OB 601. Organizational Ecology

This seminar examines theoretical and methodological issues in the study of the ecology of organizations. Particular attention is given to the dynamics that characterize the interface between organizational populations and their audiences.

OB 622. Topics in Social Network Analysis: Structure and Dynamics

This course provides coverage of both introductory and intermediate topics in social network analysis with a primary focus on recent developments in theory, methods and substantive applications. We will begin the course with a brief overview of introductory themes and concepts from various disciplines that have contributed to social network theory, including sociology, anthropology, social psychology, and organizations. Introductory topics to be included: centrality, cliques, structural and regular equivalence and cognitive social structures. The primary topics to be covered in this course include the application of network theory to the study of careers, competition, innovation, inequality/stratification, and recent research on IT mediated networks, as well as an examination of network formation and dynamics. The course will also provide hands-on experience applying social network methods in empirical research. Students will have an opportunity to learn some modern network analysis methods and apply them to network data using the R programming language. No prior experience with social network analysis or software is required.

OB 625. Economic Development and Economic Sociology

As a field, economic sociology has had little to say about economic development. Much of this quietude stems from the latter's identification with "backward," "poor" or "developing" economies, and the former's interest in many of the advanced features of the richer economies. This state of affairs not only sets up a false dichotomy but also makes it difficult by construction to theorize or research the issue of economic decline, seemingly a necessary piece of any coherent theory of development.

The (admittedly ambitious) goal of this seminar is to move toward a better theory of economic development. We will review several of the more common strands of thought on development in related literatures and then consider some alternative perspectives that might bridge this research and contemporary sociology. No guarantees are made that we will have a full-fledged theory by the end of the quarter, but with luck we will have breathed some new life into an often marginalized but critically important strain of social thought and research.

The class will be a seminar based around the readings. Grading will be a combination of class participation, a take-home midterm and a final paper.

OB 630. Social Norms

This course covers research and theory on the origins and function of social norms. Topics include the estimation of public opinion, the function of norms as ideals and standards of judgment, and the impact of norms on collective and individual behavior. In addition to acquainting students with the various forms and functions of social norms the course will provide students with experience in identifying and formulating tractable research questions.

OB 635. Social Movements and Organziations

This research seminar is intended for students seeking to learn more about how collective action underpins institutional change in organizations and industries, and how the success of collective action, in turn, hinges on organizational structures and processes to recruit and mobilize individuals. The purpose of this course is to provide you a roadmap for you to roam the terrain of movements and organizations, and be prepared to generate original research ideas that extend inquiry in your chosen area of research.

OB 652. Statistical Methods for Behavioral and Social Sciences

For students who seek experience and advanced training in empirical research methods. Analysis of experimental data through factorial designs, randomized blocks, repeated measures; regression methods through multiple regression, model building, analysis of covariance; categorical data analysis through two-way tables. Integrated with the use of the statistical computing package R. Prerequisite: An intro stats class (same as Psych 252 -- Co-taught with Ewart Thomas).

OB 670. Designing Social Research

This is a course in the design of social research, with a particular emphasis on research field (i.e., non-laboratory) settings. As such, the course is a forum for discussing and developing an understanding of the different strategies social theorists employ to explain social processes, develop theories, and make these theories as believable as possible. In general, these issues will be discussed in the context of sociological research on organizations, but this will not be the exclusive focus of the course. A range of topics will be covered, for example: formulating and motivating research questions; varieties of explanation; experimental and quasi-experimental methods, including natural experiments; counterfactual models; conceptualization and measurement; sampling and case selection; qualitative and quantitative approaches. This course is particularly oriented toward developing an appreciation of the tradeoffs of different approaches. It is well suited to Ph.D. students working on qualifying papers and dissertation proposals.

