This course gave me the opportunity to really delve into the inner workings of research as a social science process. There was so much to be learned, as each concept was like a puzzle piece that came together to form the big picture of just how complex and engaging research is. I learned about variables, selecting samples from a population, and the impartance of reliability and generalizabilty. The ethics involved, from beginning to end, and all the responsibilites that come from being a researcher. Other things that were covered by this class were measures of central tendency, descriptive stistics and the indispensable survey database that is the GSS (General Social Survey).

    With the various projects that we tackled, we built confidence as to our understading of the topics. We were not only participant observers recording data, but we also used spreadsheets, graphs and descriptions to present our findings. We consulted with secondary sources to support our points and in so doing, came full circle with what social research is. As challenging as this class was, it was also rewarding in that it left me wanting to compare more data, do more graphs and follow these processes again. I realize the importance of surveys in our everyday lives as students, employees, consumers, etc. Public opinion matters a great deal. I look forward to my next courses where I'll learn more about interpreting data, and using it to tell stories.