Syllabus
1. Logic and Processes of Social Science Research. The limits of knowledge in the social sciences, the reduction of social reality, the probabilistic nature of conclusions, the transformation, reduction and standardization of information, quantitative and qualitative epistemology, the main differences between the two approaches, inductive and deductive approaches, different objectives, theoretical foundations, the choice of procedures, and various methods of data collection.
2. The Formulation of Research Problems. Causal versus correlational relationships, research projects, theoretical backgrounds, conceptualization, general hypotheses, working hypotheses, operationalization of variables, indicators.
3. Procedures of Quantitative Research. Standardization in quantitative research, the most common techniques of data collection, the layout and design of research: case studies, representative survey experiments, pilot studies.
4. The Definition of Population, Units of Analysis, Sampling and Representation. Unit selection in quantitative research, representation, population vs. selection, selection types (probabilistic vs. probabilistic), difficult to reach populations.
5. The Questionnaire Survey. Limitations and advantages of questionnaires, questionnaire creation, types of questions, inappropriate questions, organization and methods of data collection.
6. Data Analysis in Quantitative Research. Data preparation, key code, missing data, data transformation, types of variables, descriptive and inferential statistics (statistical induction), hypothesis testing and elaboration, practical examples of data analysis.
7. Data Sources and Data Archives. Acquisition of data for secondary analysis, the importance of metadata, archiving data, ethical principles in social science research, presentation of research findings, legal aspects of sociological research with an emphasis on the protection of personal information.
8. Quality Measurement. Validity and reliability, triangulation, types of distortion, distortion induced by research incentives, combined methodology and integrated approaches (mixed method design).
9. The Study of Documents. Content analysis, document types and prices of cognitive criteria document, phases of document processing, the reconstruction of events, advantages and limitations of the study of documents.
10. Discourse analysis and its application in sociology. The specific contribution of discourse analysis over other methods of text analysis. Basic approaches to analysis - critical discourse analysis, discursive psychology and Foucault's "archaeological" approach to discourse analysis. Possibilities and limits the use of these analytical methods in sociology.
11. Research design of qualitative research. Formulation and reformulation of research questions, selection and environment respondents entry . entry into the research environment, negotiation approach, researcher and human relations in the analysis environment, behavior researcher in the field and interaction with the environment examined.
12. Collecting qualitative data: observation, focus group. Record observations using the so-called. Field notes, the form and content of field notes, the role of observer in the field research. Research design of focus groups, creating sample homogeneity and segmentation groups, selection of participants, group size and number of the management focus group: Moderation group selection environment and data collection.
13. Collection of qualitative data: Interview - standardized interview. Interview preparation, types of questions, maintaining interaction recording and transcription of the interview.
14. Case Studies and Ethnographic Research. The documentation of everyday life, interpreting events, different perspectives of groups (emic and etic).
15. Biographical Research. Specific acquisition and analysis of autobiographical data. Study of autobiographical experience and its reconstruction and interpretation.
16. Data Analysis in Qualitative Research. The process of coding and labelling phenomena, creating categories, analytical note writing, writing final reports.
17. Grounded Theory. Coding and categorization, techniques for improving theoretical sensitivity.
Annotation
This is a compulsory part of the Final State Exam, aimed at methods of historical sociological inquiry and of data analysis, both in quantitative and qualitative research. Listed below are the topics which fall under this section, as well as their respective sub-topics.