University of Oklahoma

 

Courses Taught at OU

UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

SOC3123 Social Statistics

This course is designed to introduce students to descriptive and inferential statistics.   Students learn how to calculate by hand and by computer software basic statistical analyses.

 

SOC3133 Methods of Social Research

This course is designed to introduce students to the basics of how to do social science research and how to evaluate the research of others.  It provides a general overview of the ways sociologists collect information about social phenomena.

 

SOC3683 Wealth, Power, and Prestige

This course is about social stratification.  Social stratification—the distribution of wealth, power, and prestige—shapes the way people live, the opportunities available to them, their health, etc.  This course is an introductory examination of the various types of inequality in American society, the sources for such inequality, and the structure of how it is maintained.

 

GRADUATE COURSES

SOC5383 Graduate Seminar in Social Stratification

This course is an in-depth overview of theoretical and applied topics in social stratification.  Social stratification—the distribution of wealth, power, and prestige—shapes the way people live, the opportunities available to them, their health, etc.  This course is an introductory examination of the various types of inequality in American society, the sources for such inequality, and the structure of how it is maintained.

 

SOC6233 Graduate Seminar in Advanced Statistics II

This course is an in-depth overview of theoretical and applied topics in research methodology for advanced students. Primary focus is placed upon survey research. The course focuses on analysis techniques such as structural equation models, hierarchical linear modeling, time series analysis, and survival analysis.

 

SOC6363 Graduate Seminar in Medical Sociology

This course provides an analytical framework for understanding the social contexts of health, illness and health care. Central topics include the subjective experience of health and illness, political, economic and environmental circumstances fostering ill health; and societal forces constraining the medical care system and individuals' responses to illness.

 

PSC5143 Graduate Seminar in Program Evaluation

This course focuses on the issues of designing, conducting, and using evaluations as part of the policy process. The policy process is how problems or issues are addressed. When members of society determine that a “problem” exists, they attempt to make that problem a part of the policy process—to do something about it. They implement a policy or a program designed to “fix” the problem. Increasingly, the public, politicians, and bureaucrats are demanding evidence of the utility of such programs. More and more, they are asking if these programs work. Should they continue? Should they be changed? What are the relative costs?

 

PSC5233 Graduate Seminar in Health Policy

This course is about health policy—the authoritative decisions made in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches of government that are intended to direct or influence the actions, behaviors, or decisions of others as they relate to health. The course will focus on the determinants of health and policy efforts to influence those determinants. In so doing, the course will examine the role of the branches of the federal government, the states, interest groups, and other stakeholders have in the policy process.

 

PSC5343 Graduate Seminar in Public Policy and Inequality

This course provides an overview of the issues surrounding public policy in the area of inequality. Equality is a core value in all democracies, including the United States. Despite the centrality of equality to democratic societies, the concept has proven difficult to achieve as a public policy goal. Inequalities exist in all societies and affect every aspect of life: where we live, whom we marry, how we earn a living, our friends, our risk for diseases, and so forth. This course will explore definitions of inequality, the role of problem definition and agenda-setting in the policy process, and the sources of inequality.