Theories and Methods in Science

Overview

The aim of this module is to give an introduction into the methods of the social and economic sciences, with special emphasis on the research process and data collection methods.

By the end of this module, a student should understand

• what social science is and how it is done,
• what the relationship between theory and data is and which role modeling has,
• which types of data are available to the social scientist and
• which methods are used to collect these data.

Syllabus and time schedule of the lecture course

1. Social Science as Empirical Science
2. Topics and Questions of Social Science
3. Paradigms in Social Science
4. Induction and Deduction
5. Observation, Measurement and Experiment in the Social Sciences
6. Surveys and Questionnaires

Course material

All slides for this course can soon be found here (not yet updated).

Research methods, particularly data collection methods are dealt with in this paper (which has not been revised for al long time!).

Basic Reading

• Keith F. Punch (1998). Introduction to Social Research. Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. London: Sage
• Arlene Fink (1995/2002). The Survey Kit. London: Sage
• Andreas Diekmann (2007). Empirische Spozialforschung. Grundlagen, Methoden, Anwendungen. 18. Auflage. Reinbek: Rowohlt