AOS240 Research in Social Sciences

The course is organised around three types of empirical research design used in social science research: explorative design (including interviews and focus groups), descriptive design (including surveys) and causal design (inkluding experiments).

The course covers opportunities and limitations with different research designs, how different research questions results in different method choice, and how the choice and implementation of methods determines which conclusions can be drawn.

After the students have completed the course, they are expected to have acquired the following knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

The student shall

- have basic knowledge of various forms of research design used in social science research

- have knowledge of the design and conduct of surveys, interviews, focus groups and experiments in social science research

- have knowledge of probability and non-probability samples

- have knowledge of requirements for causal explanations in social sciences

- have knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of different social science methods

- have knowledge of validity and reliability

Skill:

The student shall

- be able to evaluate what kind of research design is best suited to different issues

- be able to define research questions and testable hypotheses

- be able to understand and use key concepts related to social science methodology

- be able to create web-based questionnaires of good quality

- be able to assess whether causal explanations satisfy common requirements for causal explanations

General competence:

The student shall

- be able to obtain relevant answers to academic issues, through the use of different forms of social science methods

- be able to carry out data collection for a social science master's thesis using surveys, interviews, focus groups or experiments

- be able to critically assess the performance and results of social sciences research