Formación Básica (Basic Training)

Mandatory

Undergraduate students.

The following themes will be discussed during our lectures:

1. The big words: Research, Concepts, Methods, and Techniques

2. How to ask a question?

3. Ways of learning in science: inductive and deductive thinking

4. Description, Exploration, and Causation

5. Concepts as Paradigms

6. Methods as Strategies

7. Techniques as Tools

8. The fuel to it all: empirical evidence

9. Types of Data

10. Data collection and measurement validity

11. Methods in detail: the comparative method

12. Methods in detail: case study and process tracing

13. Techniques in detail: statistical analysis

14. Techniques in detail: content and discourse analysis

1. Selecting the best way of collect data for a research design

2. Recognizing different types of data

3. Examining the validity of measurements

4. Comparing apples to apples or apples to oranges

5. Selecting a research method for my research and defining the best technique to analyze my data

The course will promote the following skills:

1. Understanding what data analysis is
2. Developing basic analytical capacities
3. Critical thinking about research
4. Being able to locate and generate useful information for the analysis

The specific skills fostered are the following:

1. The capacity to classify information and measurement types
2. Ability to differentiate between quantitative and qualitative methods
3. Ability to recognize the adequate method and technique for the analysis
4. Basic training in the R statistical package

1. Critical thought and data analysis
2. Structured reading of scientific texts
3. Autonomy in finding bibliographical resources
4. Autonomy in performing research work

This is just a basic reading list. The complete bibliography will be posted on the webpage of the course at the beginning of the second semester:

Adcock, Robert, and David Collier. 2001. “Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research.” American Political Science Review 95 (3): 529–46.

Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., Henry E. Brady, and David Collier, eds. 2010. The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology. 1 edition. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press.

Carmines, Edward G., and Richard A. Zeller. 1979. Reliability and Validity Assessment. Vol. 17. Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences. London: Sage Publications.

Coppedge, Michael. 2012. Democratization and Research Methods. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press.

Few, Stephen. 2012. Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten. Second edition. Burlingame, Calif: Analytics Press.

Few, Stephen. 2015. Signal: Understanding What Matters in a World of Noise. Burlingame, California: Analytics Press.

George, Alexander L., and Andrew Bennett. 2007. Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Gerring, John. 1999. “What Makes a Concept Good? A Criterial Framework for Understanding Concept Formation in the Social Sciences.” Polity 31 (3): 357–93.

Gerring, John. 2007. Case Study Research: Principles and Practices. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gerring, John. 2012. Social Science Methodology: A Unified Framework. 2 edition. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press.

Goertz, Gary, and James Mahoney. 2012. A Tale of Two Cultures: Qualitative and Quantitative Research in the Social Sciences. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Goertz, Gary. 2006. Social Science Concepts: A User’s Guide. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Kabacoff, Robert. 2015. R in Action: Data Analysis and Graphics with R. Second edition. Shelter Island: Manning Publications.

King, Gary, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Levine, David, and David Stephan. 2009. Even You Can Learn Statistics: A Guide for Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid of Statistics. 2 edition. Upper Saddle River, N.J: FT Press.

Lupi, Giorgia, Stefanie Posavec, and Maria Popova. 2016. Dear Data. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Nisbet, Robert, and Paul Edward Gottfried. 2001. Sociology as an Art Form. 0002–Revised edition ed. New Brunswick, N.J: Transaction Publishers.

Ragin, Charles C. 2014. The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. First Edition, With a New Introduction edition. Oakland: University of California Press.

The evaluation aims at verifying the advancements of students during the entire semester.

Reading and comprehension of basic concepts and paradigms on research methods and techniques.

Continuous evaluation through individual assignments performed during the entire semester.

Critical thinking and the capacity to apply the acquired knowledge to practical situations and cases.

The evaluation will be as following:

Three Individual assignments performed during the semester and delivered through Studium.

Read all texts and attend classes.

All content will be evaluated in the second exam. The qualifications of previous exercises, such as the reading reports or bibliographic essays, will not be considered in this phase.