Learning by Doing: The Teaching of Sociological Research Methods

Abstract

This paper describes learning by doing, a nontraditional approach to teaching sociological research methods. From both the faculty and student perspectives, we share our experiences related to the Racine Gang Project, a student research project during Spring and Summer 1986. From the training of students to presentations during professional meetings, this paper addresses some of the strengths and weaknesses of the learn by doing approach to teaching sociological research methods.