Methods

Entry requirements

Political science advanced level, Development Studies advanced level or equivalent education.

Learning outcomes

After having completed this course, students will:

• Be able to evaluate the validity of qualitative and quantitative research
• Have assessed the relative merits of qualitative and quantitative approaches to a given research problem
• Be able to perform own research of both the qualitative and quantitative kind
• Have experience with statistical software to perform descriptive, explanatory and visual analyses of quantitative data

Content

The most exciting part of social science is new research. Fresh ideas can breathe new life into old debates. New findings can confirm, or overturn, existing views of society. Surprising results can generate novel insights into the workings of the world. However, any new empirical research will have to describe and, in many cases, explain certain aspects of the world. With this in mind, this course will introduce the tools of modern social science to help you accomplish this.

The objective is to strengthen the students’ ability to apply various methods in practical research but also to improve the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different methodological techniques. The course gives equal room for quantitative and qualitative techniques. It emphasises overlaps as well as differences between intensive small-n studies and extensive large-n investigations as regards inferential logic and research techniques. The course discusses the different stages of the research process and the critical methodological choices that a researcher is confronted with when designing and conducting social scientific studies.

Instruction

The course consists of a number of weeklong segments involving lectures, mandatory seminars, and weekly homework. Some of the homework will involve using statistical software.

Assessment

Grading is based on participation in seminars, completion of the problem sets that are handed in at seminars and two written exams.

The grades are VG (Pass with distinction), G (Pass) or U (Failed).