1) Organization (requirements, deadlines etc.); why methodology matters?

Methodology vs. methods

The three research traditions

Quantitative (formal models and statistics)

Qualitative (case studies, comparative case studies)

Interpretative and critical

Methodology in political science (1950-2015)

Methodology in social sciences in general (1900-2015)

2) Epistemologies and their implications (Chernoff 2007, Monteiro, Ruby 2009, Sayer 2000/1992, Friedman 1954)

Neo-positivism

Scientific/critical – realism

Post-structuralism

Implications for research

3) Starting your research (Gerring 2017)

Research goals and questions

Filling in the lacuna

Defining broader purpose of a paper

Logic of inquiry vs. logic of presentation

4) On theories and concepts (Van Evera 1997, Gerring 2013)

Patterns and regularities

What is a theory (causal and constitutive) ?

What is a (good) concept, and how does a theory differ from a concept

Idiographic vs. nomothetic science

Explanation vs. interpretation

Types of research (specific requirements):

Causal (theory testing, theory development, scenarios, policy evaluation)

Conceptual (concept building/assessment)

Interpretative (post-structuralist research)

Literature assessing

Descriptive (historical, unique cases, measurement)

5) Building and assessing a concept (Gerring 2012, Goertz 2007)

Fecundity, resonance, causal power etc.

Two extremes: Conceptual stretching vs. case unique concept

Concepts through lenses of different epistemologies

6) Operationalization and measurement (Moheney, Goertz 2012, Gerring 2017, Skaaning, Pemstein)

Operationalization in Qualitative vs. quantitative research tradition

Measurement; as a tool and as a goal

7) Data (Trachtenberg 2005, Schuessler 2015)

Data entering a research (or why data never speaks for itself)

Biased data, how to deal with them?

How not to treat primary and secondary literature

Societal/political context of public/private data

Ethics of data collection and publication

8) What is a case study; Structured focused comparison; Mills methods (George, Bennett 2005, Ragin 2009, Liberson 1991)

What is a case study?

Structured focused comparison

Method of (dis)agreement

Critique – Small N´s big conclusions

9) Most-likely/Least likely (plausibility probe), Congruence method (George, Bennett 2004, Gerring 2007)

Congruence method – experimental template

Intuitive properties of hard and easy tests

Bayesian perspective?

Critique

10) Quant x qual divide… how many research paradigms (Mahoney, Goertz 2012 and reactions)

Comparative advantages/disadvantages

Obstacles for mixed method research

Causes of effects vs. effects of causes

11) Measurement error and other common problems in research (KKV 1994)

Measurement error in quant research – when it makes for big troubles?

Measurement error in qual research – neglect is not a solution

12) Test

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