290217 VU Introduction to Empirical Social Research for Geo. (2007S)

After considering diverse problems of "measuring" in social sciences, we will discuss various levels of scales as well as objectivity, validity and reliability. The following survey aims at comparing relevant techniques of social scientific investigation (among others: observation, group discussion, sociometry, experiment, contents analysis, secondary analysis, research strategies, Delphi Method, semantic differential technique), providing examples of good practice and advanced literature. The main part of the course is dedicated to interviewing techniques (question skills, the questionnaire and its structure). Taking a concrete empirical interview project as a basis, we will end up discussing its individual procedures (including determining key interview issues, instrument development, data analysis and technical report).