statement: Ethical conduct for research involving humans, December 2010. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Kincheloe. Joe L. (2001, December). Describing the bricolage: Conceptualizing a new rigor in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry 7(6), 679–692.

Digital Supplementary Reading

General

Argyrous, George. (2000). Statistics for social and health research: With a guide to SPSS. London: SAGE.
Bonta, J., & Gendreau, P. (1990). Reexamining the cruel and unusual punishment of prison life. Law and Human Behavior, 14(4), 347–372.
Bonta, J., & Gendreau, P. (1991). Boats against the current: A rebuttal. Law and Human Behavior 15(5), 563–565.
Brown, Jennifer S. H., & Vibert, Elizabeth (Eds.). (1996). Reading beyond words: Contexts for Native history. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press.
Burke, Peter. (1993). History and social theory. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
Hamman, Robin (Ed.). (1999, April 6). Issue 6—Research Methodology Online. Cybersociology Magazine, 6.
Hammersley, Martyn. (2000). Taking sides in social research: Essays on partisanship and bias. London: Routledge.
Klein, Julie Thompson. (1996). Crossing boundaries: Knowledge, disciplinarities, and interdisciplinarities. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.
Lankshear, Colin, & Knobel, Michele. (1997, November). The moral consequences of what we construct through qualitative research. Paper presented at The Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference.
Nissani, Moti. (1997). Ten cheers for interdisciplinarity: The case for interdisciplinary knowledge and research.The Social Science Journal, 34(2), 201–216.
Roberts, J. V., & Jackson, M. (1991). Boats against the current: A note on the effects of imprisonment. Law and Human Behavior, 15(5), 557–562.
Seale, Clive (Ed.). (2004). Social research methods: A reader. London: Routledge.
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous peoples. London: Zed Books; Dunedin, NZ: University of Otago Press; New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Special Working Committee (SSHWC) & Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics (PRE), Government of Canada. (2004, June). Giving voice to the spectrum. Ottawa: Interagency Advisory Panel and Secretariat on Research Ethics.
These are the preliminary results of the consultation of the social sciences and humanities research community on research ethics issues.
Wallerstein, Immanuel.

(1996, March). Open the social sciences [Summary of Open the social Sciences: Report of the Gulbenkian Commission on the restructuring of the social sciences]. Items (Social Science Research Council), 50(1), 1–7.

Use this form to request a print copy of this article from the AU Library.
Weingart, Peter, & Stehr, Nico (Eds.). (2000). Practising interdisciplinarity. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Websites
Athabasca University. Athabasca University Library: Digital Thesis & Project Room: MAIS
Athabasca University. Athabasca University Research Centre: Athabasca University Research Ethics Board
Online Dictionary of the Social Sciences
Researching Society and Culture Website
Ted Palys Methods Links Page
University of California. University of California—Berkeley Library: The Teaching Library: Research Guides: Internet Guides: Evaluating Web Pages—Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask
Aids in Developing the Annotated Bibliography and Literature Review
Cornell University. Cornell University Library: Olin and Uris Libraries: How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography
University of Hong Kong. University of Hong Kong: English Centre: Comparative Literature Review Essays
University of Hong Kong. University of Hong Kong: English Centre: Writing a Literature Review Essay
The University of Wisconsin—Madison. The University of Wisconsin—Madison: The Writing Center: Writer's Handbook: Common Writing Assignments: Review of Literature

Examples of Interdisciplinary Research
Geography and Psychology
Nisbett, Richard E. (2003). The syllogism and the Tao: Philosophy, science, and society in ancient Greece and China. In The geography of thought: How Asians and Westerners think differently . . . and why (pp. 1–28). New York: Free Press.
Please note that you must register (at no cost) with The New York Times to view this chapter.
Ortner, Sherry. (2003, April 20). East brain, West brain (Review of book The geography of thought: How Asians and Westerners think differently . . . and why]. The New York Times Book Review, 7.17(1). Please note that you must register (at no cost) with The New York Times to view this review.
Rethinking Interdisciplinarity: Why Rethink Interdisciplinarity?: Discussion: The Geography of Thought
An online debate on the geography of thought.
Psychology and Art Criticism
Vision and Art
A tutorial demonstrating how visual information is used in art, devised by John H. Krantz.
Engineering and Social Science
Santa Fe Institute: Robustness in Natural, Engineering, and Social Systems
Educational History and Policy Studies
Matheos, Kathleen, for Industry Canada. (2002, April). Rethinking residency in the age of online learning. Canadian Virtual University.

This site has been linked to information maintained by Athabasca University at http://www.athabascau.ca.
Sociology and Forestry
Mitchell, Ross E. (2004). Trees don’t talk: A methodological account of a forest sociologist in Mexico. Sociological Research Online 9(1).
This article may only be accessed by users with a private (rather than institutional) Internet service provider.
Ethnography and Literary Criticism
Hulan, Renée. (1998, Fall). Blurred visions: The interdisciplinarity of Canadian literary criticism. Essays on Canadian Writing 65, 38–55.

Research Ethics Tutorials
Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics. Introductory Tutorial for the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS)
Santé et Services sociaux Québec. Tutorial in Research Ethics