Day 1, morning (10.30-12.00)

introductory meeting / discussion

introduction to the course
what is science? What makes a study scientific?
inventorisation of wishes and expectations
format of a grant proposal

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S:

Assignments:

Day 1, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

lecture / working group

goals of scientific research: basic and applied research
types of research: qualitative and quantitative research
what kind of questions can one research?
empirical cycle.
examples: how does a question get translated into a study?

R: Neuman, p. 20-25 (basic-applied) & 30-37 (time scales & quant.-qual.); p. 141-144 (explains how one gets to hypotheses)

S:

Assignments:

Day 2, morning (10.30-12.00)

lecture / discussion

Hypothesis testing and the hypothetico-deductive model of science
what one tests: Duhem-Quine thesis
views on the social sciences

R:

S: J., S. & K., p. 5-18 (difference science-normal knowing); Popper (1981). Science, pseudoscience and falsifiability

Assignments: hand in three research questions with motivation

Day 2, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

lecture / working group

discussion of handed-in assignments
dependent and independent variables
internal and external validity,
construct validity

R: J., S. & K., p. 27-36 (types of validity)

S:

Assignments:

Day 3, morning (10.30-12.00)

lecture

measurement and operationalisation
different forms of measurement
levels of measurement

R: J., S. & K., p. 42- 56 (measuring, reliability & validity of meas.), and p. 61-64 (scales)

S:

Assignments: hand in faulty research assignment

Day 3, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

working group

discussion of handed-in assignments
reliability and validity
issues involved in measurement

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S:

Assignments:

Day 4, morning (10.30-12.00)

lecture / discussion

experiments and quasi-experiments
designing experiments
manipulations, dependent and independent variables

R: J., S. & K., p. 69-84 (what are experiments), and p. 100-104 (what are quasi-expmts)

S: J.S. & K.: p. 84-94, and p. 105-109 (designs of expmts & quasi-expmts)

Assignments: hand in a worked-out idea for how to measure love in relations

Day 4, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

working group

discussion of assignment
what can go wrong in experiments
why is matching bad

R: J. S. & K.: p. 95-98, and p. 124-126 (threats to exmpts & quasi-expmts)

S:

Assignments:

Day 5, morning (10.30-12.00)

lecture / discussion

discussion of handed-in assignments
survey research
sampling and generalisation
designing questionnaires

R: Neuman, p. 250-262 (writing questions), J., S. & K., p. 128-142 (sampling), and p. 224-226 (procedure in survey research)

S: Neuman, p. 262-280 (more on writing questions)

Assignments: hand in faulty experiments assignment

Day 5, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

lecture / discussion

qualitative research
participant observation
interview
case studies
discussion of assignment for Tuesday (day 7)

R: J., S. & K., p.260-264 (unstructured interview), p. 270-277 (observation), and p. 299-306 (qual. field work), Neuman p. 165 (intercoder reliability)

S: J., S. & K., p. 278-286 (more on observation), and p. 307-319; Nisbett & Wilson (1977)

Assignments: hand in non-research related questions of E.U. grant proposal form

Day 6, morning (10.30-12.00)

working group

discussion of handed-in assignments
what can go wrong with survey research?
designing a questionnaire on quality of garbage collection in Prizren

R: Same as on day 5: Neuman, p. 250-262 (writing questions), J., S. & K., p. 128-142 (sampling), and p. 224-226 (procedure in survey research)

S:

Assignments: hand in faulty survey assignment
think about topics for the open session on Friday

Day 6, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

working group

discussion of open sessions
how should one go about observation?

R: Same as on day 5: J., S. & K., p.260-264, p. 270-277 and p. 299-306; Neuman p. 165

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Assignments:

Day 7, morning (10.30-12.00)

lecture

introduction to descriptive statistics: random variables,
distributions, mean, variance.

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S:

Assignments: hand in summary of research design

Day 7, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

lecture

what questions do statistical tests answer?
general linear model

R: Maxwell & Delaney, p. 64-67

S:

Assignments:

Day 8, morning (10.30-12.00)

working group

testing for group difference
what is the idea behind t-test and analysis of variance
what is the idea behind the chi-square test

R: Maxwell & Delaney, p. 67-77

S: Maxwell & Delaney, p. 77-83

Assignments: suggest statistic for several research questions,
suggest statistic for own research proposal

Day 8, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

working group

testing for linear relations: correlation and regression
discussion of handed-in assignments

R: Maxwell & Delaney, p. 208-214; Draper & Smith, p. 40-43

S: Maxwell & Delaney, p. 214-217

Assignments:

Day 9, morning (10.30-12.00)

lecture / discussion

recap of reliability and validity
fitting reliability & validity in the general linear model

R: J., S. & K., p. 75-79 (also assigned on day 4)

S:

Assignments:

Day 9, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

lecture / working group

drawing appropriate conclusions from research
avoiding statistical pitfalls

R: Neuman, p. 134-140

S:

Assignments: find and discuss the flaws in the conclusions drawn in several studies

Day 10, morning (10.30-12.00)

OPEN SESSION
topic to be decided by participants

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S:

Assignments:

Day 10, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

lecture / working group

dissemination of findings
ethics of research

R: Neuman: 481-493 (sociologist’s ethical code)

S:

Assignments: hand in completed grant proposal

Day 10, afternoon (14.30-16.00)

discussion

evaluation of course
feedback on handed-in grant proposals
award of grant

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S:

Assignments: