Unlike last year, this year there are THREE choices for social science inquiry! SSI (offered last year as well), SSI - Formal (new) and SSI - Spatial (new). Course descriptions are pasted below - they are actually distinct sequences; however, it’s possible that aspects of Formal Theory or Spatial Analysis are addressed in plain ole’ SSI. Not entirely sure, but it appears that the latter two are far more specialized topics - perhaps they are being introduced on more of an experimental basis this year. As Sosc. is supposed to prepare you for social science “thinking” and analytical writing, there’s going to be a lot of value in any of these sequences. If your son isn’t interested in spending three quarters on spatial analysis, he can just skip over that sequence and choose Formal as his #1, then plain ole’ SSI or another Sosc. sequence for his back-ups.
SOSC 13100-13200-13300. Social Science Inquiry I-II-III.
“Social Science Inquiry” explores classic and contemporary points of view about ways of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about public policy issues. The course aims to provide the student with an introduction to the philosophy of social science inquiry, a sense of how that inquiry is conducted, and an understanding of how policy implications can be drawn responsibly from evidence provided by empirical social science. The sequence’s objective is to convey both the promise and the pitfalls of social science and a sense of its uses and abuses. During the 2018–19 academic year, two sections within the “Social Science Inquiry” sequence will each offer a different topical focus: one section on formal theory (“Social Science Inquiry: Formal Theory” SOSC 13110-13210-13310) and one section on spatial analysis (“Social Science Inquiry: Spatial Analysis” 13120-13220-13320).
SOSC 13110-13210-13310. Social Science Inquiry: Formal Theory.
Social Science Inquiry: Formal Theory builds on the rich traditions of rational choice scholarship set in place by James Coleman and Gary Becker. Mastering game theoretic and public choice models is an invaluable tool for understanding how interest groups influence politics, how voting takes place in Congress, how matches are made in the dating world, or how neighborhood arrangements are coordinated. More broadly, applications of formal theory to social science include explaining how peace negotiations occur between governments and rebels in the aftermath of civil war, how trade unionists bargain over wages with employers, and even the decisions of autocrats to step down from power and allow for free elections. SSI-Formal Theory will introduce students to the systematic study of social, political, and economic interactions, where the optimal course of one person’s action depends on the options and preferences of other people involved in the interaction. Students will learn how to model strategic situations in the language of mathematics and how to make equilibrium predictions.
SOSC 13120-13220-13320. Social Science Inquiry: Spatial Analysis.
Social Science Inquiry: Spatial Analysis deals with the fundamental role of space, place, location, distance, and interaction—crucial to tackling many research questions in the social sciences. This sequence of three courses explores the fundamentals of spatial analysis, a collection of quantitative methods in which space is explicitly accounted for. The three courses explore different concepts of space; how it is measured, represented, and accounted for in social science methodology; and how spatial problems are solved (spatial reasoning).
http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/socialsciences/
. Thanks to all for all the helpful info. My S completed the planner quiz and will be preregistering starting next Monday. He’s gunning toward a job on wall street, and so thinking about business econ, or just straight econ–he’s not sure yet. Looking at the initial offerings, he’s super excited because the course catalog has so many topics of interest, and not just econ (core is awesome!)