Marx and MicroCase Exercise

What You Need To Know To Complete It

Students in Sociological Theory are expected to have taken Methods of Techniques of Sociological Theory or to be taking it concurrently. The exercise provides complete instructions about the mechanics of using MicroCase, so what is most important to bring to the exercise is an understanding of the basics of data analysis. A review of these may be found in the various streaming videos and screen movies at the department's MiroCase Resources webpage, particularly the two-part Online Tutorial for Social Stratification and Sociological Theory listed at the bottom.

The following is a summary of the key skills you will need for interpreting the data you bring up using the MicroCase CP program:

  • Understanding the distinction between independent and dependent variables, and remembering that the independent variable is always the column variable, that the dependent variable is always the row variable, and that column percentages must always be used for intrepreting the data.
  • Knowing how to interpret a cross-tabulation table to see if it supports a given hypothesis or not. This involves understanding how to discern a consistent trend by reading across the top row and also remembering to check to make sure that the data meet the (.05) test of statistical significance (determined by looking at the "prob" value on the page accessed by clicking on Statistics-Summary.
  • Understanding the distinction between emic and etic perspectives
  • Understanding what a mode (or modal repsonse) is.
  • Understanding the difference between a positive and a negative (or inverse) correlation.
  • Knowing how to interpret a scatterplot, including whether it meets the test of significance. Be able to detect from the slope of the regression line whether the variables are positively correlated, negatively correlated, or not correlated at all. Remember that the independent variable always lies along the horizontal axis and the dependent variable along the vertical axis.
  • Be able to relate the data and hypotheses to the readings and lecture/discussions about Marx.