Universität Wien
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290111 VU Text and policy analysis as methods of empirical spatial research (2025S)

6.00 ECTS (3.00 SWS), SPL 29 - Geographie
Continuous assessment of course work
Moodle
We 05.03. 11:30-13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528

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Details

max. 20 participants
Language: German

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Wednesday 19.03. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 26.03. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 02.04. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 09.04. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 30.04. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 07.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 14.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 21.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 28.05. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 04.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 11.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 18.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528
  • Wednesday 25.06. 11:30 - 13:00 Seminarraum Geographie NIG 5.OG C0528

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

The creation and distribution of textual media is a central element of communication and the stabilisation of social structures. Be it newspaper articles, legal texts, mission statement documents or the comment columns of an online newspaper - contemporary societies document themselves to an astonishing degree, which we can utilise as ‘natural data’ for empirical spatial research. Depending on the approach, we can analyse the material with different analytical depths - from descriptive to interpretative.

Since the examination of (public) textual material is particularly suitable for a macroscopic view of political negotiation processes, in this course we will focus on methods for analysing policies, i.e. political topics, their emergence and impact.

Through the input and exercise parts of the course, students will acquire a toolbox for systematically categorising documents, critically evaluating them and making them usable for research and planning purposes.

Learning objectives:
- Students will be able to select suitable approaches for text analysis depending on the type of document and the task at hand
- Students will be able to differentiate between academic and other text documents, conduct systematic research and apply digital methods for corpus creation
- Students understand how to create a coding scheme and can apply a given coding scheme in MaxQDA
- Students can explain the difference between pragmatic and interpretative/discursive policy analyses
- Students understand the connection between policy analyses and spatial planning and spatial research
- Students know about the areas of application of pragmatic policy analyses. They can describe the process steps of such analyses and critically evaluate policy documents.
- Students can explain the difference between manifest and latent levels of meaning
- Students know methods for understanding the social dimension of a political topic and can apply interpretative analysis tools.

Assessment and permitted materials

The VU consists of inputs and literature discussions in which the content basis is developed, as well as practical exercises on site. Reading questions must be answered via Moodle in preparation for the literature discussions. In addition, a homework assignment will be given for each of the three parts of the lecture, which must be completed individually and uploaded via Moodle.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Will be announced in the first course unit.

Examination topics

No examination - course with immanent examination. The tasks are explained in the course units and announced via Moodle.

Reading list

The updated bibliography will be announced via Moodle.

Bracken, I. 2014. Urban Planning Methods – Research and Policy Analysis. London: Routledge.
Brun, G., and G. Hirsch Hadorn. 2021. Textanalyse in den Wissenschaften – Inhalte und Argumente analysieren und verstehen. Zürich: vdf Hochschulverlag AG.
Münch, Sybille. 2016. Interpretative Policy-Analyse – Eine Einführung. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Patton, C., D. S. Sawicki, and J. J. Clark. 2016. Basic Methods of Policy Analysis and Planning. Third Edition. New York, Oxon: Routledge.
Salheiser, Axel. 2014. „Natürliche Daten: Dokumente“. In Handbuch Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung, herausgegeben von Nina Baur und Jörg Blasius, 813–27. Handbuch. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Weimer, L. and A. Vining. 2017. Policy Analysis – Concepts and Practice. Sixth Edition. New York, Oxon: Routledge.

Association in the course directory

(MR1-a/b)

Last modified: Th 13.02.2025 15:46