Harnessing the Pedagogical Monster: Using Research in Teaching Large Classes

Author(s): Brent T. Bruton and Sue R. Crull

Source: Teaching Sociology, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Oct., 1980), pp. 79-86
Published by: American Sociological Association
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Thepurpose of this article is to present one means ofreducing student passivity,seemingl/,

inherent in the teaching of large enrollment classes. A social survey which involves
research replication is administered to the students in the large class setting. The social
survey'of students is in accord with Wilson's dictum that teaching and research can be
effectively/combined, but repudiates the notion that this combination can occur onl' in the
small class setting. The teaching technique allows student involvement in the collection of
data and in application and use of sociological concepts. The research replication had
serendiptious results which offered a high level of excitement to the instructorsbecause the
findings indicated trends totalliyunexpected. Whileteaching is often built upon research,
this case demonstrates that research as an extension and revision of sociological
knowledge can emerge out of the teaching process.

Harnessing The
Pedagogical Monster
Using Research in Teaching Large Classes
BRENT T. BRUTON
SUE R. CRULL
Iowa State University

he problem of student passivityin large class situationshas

plagued sociologists interested in teaching for a number of
years. Attempts to deal with this problem are summarized in the
classic article by Baker (1976), "On Domestication of a Pedagogical Monster."
A theme of more recent concern among those in the center of
activity on the development of teaching sociology has been the
attempt to integrate scholarly research into the teaching of
sociology in the classroom. Sociologists were challenged by
Wilson (1977) to view matters taught and matters sought as
essentially similar processes. Wilson argued that the transmisAuthor's Note: This is a revision of a paper presented at the annual meetings of
the Midwest Sociological Society' in Minneapolis, 1979.
Vol. 8 No. 1, October198079-86
TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY,
@ 1980Sage Publications,Inc.

79

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80

TEACHING
SOCIOLOGY
1980
/ OCTOBER

sion andcreationof knowledgewereinextricablyintertwinedand

not conflictingenterprises.By redefiningour teaching,Wilson
argued,we could bringresearchinto the classroom.Essentially,
the teaching process would involve raising interesting and
researchablequestionsinsteadof simply presenting"facts."
Even more recently,however,this notion was referredto by
D'Antonio(1979:2) as an impossibledream;not becauseit can't
be done or becauseit hasn'tbeendone, but becauseit ignoresthe
"structuralrealitywithinmost sociologydepartmentsin today's
collegesand universities."D'Antonio'scentralconcernis simply
that sociology is often taughtin largeclasseswherethe involvement of students in intellectualprocessesand researchis not
possible.
Ourpurposein this articleis to demonstratehow researchand
teaching-that is, the functionsof sociologyas a disciplineandas
a profession-are integratedin a largeclasssetting.Ourconcern
began severalyearsago whenwe wantedto replicatesome wellknownstudiesin introductorysociologyin orderto demonstrate
to novice students something of the nature of sociological
research.Ourgoal wasto involvestudentsin the researchprocess
and makethe resultsof theirparticipationan integralpartof the
subject taught. The notions of the incorporation of a class survey
and computer-assisted student involvement are not entirely new.
These innovations per se have been reported in earlier studies
(Best, 1977; Van Valey, 1977; Clifton, 1976; Conklin, 1976);
however, our approach, purpose, and process are quite different.

The focus will be upon just one item used, a contemporary

replication of the Bogardus "Social Distance" studies. Much of
our efforts, like the Bogardus study presented here, are forms of
replication. While some findings of our research have emerged
with considerable significance to the disciplines, the initial
purpose was entirely pedagogical.

PROCEDURE
Basically,the process is simple. During the second or third
meeting of the class, the studentsare surveyedby meansof an

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Bruton, Crull / HARNESSING THE MONSTER

81

anonymous questionnaire which attempts to measure key concepts in several areas of the course. The measurement devices are
derived from well-known studies and are adjusted to allow the
student to respond on a standard, 10-response, machine-graded
answer sheet. The data from the answer sheets are then transferred to tapes and cards and analyzed. At appropriate times
throughout the term the results are presented and discussed.
Comparisons are made between contemporary response patterns
and those of the original study. This often elicits new interpretation and provides an opportunity to cross-referenceand illustrate
the relationship between sociological concepts. Groups of students and individual students from within the large class are
encouraged to help with the analyses and presentations.'
The large class is presented in a multitrack format. Beyond
certain minimal requirements, students are offered a number of
option/contracts as to how they experience the introductory
course and how their course performances are evaluated. Our
experience has been that the proportion of students who select the
option to help with data analyses is relatively small. It is a
manageable number of students, and we believe it is important to
make this type of involvement available to students who seek it,
although full involvement cannot be forced on all students. The
same notion of option/contract holds for in-class presentation.
Not all students who desire involvement in the research process
are able and willing to make short presentations before 600
students, but those who so desire are allowed to do so. During
lecture, students have opportunities to suggest possible hypotheses, and, whenever possible, these hypotheses are analyzed and
results are reported back to the class. Students also make
suggestions for variables to be included in future questionnaires.

AN EXAMPLE

In the fall of 1975 we gathered data from 1043 introductory

students with the Bogardus social distance scale. Bogardus
analyzed social distance, the feelings of acceptance or rejection
for different racial and ethnic groups for over 40 years using the

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82

TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY/ OCTOBER1980

social distance scale. The last study done by Bogardus was in

1966. The purpose of our project was to continue the social
distance analysis and consider social distance ratings in the 1970s.
Bogardus found that, generally, over time (1926, 1946, 1956, and
1966) social distance ratings of students to various ethnic and
racial groups decreased. Bogardus (1967) believed his findings
over time represented social trends and perhaps a general social
movement. He found that men generally gave lower social
distance scores than did women and that the social distance scores
of women were decreasing. He believed that if they continued to
decrease as they had from 1956 to 1966, the difference between
men's and women's reactions would eventually disappear. We
wondered what Bogardus would have hypothesized in the 1970s
with ERA and the women's liberation movement.
The goals of our survey were threefold. One goal was to
replicate the Bogardus studies to assess change in the social
distance ratings of eight racial and ethnic groups in 1975. The
second goal was to assess the social distance ratings of three new
groups-Arabs, hippies, and homosexuals-that were involved
in economic or moral issues of the times. The third goal was to
analyze the influence of the sex of the respondents and the contact
of the respondents with the ethnic groups on their social distance
responses.
Bogardus (1958) discussed the sex difference in social distance
responses in terms of contact with racial and ethnic groups. He
assumed that contact lowered prejudicial feelings. Bogardus
(1958) used the contact assumption to suggest the hypothesis:
"The greater racial distance expressed by women than by men
may be accounted for in part on the ground that men have more
racial contacts than women have" (p. 441). According to Ames et
al. (1968), Bogardus pointed out that women had less contact
with people of other races than men because of restricted
movement and lack of work contacts. The following generalization based on Bogardus' rationale seemed appropriate:
Womengive morerejectingsocialdistanceresponsesbecausethey
have less contact with ethnicgroupsthan do men.

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Bruton,Crull/ HARNESSINGTHE MONSTER

83

No empiricalstudyhadincludedan analysisof the relationshipof

sex and contact of the respondentto social distanceresponses.
Resultsshowed that all but one of the eight racialand ethnic
groupsfromthe originalBogardusstudiesaveragedhighersocial
distancescoresthantheydidin 1966or even 1956.Thisincreasein
social distancescoresled to a discussionof whetherthis wasdue
to limitationsof thesampleor an indicationof moreconservatism
in social distancein the 1970s.
All three groups (Arabs, "hippies,"and homosexual,' that
were included to assess the social distance ratings oI groups
involvedin controversialissuesof the 1970sreceivedmuchhigher
socialdistancescoresthandid any of theeightgroupsinvolvedin
the previoussocial distancestudies.
The most surprisingfinding was the total lack of supportfor
the conclusionsof earlierstudieswith regardto the differencesin
responsesby sex. In completecontrastto the findingsof earlier
studies, females in the present study had consistently and
generallysignificantlylower social distance scores than males.
That is, female respondentsdisplayed more tolerance for the
groups consideredthan did their male counterparts.Given the
sample size and the consistencyof this tendency through the
groupsconsidered,it seemshighlyunlikelythatthisreversalwasa
chance occurrence.
Findingsin thisstudysupporttheassumptionof Bogardusthat
respondentswho have had contactwithethnicand racialgroups
do give lower social distanceresponsesthan do those who have
not hadcontact.Also, the resultsof this studysupportBogardus'
speculation that more men than women have contact with
minoritygroups.However,the resultsof thisstudyunderminethe
rationale of the Bogardusgeneralization.The social distance
scores for female respondentswere lower (reflectingless social
distance) than were the scores for the male respondents, which is a

reversalof the previous studies. Therefore,contact does not

appearto be the underlyingdimensionin determiningdifferences
in social distance scores of male and female respondents.
Discussionscenteredon the possibilitythat womenof the 1970s
were more tolerant of minoritiesthan men because they, the

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84

TEACHINGSOCIOLOGY/ OCTOBER1980

"new"minority of the 1970s,were more conscious of the effects of

discrimination.

