Universität Wien

210113 UE M2: Research Methods for Political Science (2023S)

M2: Research Methods for Political Science (engl.)

8.00 ECTS (4.00 SWS), SPL 21 - Politikwissenschaft
Continuous assessment of course work

Eine Anmeldung über u:space innerhalb der Anmeldephase ist erforderlich! Eine nachträgliche Anmeldung ist NICHT möglich.
Studierende, die der ersten Einheit unentschuldigt fern bleiben, verlieren ihren Platz in der Lehrveranstaltung.

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Moodle

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 35 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 01.03. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 08.03. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 15.03. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 22.03. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 29.03. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 19.04. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 26.04. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 03.05. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 10.05. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 17.05. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 24.05. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 31.05. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 07.06. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 14.06. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 21.06. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33
  • Wednesday 28.06. 08:00 - 11:15 Seminarraum 6 UniCampus Hof 7 Eingang 7.1 OG01 2H-O1-33

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Content
The course deals with the development of a research design. For this purpose all key concepts and steps of a solid research design are discussed: formulation of a research question, literature review, theory, hypothesis definition and testing, concept definitions and operationalization, case selection, and empirical verification.

Some of the questions that will be discussed include the following: How to develop and formulate a good research question? What is a suitable sampling strategy or estimation approach for a given research question? How to deal with validity concerns and decrease uncertainty in empirical estimations? Against this backdrop, the seminar also discusses statistical methods that are useful for answering the research question and to test hypotheses. The empirical analyses are carried out using the programme Stata.

Learning Outcomes
Students, who have read the material and both regularly and succesfully participated in class, will be able to:
- develop good research questions and an appropriate research design for a research paper (e.g. a MA thesis);
- design and conduct research studies which require the collection and analysis of quantitative data;
- analyse quantitative data and interpret empirical results using Stata;
- draw appropriate conclusions based on statistical results;
- improve their scientific writing skills;
- critically evaluate scientific evidence that is communicated in academic journals, the popular press, and other outlets such as reports from government agencies, non-profit organizations, and corporations.

Assessment and permitted materials

The final grade is made up of:
- homeworks (40%),
- research outline (10%),
- final paper (40%),
- active class participation (10%).

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Attendance policy:
Only 2 class absences are allowed.

Requirements:
Students can only pass this course if students submit the homework in time, miss only two classes (maximum), and submit the research outline, and final paper on time.

The software Turnitin will be used to check plagiarism.

Grading Scale:
90-100 points = 1 (excellent)
80-89 points = 2 (good)
70-79 points = 3 (satisfactory)
60-69 points = 4 (sufficient)
< 60 points = 5 (fail)

Examination topics

Students will be assessed based on their ability to formulate a research question, develop a research design as well as on their knowledge of key quantitative skills.

Reading list

-Kellstedt, P. M. and Whitten, G. D. (2013) The Fundamentals of Political Science Research, Cambridge University Press.
-Agresti A. (2018) Statistical methods for the Social Sciences, 5th Edition.

Association in the course directory

Last modified: Th 14.11.2024 00:15