Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction
About the course, lecturers and students
Lectures and seminars
Assignments
Lay people and expert knowledge. Presentation
Week 2: Social Theory and Social Research: Doing Social Science
Empirical and theoretical knowledge. Presentation
Induction and deduction. Presentation
Quantitative, measurement-oriented approach and qualitative, meaning-oriented approach. Presentation
Sampling.
Reading: Babbie ch. 1 and 32-57, Schutt 644-653; Gliner-Leech-Morgan 3-20
Week 3: Formulation of Research Problem
What is a research problem Presentation. (Propose a simple research problem)
What is a research question Presentation (Propose a research question)
Reading: Corbin-Strauss 52-56; Gliner-Leech-Morgan 23-29, 45-52
Week 4: How to start with qualitative research
Finding the research problem and question suitable for qualitative research (S: formulating the qualitative research question)
Main modes of qualitative data production (S: which combination would keep the things plumb)
Research journal: place for reflexivity (S: where to start to write)
Reading qualitative research to start your own (S: bibliographical research)
Reading: Corbin - Strauss: 52-75
Week 5: Modes of Qualitative Data Production
Ethnography (S: inducting main features of ethnographic knowledge from cases)
Observation (S: whose fieldnotes are the most complex? )
Position of the observer (S: discussion: limits of participation?)
How to write fieldnotes
Reading: Corbin-Strauss: 56-58, 60-67; Babbie: 287- 296
Suggested reading: Hammersley - Atkinson: 1-5
Homework: to perform an observation and write down the fieldnotes, min. 250 words
Week 6: Analysis of Data in Qualitative Research
Presentation and reflections on homeworks
Types of Interviewing (S: active listening and entering the world of speaker, asking open ended narrative questions)
Open and thematic coding (S: Coding a text)
Memoing (S: write down different types of memos)
Reading: Corbin-Strauss: 103-121
Week 7: Operationalization, Types of Quantitative Data, Variables, Analytical Research Design
Hypotheses; conceptualization, operationalization (S: create on operational definition of the given term)
Exploration, description, explanation, prediction; time-frame in research design
Variables, attributes; measurement, types of data (S: define a variable for given topic)
Sampling techniques
Reading: Babbie
Week 8: Modes of Quantitative Data Production (Fieldwork Techniques)
Primary and secondary research
Interviews, CAPI, CATI
SAQ, CAWI
Observation
Reading: Babbie
Week 9: Quantitative Analysis of Research Findings
Analytical strategies; principles and elements of analysis
Presenting numerical information
Data visualization
Reading: Babbie
Week 10: Research Project
How to write a research project
Week 11: Final seminar with presentations on the topics of the term papers
First round.
Week 12: Final seminar with presentations on the topics of the term papers
Second round.
Annotation
The course is open only to students of the Social Sciences (SOSCI) programme and visiting sociology students under the Erasmus+ programme. Please do not enrol in the course if you are not studying another programme.
This introductory course of research methods deals with the most important issues in scientific research. It describes the main steps of an analytical investigation and provides an overview of practical procedures, methods and instruments. The key methodological cornerstones (e.g. defining the research problems, setting the research design, choosing the proper data generation method, and utilization of analytical techniques) are discussed in detail. The students will learn the basics of social research methodology.