DISCUSSION
Our desire to "harness the pedagogical monster" leads to
involvement for the students, growth for the teachers, and
development of the discipline.2 Student evaluations in 1975
indicated that the survey technique was helpful and meaningful in
understanding sociology. Interest and excitement for this approach grows with each new term. During the fall of 1979 the
Bogardus questionnaire was revised to gain a better understanding of the contact factor.
Essentially, we are arguing that students who are able to
participate in the gathering of research data as subjects and then
are able to analyze or observe the analysis in which they
themselves were the subjects find the data more interesting and
relevant than data which are presented from journal articles. A
kind of enlightenment occurs when students are presented with
their own attitudes and dispositions.
Sociologists know little about the students they teach. We
don't know how students' attitudes and orientations change from
year to year. One of the most appropriate and stimulating things
to do with students is to study them. This can be done especially
effectively in large group instruction situations.
We are frequently told that there are learning devices that can
be used in small classes that simply cannot be used in large classes.
In this article we suggest a learning format which can be used in a
large class but cannot effectivelly be used in a small class.
Our goal is not only to involve students in an other than passive
way with content areas, but also to offer in a limited way an
experience with a social survey purporting to measure an array of
sociological concepts. That is, the technique allows students to
participate by way of response, analysis, and reflection in the
research process.

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Bruton, Crull / HARNESSING THE MONSTER

85

Much of the concern with the problem of mass instruction has

focused on the student. Less concern has been given to the impact
of mass instruction upon the morale and professional growth or
demise of the instructor. We recommend the integration of class
surveys and other research techniques into the teaching process
not only because the students benefit through increased involvement and relevance, but also as a device for faculty development
and restoration. We have experienced a high level of interest in
the research studies conducted in introductory sociology, whereas generally the faculty avoid any contact or concern with the
introductory course to the highest degree possible. The device
may result in serendipitious results which excite and revitalizethe
instructor while adding to the knowledge of the discipline. When
publishable results happen to evolve, such methods offer a
survival technique for sociologists whose major interest and role
assignment involve teaching rather than research. While the
technique does not solve all of the perplexing problems raised by
Baker, it is one way for the large class instructor to move from
mandarin to midwife, and to facilitate conception and acquisition
of sociological knowledge.

NOTES
1. The extent and type of student involvement has varied from one term to another. In
the past, it was generally necessary for the instructor to generate tables for students to
interpret for student projects. We are now able to use an instructional program on the Vax
11-780.The Vax system is an interactivecomputer system used for instruction which offers
interested students direct experience in data analysis with minimal training. The
department presently has four remote CRT terminals for student use and is in the process
of acquiring more. With this system, students can select their own independent and
dependent variables and generate data in a format which they select. It is conceivable that
sometime in the future a terminal can be installed in the lecture auditorium and the
research process could be projected on a large viewing screen for every student to see. A
special program for analysis of the survey data has been written by Dr. William F.
Woodman and Dr. John P. Boysen of Iowa State University.
2. The results of the Bogardus Analysis are presented in Sociology and Social Research, July 1979.

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86

TEACHING SOCIOLOGY / OCTOBER 1980

REFERENCES
AMES, R. G., S. Y. MORIWAKI, and A. K. BASU (1968) "Sex differences in social
distance: a research report." Sociology and Social Research 52: 280-289.
BAKER, P. J. (1976) "Mass instruction in sociology: on domestication of a pedagogical
monster." Teaching Sociology 4: 5-28.
BEST, J. (1977) "The introductory sociology survey." Teaching Sociology 4: 271-276.
BOGARDUS, E. S. (1967) A Forty Year Racial Distance Study. Los Angeles: University
of Southern California.
(1958) "Racial distance changes in the United States during the past thirty years."
--Sociology and Social Research 43: 127-135.
CLIFTON, K. A. (1976) "Doin soc: an evaluation of actively involving introductory
students in the work of sociology." Teaching Sociology 3: 138-147.
CONKLIN, G. H. (1976) "Using the computer in introductory sociology: a solution to the
methodology problem." Teaching Sociology 4: 83-95.
CRULL, S. and B. T. BRUTON (1979) "Bogardussocial distance in the 1970s."Sociology
and Social Research 63: 771-783.
D'ANTONIO, W. V. (1979) "Teachingsociology: an impossible dreamT"Undergraduate
Education, a section of the American Sociological Association Newsletter, January.
VAN VALEY, T. L. (1977) "The computer and doing sociology: tools for the undergraduate curriculum." Teaching Sociology 4: 277-292.
WILSON, E. K. (1977) "Sociology: scholarly discipline or profession?"Occasional paper
published by the Section on Undergraduate Education of the American Sociological
Association.

Brent T. Bruton is Associate Professor and coordinator of introductoriysociology

programs. He is a member of the American Sociological Association Teacher
Resource Group and has interests in instructional development, 'Youth,work, and
leisure.
Sue R. Crull is Assistant Professor of sociology. In addition to extensive work in
teaching undergraduates, Dr. Crull has published in the areas of quantitative
methodology, housing, and residential mobilit'y.
Bruton and Crull are currently directing instructional development and research
on the teaching of introductory sociology at Iowa State University.

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