Social science research methods MEE115

It is expected that the students after completing the course will have the following knowledge, skills, and general competencies.

Knowledge

Students who successfully complete the course will:

• know and understand the principles of doing research in social sciences.
• have some philosophy of science foundation for the knowledge. 

Skills

Students who successfully complete the course should be able to:

• participate in the methodology discourse in empirical social sciences.
• evaluate social science research.
• design and conduct research, i.e., be able to choose and implement an appropriate research design, including to:

               - develop a problem statement and research questions.

               - choose a research strategy.

               - develop an analytical/theoretical framework.

               - use different qualitative and quantitative methods.

               - develop sound measurements.

               - design an adequate sampling plan.

               - analyze the data and report findings appropriately.

               - have a good understanding of the quality and validity of their findings. 

General competence

Students who successfully complete the course should be able to:

• critically evaluate their own and others' empirical research.
• update their knowledge of research methodology.
• research and write a readable and scientifically sound master thesis.

Research methodology and research methods are at the heart of the course and attached to two major societal challenges: 1) how to study the political, economic, environmental, and social processes involved with the transition towards a sustainable future, and 2), how to study the challenges of societal safety. This includes scientific frameworks that shape research designs, thereby giving practical scientific work direction. Further, this includes specific research methods to gather and analyze data on specific phenomena such as the discussion and/or implementation of specific sustainability, safety, or security measures.

The course consists of three main, intertwined parts:

Part one places great emphasis on research designs, i.e. development/clarification of the problem to be addressed and what aspects should be investigated, choice of theoretical and conceptual background, and the use of qualitative methods (i.e., interviews, text analysis, discourse analyses, data collection and analysis, and report writing). In this part, participants will start exploring their Master thesis project.

In part two, different approaches to case study designs will be explained ("most-similar", "small-N", "medium-N" etc.).

The third part mainly covers quantitative research methods, ways of collecting primary and secondary data, applying standard data handling and analysis systems; analyze and report the findings; interpret the results, and critically evaluate the quality of their work.