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
Bart van Horck MPhil
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
Dinsdag 01/11 t/m 6/12,
Tijd: 20.00-21.30 uur
Zaal: Campus Den haag, Lange Houtstraat 7, zaal 403
15/12 van 20-22 juur in, Stichthage, zaal Lange Voorhout
Tentamen:
Dinsdag 20/12 van 18.30-21.30 uur in Lange Houtstraat, zaal 401/402/403/404/405
Hertentamen:
Dinsdag 17/1/12 van 18.30-21.30 uur in Lange Houtstraat, zaal 403