Cursus omschrijving
What makes social science scientific? What’s the different between social science and journalism? What are the goals of social science research? How do we construct research in such a way that it becomes scientific? How do we reduce our ideas into concepts that can be systematically studied? How do we get from idea into something that can be measured in practice? How do we evaluate how good our measures are of the real world? How can we systematically gather data? How do we go about if we can’t gather all relevant data but have to choose to only look at a fraction of reality? What are the techniques available for gathering data? And what are the different ways that we can use to analyze the data we have gathered?
In order to answer these types of questions, the course provides an introduction to social science research. The idea is to develop student skills in social inquiry in a scientific way We will both discuss what social science is and go into more practical techniques for conducting research in practice. Expressed differently, the course introduces students to what can be regarded as the “craft”of their disciplines, i.e. the method and techniques they need to use to study the empirics of public administration through their master studies. We will consider how questions and problems are formulated in social science, and how data can be collected and analyzed. Such skills are invaluable in your subsequent university courses as well in your personal and professional lives as more generally.
coordinator:
dr. Anne Rasmussen
Verplichte literatuur
Earl Babbie (2010) The Practice of Social Research (hereafter: Babbie), Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 12th edition.
ISBN-10: 0495598410
ISBN-13: 978-0495598411
Nb, er is een hard-copy en een paperbackversie van dit boek. U kunt gewoon de (goedkopere) paperback aanschaffen.
Indien studenten verdiepende literatuur wensen, raden de docenten de volgende titels aan:
Bob Hancke (2009) Intelligent Research Design, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Thomas Gschwend and Frank Schimmelfennig (2007) Research Design in Political Science, London: Palgrave
Deze twee boeken onderscheiden zich van de overige literatuur, omdat de nadruk meer licht op onderzoeksontwerp in plaats van de vraag wat de aard van sociaal-wetenschappelijk onderzoek is.
Rooster avond
Dinsdag 2 november 2010 tot en met dinsdag 14 december 2010 van 20.00-21.30. Locatie: zaal 403 aula, Campus Den Haag, Lange Houtstraat 5 (op 16/23/30nov extra zaal 404/405, voor info. vraag docent)
Tentamen: 21-12-2010 in zaal 404/405 van 18.30-21.30 uur
Hertentamen: 17-01-2011 in zaal 403 (aula) van 18.30-21.30 uur
_Let op! Er kunnen nog wijzigingen optreden in dit rooster
Laatste wijziging: 6 oktober 2010_