Knowledge: Students obtain up-to-date methodological knowledge of and insights in typical research questions in cross-cultural research: in typical cross-cultural designs, in typical problems and solutions, data and analyses. Students obtain knowledge of and insights in the possibilities and limitations of cross-cultural research.
Skills: Students obtain skills in finding relevant sources related to cross-cultural research, to understand these sources and follow their developments. Students enhance their ability to critically review and to interpret research results derived from cross-cultural research and to formulate evaluative conclusions based on these results. Students learn how to communicate about and discuss scientific knowledge derived from cross-cultural research. Students learn how to deliver an oral presentation and how to write a lucid paper on a particular piece of cross-cultural research. All materials, teaching, presentations and discussion will be in English to improve linguistics skills of students.
Attitudes: Students develop a critical attitude towards prevailing cross-cultural theories and comparative methodology. Issues on scientific integrity are explicitly addressed. |
 |
|
In a series of obligatory meetings, students will be provided with insights in methodological issues on cross-cultural research questions, common kinds of research designs, methodological errors and hot topics in this kind of research.
In part 1, they will be taught in how to improve research questions, theories and hypotheses and research designs in large-scale quantitative cross-cultural research; and moreover, to avoid errors in questionnaire designs and sampling, use of data sources and analyses. Major contemporary cross-cultural research will be presented, their possibilities and limitations.
In part 2, students are taught qualitative research, research questions, designs and analyses as well as writing strategies leading up to ‘within site’ and ‘between sites’ thick comparison. Major developments in cross-cultural ethnographic and case study comparison will be presented, their limitations, opportunities and challenges.
For both parts, students will present and write papers on the methodological quality, possibilities and limitations on cross-cultural papers of their own interest.
Week:
Part 1: Methodology of and for comparative quantitative research
1 Goals, questions and designs
2 Data and analysis
3 Progress meeting
4 Presentations
Part 2: Thick comparison: On the multiple facets of qualitative research comparability
5 Qualitative research and comparison
6 Designs, data and analysis
7 Progress meeting
8 Presentations
|
|
|
|
|
|
|