The Indiana school of sociology

Save as a document and upload to Blackboard by the deadline here

When creating your assignment and typing up your answers do not include these questions.
I only need your answers to these questions on your assignments! Not the instructions and
questions posted below. If you include anything other than your answers on an assignment,
I will not be able to give you credit for it. Read this.

01. .025 points, At least 10 words > The two ethnographies Street Corner Society (1948)
and Middletown (1928) are named for the place where the research of that study is said to
be set (i.e., where the locatable facts came from). Can either of these places, (i.e.,
Middletown and Cornerville) be located on a map of the United States? Why or why not? Be
careful to explain and defend your response.

● About Street Corner Society (1948) by William Foote Whtye, See Tues 02/16
● About Middletown (1928) by Robert and Helen Lynd, See Tues 02/18

02. .025 points, At least 25 words, Note the word count change > Do you think William
Foote Whyte concerned with the privacy of his research subjects in Street Corner Society
(1948) for the same reason Robert and Helen Lynd were in Middletown (1928)? Be sure to
explain and defend your response.

● About Street Corner Society (1948) by William Foote Whtye, See Tues 02/16
● About Middletown (1928) by Robert and Helen Lynd, See Tues 02/18

03. .025 points, At least 25 words > Robert and Helen Lynd used an ethnographic method
to gather their data called "participant observation."

● Participant observation - A technique of ethnographic field research, used in

sociology and anthropology, by which an investigator (i.e., the participant observer)
studies the life of a group by sharing in its activities.

Now, read this question carefully: Explain how the 1930s Chicago School of Sociology study
The Taxi-Dance Hall by Paul Cressey (1923) is not an example of participant observation
but rather covert observation. This study came up in this review article, which I first
assigned here, on AR04W. But in order to get credit for your answer to this question you
must specifically reference Cressey's actual study, which is archived here. You don't need to
read the whole study. Just enough to answer this question.

● Covert observation - A technique of ethnographic field research, used in sociology

and anthropology, by which an investigator (i.e., the participant observer) studies
the life of a group secretly (i.e., without letting the humans/people they are
observing are being observed).

04. .025 points, At least 10 words, Note the word count change > If you had to summarize
Middletown (1928) by Robert and Helen Lynd what would you say it is about and how is this
topic, (or "these topics," plural, if you think there is more than one), different than the ones
the 1930s Chicago school of sociology covered? In formulating your answer reference both
of the two reference articles posted below and be sure to explain and defend your response.

● About the 1930s Chicago School of sociology, John Madge • First assigned here
● About Middletown (1928), John Madge • First assigned for Q01 on this assignment
So in class on Thurs 02/18 I introduced you to the study "Middletown (1928)" by Robert
and Helen Lynd. This video will offer you a quick overview if you need it even after the first
few questions on this assignment :) Now, the most important thing to remember about this
study is that one of its core intents was to document the *average American* as opposed to
the *urban American.* Formal scientific sociology at that point in the United States had
never focused on a topic set outside a city and J. D. Rockefeller, (the guy who funded
Middletown), really wanted to change that.

05. .025 points, At least 10 words > Review Middletown (1928) by Robert and Helen Lynd
here and here and then just tell me who they considered the "average American" to be.
Your answer only needs to be around ten words, but be sure to explain and defend your
response.

Now learn about another sociological study that emerged out of the state of Indiana right
around the same time Robert and Helen Lynd set off to do their research in Muncie,
Indiana. This study, which had two volumes, "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" (1948)
and "Sexual Behavior in the Human Female" (1951), was also funded by J.D. Rockefeller,
(see notes directly above) and also focused on the *average American.*

06. .025 points, At least 10 words > Read this review article by John Madge about the two-
part study Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human
Female (1951), researched and written by Alfred C. Kinsey and his team, and then tell me
where and how Kinsey gathered data on the *average American.* Be sure to explain and
defend your response.

07. .025 points, At least 10 words > Robert and Helen Lynd's first research goal was to
document the *church-going behavior* of the *average American.* Alfred C.Kinsey and his
team's first research goal was to document the *sexual behavior* of the *average
American.* Now, make the argument that these two very distinct topics are different sides
of the same coin. In other words, make the argument that these two very distinct topics
aren't as different from one another as they may seem on the surface and actually can help
to inform one another. Here is a quick link to the review article on Robert and Helen Lynd's
Middletown we have been working with. Here is a quick link to the review article on Kinsey's
research.

08. .025 points, At least 10 words > When W.E.B. Du Bois researched and wrote The
Philadelphia Negro (1899) he used U.S. Census data. When Alfred C. Kinsey and his team
researched and wrote Sexuality in the Human Male (1948) and Sexuality in the Human
Female (1951) they couldn't use U.S. Census data. Speculate on why. We have looked at
the U.S. census several times before, most notably, perhaps, here, but I posted a definition
for your quick reference below.

● The U.S. census counts every resident in the United States. The data collected by the
census determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of
Representatives (a process called apportionment) and is also used to distribute
billions in federal funds to local communities.

I first introduced The Philadelphia Negro (1899) by W.E.B. Du Bois here. Kinsey you can find
assigned in Q07, directly above. Be sure to explain and defend your response.
09. .025 points, At least 10 words > At the end of this question is a link to some scenes
from the movie version of Kinsey's life and work called Kinsey (2004). Use these scenes to
articulate three (or more) reasons why was the topic of human sexuality so difficult to do
sociological research on in the 1930s and 1940s in the United States, (even if, as Kinsey
argued, the average American engaged in it), and be sure to explain and defend your
response. Just as a little warning: This video contains some explicit language since it is
about gathering data on human sexuality. Okay! Now ... click here!

