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2022/2023

Research Methodology

Code: 42455 ECTS Credits: 10
Degree Type Year Semester
4313500 Public Administration OT 0 2

Contact

Name:
Danislava Milkova Marinova
Email:
dani.marinova@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
english (eng)

Teachers

Eva Ostergaard-Nielsen
Lara Ivana Maestripieri

External teachers

Miriam Acebillo
Roberto Pannico

Prerequisites

Students must have basic research methods skills (undergraduate social sciences level).

Objectives and Contextualisation

The aim of this course is for the students to be familiar with and know how to apply a series of the main social science research techniques of collecting and analyzing data. In order to meet these objectives, we include both quantitative and qualitative techniques. We prioritize issues of practical training and interpretation over mathematical questions. We want students:

  • To be able to design academic and applied research projects in an independent manner and using the relevant terminology, argumentation and analytical framework.
  • To be able to evaluate applied or academic research with relevant criteria.
  • To be able to learn by him/herself in an autonomous way. 

Competences

  • Apply appropriate methodological techniques for rigorous analysis of public intervention in society and the economy.
  • Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously
  • Design a well-defined research project in accordance with the criteria of conceptual and methodological rigour in the framework of the social sciences.
  • Design technical projects and reports using the appropriate research methodology.
  • Evaluate projects, reports and analyses produced by others, with appropriate methodological and argumentative criteria.
  • Manage a varied and complex body of data and sources.
  • Work in international and multidisciplinary teams, with members from varying social, political, cultural and administrative backgrounds.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  2. Design technical projects and reports using the appropriate research methodology.
  3. Evaluate projects, reports and analyses produced by others, with appropriate methodological and argumentative criteria.
  4. Identify advantages and difficulties related to the validity and reliability of the chosen techniques.
  5. Identify the most appropriate qualitative techniques to respond to a research question with the available data and analyse these.
  6. Identify the most appropriate quantitative techniques to respond to a research question with the available data and analyse these.
  7. Identify the sources of data available to address the research problem that has been formulated
  8. Know the current debates and challenges regarding the principal quantitative and qualitative research techniques.
  9. Know the principal quantitative and qualitative research techniques.
  10. Make the phenomena/factors that are of significance for the study observable.
  11. Relate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques to a research question and justify this relation.
  12. Work in international and multidisciplinary teams, with members from varying social, political, cultural and administrative backgrounds.

Content

QUALITATIVE METHODS (Convenor:Lara Ivana Maestripieri )

Introduction:

Session 1. Introduction to qualitative research techniques  
What are the main characteristics of qualitative research? How to assess validity and reliability in qualitative research? What kind of research questions can we ask using qualitative research techniques? Which types of qualitative techniques can best be combined and how may they be triangulated?

Data collection:

Session 2. Field research  
This class will examine methodological and practical issues of ethnographic research. It will cover: typologies of field research, the fieldwork entry, the (participant) observation, the collection of information, and the analyses of qualitative evidence.

Session 3. Interviews I  
What are the characteristics and differences between structured, semi-structured and open-ended/narrative interviews? How may the researcher sample the interviewees in a qualitative research project?

Session 4. Interviews II -  

Session 5. Interviews III - Focus Group  
In this class, there will be an introduction to focus group, taking into account conceptual considerations, best practices and how to design it.

Session 6. Further issues in Qualitative Research  
We will cover ethical issues, sensitive topics, and transparency in qualitative research (active citation and archiving).

Data analysis:

Session 7. Discourse analysis 
This session will clarify what discourses are, how they function and how we can analyse them. In addition, we will deal with the types of discourse analysis and we will reflect upon the kinds of data we can examine discursively.

Sessions 8, 9, and 10. Analysis of Interviews: Introduction to CAQDAS and ATLAS.ti  

QUANTITATIVE METHODS (Convenor: Dani Marinova)

Session 1: Introduction to data analysis

Session 2: Descriptive statistics

Session 3: Basic bivariate analysis

Session 4, 5: Introduction to statistical inference

Session 6, 7: Bivariate hypothesis testing

Session 8: Correlation and bivariate regression

Session 9: Summary/recap of the previous quantitative sessions

Session 10, 11: Multiple regression (I)

Session 12, 13: Multiple regression (II): Categorical independent variables

Methodology

The evaluation will be based on the realization of:

1. Exercises applying qualitative techniques

 

2. Exercises applying quantitative techniques

 

3. Exam

 

 

The assessment of the quantitative part represents 50% of the final mark. Students will complete 2 exercises during the course. Each one of them accounts for 50% of this part

 

The assessment of the quantitative part represents 50% of the final mark. The students will perform 1 work during the course and a final exam. Each one of these accounts for 50% of this part

 

NOTE that 15 minutes by the end of the course will be spared to complete a satisfaction survey in the classroom

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Master classes 50 2 3, 8, 9, 2, 10, 4, 7, 5, 6, 1, 11, 12
Type: Supervised      
Seminars and tutorial sessions 75 3 3, 8, 9, 2, 10, 4, 7, 5, 6, 1, 11, 12
Type: Autonomous      
Assignment and exercises 125 5 3, 8, 9, 2, 10, 4, 7, 5, 6, 1, 11, 12

Assessment

The evaluation will be based on the Realization of:

 

1. Exercises applying qualitative techniques

2. Exercises applying quantitative techniques

3. Exam

 

The assessment of the qualitative part represents 50% of the final mark. Students will complete 2 exercises during the course. Each one of them accounts for 50% of this part.

The assessment of the quantitative part represents  50% of the final mark. The students will submit 1 exercise and take a final exam. Each one of these accounts for 50% of this part.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignments qualitative techniques 50 0 0 3, 8, 9, 2, 10, 4, 7, 5, 6, 1, 11, 12
Assignments quantitative techniques 25 0 0 3, 8, 9, 2, 10, 4, 7, 5, 6, 1, 11, 12
Exam quantitative techniques 25 0 0 3, 8, 9, 2, 10, 4, 7, 5, 6, 1, 11, 12

Bibliography

Core readings

Qualitative

Bryman, A. 2012. Social Research Methods. Oxford, Oxford University Press

Della Porta, D. & M. Keating, M. 2008. Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Kapiszewski, Diana, MacLean, Lauren M., Read, Benjamin L. 2015. Field Research in Political Science: Practices and Principles. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

Hesse-Biber, S. And Leavy, P. 2010. The practice of qualitative research. Sage.

Quantitative

Kellstedt, P. M. & G. D. Whitten. 2013. The Fundamentals of Political Science Research, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pollock, P. H. 2016. The Essentials of Political Analysis, 5th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Pollock, P. H. 2015. A Stata Companion to Political Analysis, 3rd ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

Software

Qualitative Techniques

  • NVivo
  • Atlas-ti

Quantitative Techniques

  • STATA (12)