OB 671. Social Psychology of Organizations

This seminar focuses on social psychological theories and research relevant to organizational behavior. It reviews the current research topics in micro-organizational behavior, linking these to foundations in cognitive and social psychology and sociology. Topics include models of attribution, social comparison and justice, commitment, stereotyping informal relationships, groups, and leadership. Prerequisites: Enrollment in a PhD program, and a graduate-level social psychology course. Also listed as Sociology 361.

OB 672. Organization and Environment

This seminar considers the leading sociological approaches to analyzing relations of organizations and environments, with a special emphasis on dynamics. Attention is given to theoretical formulations, research designs, and results of empirical studies. Prerequisite: Enrollment in a PhD program. Also listed as Sociology 362.

OB 673. Perspectives on the Social Psychology of Organizations

This seminar focuses on topics relevant to organizational behavior, drawing primarily on social psychological and some sociological research. Topics vary from year to year.

In Spring 2010 the seminar will focus on Justice. Topics will include distributive and procedural justice, equity theory, punishment, restorative justice, and relative deprivation among others. Papers and discussion focus on theory development processes, and writing journal articles. Prerequisites: Enrollment in a PhD Program. Cannot be audited or taken pass/fail.

OB 674. Perspectives on Organization and Environment

This course examines the interaction between organizations and their environments. It is given every year by a different faculty member. What follows is the description of the course for the academic year 2009-10:

This research seminar is intended for students seeking to learn more about how collective action underpins institutional change in organizations and industries, and how the success of collective action, in turn, hinges on organizational structures and processes to recruit and mobilize individuals. The purpose of this course is to provide you a roadmap for you to roam the terrain of movements and organizations, and be prepared to generate original research ideas that extend inquiry in your chosen area of research.

OB 675. Micro Research Methods

The purpose of this course is to develop students' skill at designing, executing, interpreting, and describing micro-organizational and social psychological research. The course will have a practical focus and will focus on questions such as how to identify and formulate a tractable research question, how to decide on an appropriate research design and strategy; how to operationalize independent and dependent variables, and how to build a research paper.

OB 676. Social and Political Process in Organizations

Social psychological and sociological research at the meso, or intermediate between micro and macro, level of analysis. Topics vary from year to year, but usually include organizational routines and learning; mobility and attainment processes; gender and race inequality and discrimination; social networks; cultural perspectives on organizations, and related topics. Prerequisite: Ph.D. student.

OB 677. Perspectives on Justice

This year-long seminar focuses on the topic of social justice. The course reviews research across a range of disciplines on perceptions of equity, status, privilege, and discrimination. We will explore processes that shape individuals' perceptions of inequity, how perceptions of inequity affect behavior, and how social identity affects the link between perceptions of inequity and behavior.

OB 678. The Design and Process of Experimental Research

This year-long course takes a hands-on approach to learning about experimental research. It will cover the entire process of experimental research from idea and hypothesis generation to study design, analysis, and publication. The topical content will be customized to the specific interests of the enrolled students, but generally will be concerned with questions about behavioral phenomena in organizational contexts.

OB 682. Application of Hierarchical Linear Models in Behavioral and Social Research

The fundamental phenomenon of interest in educational research is the growth in knowledge and skills of individual students. Two facts that children's growth is typically the object of inquiry and that such growth occurs in organizational settings correspond to two of the most troublesome and persistent methodological problems in the social sciences: the measurement of change and the assessment of multi-level effects (also referred to as the unit of analysis problem). Although these two methodological problems have distinct, long-standing, and non-overlapping literatures, these problems, in fact, share a common cause the inadequacy of traditional statistical techniques for the modeling of hierarch.

OB 683. Models of Social Dynamics

This seminar provides an introduction to several important theoretical and formal models in sociology, psychology, and organization theory. The purpose is, in part, to provide an overview of commonly used models. More important, participants will learn to read, criticize, and formulate models for their own research questions. The focus is on model development, deriving implications from models, comparing models, but also on how models can be and have been tested. Topics include models of size distributions, network evolution, contagion, group formation, conceptual structures, decision making, and learning.