10. .025 points, At least 25 words, Note the word count change > Alfred C. Kinsey gathered
a lot of data for his sexuality survey in gay bars in Chicago in the 1930s and 1940s, pretty
much around the time that the 1930s Chicago School of sociology was also doing research
in the city of Chicago. Now, answer the following question: Did any of the 1930s Chicago
School sociologists document these gay bars in Chicago? Use this review article on the
1930s Chicago School of sociology I first assigned to you here. Information on Alfred C.
Kinsey's research you can find in this review article, which I assigned for Q06, directly
above. Be sure to explain and defend your response.

11. .025 points, At least 10 words, Note the word count change > Alfred C. Kinsey used a
method called sampling to gather data for his famous surveys on human sexuality.

● In formal, scientific, academic sociology, sampling is the selection of a subset (a

statistical sample) of individuals from within a statistical population to estimate
characteristics of the whole population. Sociologists attempt for the samples to
represent the population in question. Two advantages of sampling are lower cost and
faster data collection than measuring the entire population.

Now, answer the following question: Did Robert and Helen Lynd use sampling as a research
method when gathering data for Middletown (1928). Here is a quick link to the review
article on Kinsey's research in case you need to review what sampling is in the context of
his research. And here is a quick link to the review article on Robert and Helen Lynd's
Middletown (1928). Both have been assigned before on this assignment. Be sure to explain
and defend your response.

12. .025 points, At least 10 words > How did Alfred C. Kinsey assure people giving him data
about their sexual histories that their contribution would remain anonymous? Here is a quick
link to the review article on Kinsey's research in case you need to review what sampling is
in the context of his research. Be sure to explain and defend your response.

13. .025 points, At least 10 words > How did Robert and Helen Lynd assure people giving
them data that their views on religion and other inmate topics, such as the power dynamics
of their small town or rumors about specific families, would remain anonymous? Here is a
quick link to the review article on Robert and Helen Lynd's Middletown (1928). Be sure to
explain and defend your response.

14. .025 points, At least 10 words > Why, do you think, were the following sociologists, who
came before Robert and Helen Lynd and Alfred C. Kinsey and his team, not concerned with
assuring the people giving them data, or the people they were covertly observing, would
remain anonymous?

● W.E.B. Du Bois
● W.I. Thomas
● Nels Anderson
● Robert Park
In formulating your answer you can refer the above sociologists as a group, however, in
order to get full credit for your answer, you need to at least reference one of them
specifically and to explain and defend your response.

15. .025 points, 50 words, Note the word count change > Write up a quick twenty-five word
description for the Chicago School of sociology under Robert Park off the top of your head
and then another twenty-five word description for the Indiana school of sociology. Make
sure to write each description in in your own words. Make sure you write at least twenty-
five words for each one of your descriptions for a total of fifty words for this entire question.
Also, as always, be sure to explain and defend your response. This is the little review article
we use in this course for the 1930s Chicago of sociology under Robert Park. But for the
Indiana school, you needed to be paying attention in class on Thurs 02/18.

16. .025 points, At least 10 words > Who, what and where did sociologists in the early 20th
century consider *urban* and who, what and where did they consider *average?* Use the
references below to formulate your response.

● For the urban American use

○ The Taxi-Dance Hall (1932) by Paul Cressy, which was a part of the 1930s
Chicago school of sociology under Robert Park, See Q03 directly above

● For the average American use

○ The Indiana school of sociology, See Q15

17. .025 points, At least 10 words > The Indiana school of sociology, discussed in class on
Thurs 02/18, did not only mark the moment formal, scientific, academic sociologists started
studying the "average American" in opposition to the "urban American," but also, the
moment they started gathering nomothetic data as opposed to idiographic data. These are
brand new terms for you :) see below

● Nomothetic data is data a sociologist can generalize from. It describes the effort
to derive laws that explain types or categories of objective phenomena, in
general.

● Idiographic data is very specific data, which a sociologist locates in time, place
and space. It describes the effort to understand the meaning of contingent,
unique, and often cultural or subjective phenomena.

Okay, let's see if you got this: Explain how The Philadelphia Negro (1899), first assigned
here, used idiographic data. Be sure to explain and defend your response.

18. .025 points, At least 10 words > Here is another question: Explain how Robert and
Helen Lynd gathered nomothetic datafor their 1928 study Middletown, first in Q01 on this
assignment, directly above, to how W.I. Thomas gathered idiographic data for his story The
Polish Peasant in Europe and America (1919), first introduced here. Be sure to explain and
defend your response.

19. .025 points, At least 10 words > Both The Hobo and Homelessness (1923) by Nels
Anderson and Middletown (1928) by Robert and Helen Lynd are considered ethnographies,
but one of these studies uses idiographic data and the other uses nomothetic data. Which,
do you think uses which? Be sure to explain and defend your response. I first introduced
what an ethnography and ethnographic data is here. I first introduced The Hobo and
Homelessness (1923) here. Middletown (1928) was first introduced above. And just as a
hint: Middletown (1928) contains nomothetic data ;) Need a definition of idiographic and
nomothetic, scroll up to Q21.

20. .025 points, At least 10 words > Read the article below and tell me how it uses
idiographic data to critique the nomothetic data gathered by Robert and Helen Lynd for their
1928 study Middletown, which I first introduced on this assignment. Need a definition of
idiographic and nomothetic, scroll up to Q17.

● "The view from Middletown" by Gary Younge (2016)