Admission requirements
MSc International Relations and Diplomacy students.
Description
This course covers research design in political science and thus methods enabling to effectively address a research problem. It focuses on practical issues of conducting research, such as choosing a topic, formulating a research question, generating testable hypotheses, operationalizing concepts and finding relevant data, choosing an empirical strategy, combining various research methods, communicating research output etc. Furthermore, this course reviews several research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, and introduces learners to numerous data-gathering methods/tools.
Course objectives
By the end of this course, the learners will be able to (1) formulate a research question and assess its social and academic relevance, (2) develop testable hypotheses, (3) decide on a proper research strategy to answer a research question (qualitative vs. quantitative research strategy, mixed-methods approach), (4) apply several novel data-gathering/collection tools, and (5) effectively communicate research outcomes.
Timetable
See the link at the front page of this programme
Mode of instruction
Lectures, class discussion, self-study (including homework assignments)
Course Load
5 EC
Assessment method
Final grades are calculated based on five components:
Short paper (10%),
Peer review (10%),
In-class presentation (20%),
Homework (30%),
Seminar paper (30%).
Details for submitting papers (deadlines) are posted on Blackboard.
You can find more information about assessments and the timetable exams on the website.
Details for submitting papers (deadlines) are posted on Blackboard.
Blackboard
To be announced.
Reading list
Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba (1994). Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton University Press
Academic articles announced before the lectures.
Registration
Use both uSis and Blackboard to register for every course.
Register for every course and workgroup via uSis. Some courses and workgroups have a limited number of participants, so register on time (before the course starts). In uSis you can access your personal schedule and view your results. Registration in uSis is possible from four weeks before the start of the course.
Also register for every course in Blackboard. Important information about the course is posted here.