FTR-FIPPSB108
Emperical Research Methods
Course infoSchedule
Course moduleFTR-FIPPSB108
Credits (ECTS)5
Category-
Language of instructionEnglish
Offered byRadboud University; Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies; Opleiding Filosofie;
Lecturer(s)
Examiner
prof. dr. C.J.A. Sterkens
Other course modules lecturer
Contactperson for the course
prof. dr. C.J.A. Sterkens
Other course modules lecturer
Lecturer
prof. dr. C.J.A. Sterkens
Other course modules lecturer
Lecturer
dr. P.A.D.M. Vermeer
Other course modules lecturer
Examiner
dr. P.A.D.M. Vermeer
Other course modules lecturer
Academic year2018
Period
PER3-PER4  (04/02/2019 to 09/06/2019)
Starting block
PER3
Course mode
full-time
Remarks-
Registration using OSIRISYes
Course open to students from other facultiesNo
Pre-registrationNo
Waiting listNo
Placement procedure-
Aims
Students are able to:
  • demonstrate a critical understanding of empirical research methods and how they relate to the political decision making;
  • evaluate different types of research questions and choose the most appropriate data collection and analysis strategies to answer these questions;
  • explain the relationship between concept and measurement;
  • develop reliable and valid survey measures;
  • distinguish and explain types of experiments;
  • interpret quantitative and qualitative outputs and evaluate them based on different quality criteria
  • formulate a research problem suitable for empirical research, and develop a related research design.
Content
This course exposes students to a variety of methods and data analytic tools to enable them to understand and evaluate empirical research relevant for political decision-making, and the description and explanation of social phenomena. After a short introduction of the philosophical foundations and assumptions of empirical methodology and research practice, this course focuses on the development, application and interpretation of empirical research. At first, different aspects of scientific integrity relevant for empirical research are discussed, followed by the development of a research plan. The research plan contains a problem formulation (specified in research questions, aim and conceptual model) and a research design (research strategy, operationalisation of concepts, data-collection, analyses and report of findings). A distinction is made between different types of empirical research (fundamental versus practice oriented) and different approaches (analytic and interpretative), as well as different research designs (survey, experiments and ethnographic fieldwork). Special attention is given to different forms of reliability and validity of measurements and observations. All this will be illustrated with examples of recent empirical research related to topics discussed elsewhere in the Philosophy, Politics and Society (PPS) programme: concepts of democracy; models of separation between religion and state; attribution of and attitudes towards poverty; and social conflict.
 
Instructional modes
Lecture
Attendance MandatoryYes

Tests
Written Exam
Test weight1
Test typeExam
OpportunitiesBlock TENT4, Block TENT4