Methodology Clinic B

Spring 2010

Course Objective:

The objective of this course is to help ASSR students of all disciplines to develop the research design and methodology for their own research projects. We will discuss all stages of research, from the theoretical conception of the research question via concept- and/or hypothesis-building, to the definition and operationalization of propositions, to case and/or data selection and choice of method of analysis, on through to analysis and interpretation of results. This is not a methods course but a course about research design. Using practical examples drawn from the projects of participants, we will discuss the merits and shortcomings of different epistemological and methodological approaches, the ways in which research using these different approaches and methods can be designed, and which common mistakes need to be avoided. The practical aim is to help students in the design and production of their PhD work. To this end, students’ own research proposals will be discussed in detail and guidance will be given towards the completion of the 8-month paper.

The course meets twice a week for two hours (i.e. four hours a week) between the week beginning March 23rd and the beginning of May, with a final gathering at the end of May. Since practical tasks are regularly assigned alongside the course readings, the course should be considered intensive.

Course Requirements:

After the initial presentation of their research proposals, participants are expected to complete the assigned readings on time week by week and come to all meetings prepared to discuss them. At four points during the course, specific tasks are assigned. Students’ reactions to these tasks will be discussed in class. In preparation for these discussions, participants are expected to circulate (by e-mail) a written response to each task before the meeting in which it will be discussed. At the end of the semester a revised and coherently structured response to all four tasks - amounting to the methodological section of the 8-month paper - must be submitted in writing at the same time as the final presentation is held. Students will be evaluated on the basis of this paper, as well as their participation throughout the course.

Practical information:

Teaching Staff: Brian Burgoon and Annette Freyberg-Inan

Period: 22 March - 3 May 2010 (room B.019 East Indies House), with a long concluding meeting on 31 May 2010   (VOC-room East Indies House).

Mondays and Wednesdays:  15:00-17:00

 

Class Schedule:

• 22 March 2010:               

Students present their proposals

                                   

• 24 March 2010:               

Students present their proposals

Teachers present their approaches

Readings: Hammersley ch. 1; Bevir and Kedar

 

• 29 March 2010:              

Research Questions

Readings: Gerring ch. 1-2; KKV ch. 1

 

• 31 March 2010:               

Conceptualization

Readings: Gerring chs. 3-4

Task: Clarify the core research question of your project and identify and define the core concepts (due by 5-04)

• 5 April 2010                   

Easter Monday – no class

 

• 7 April 2010:                 

Propositions

Readings: Gerring chs. 5-6

Remedial reading: Hoover

• 12 April 2010:               

Operationalization

Readings: Goldenberg chs. 3, 4, and 11

 

Task: What is the core proposition of your research project and how will you confront it with data? (due by 13 April 2010)

• 14 April 2010:               

Validity

Readings: Kirk; Norris; Gibbs; Adcock and Collier

Remedial reading: Trochim, chapters “Introduction to Validity,” “Reliability & Validity,“ “Theory of Reliability,” “Types of Reliability”; Goldenberg ch. 5

• 19 April 2010:               

Reliability and Generalizability

Readings: Williams; Yanow

Task: How will you maximize the validity and reliability of your analysis? To what

extent do you want to generalize? (due by 20-04)

• 21 April 2010:               

Case Selection

Reading: KKV ch. 4; Collier, Brady, and Seawright; Geddes

Remedial reading: Goldenberg chs. 7-8

• 26 April 2010:               

Causality

Reading: Gerring chs. 7 and 8; KKV ch.5; Goldthorpe

Remedial reading: Goldenberg ch. 6

Task: What causal claims are you making in your study? How do you demonstrate causality? Also: Motivate your selection of case(s) (due by 27-04)

• 28 April 2010:                 

Methods of Analysis

Reading: Gerring chs. 9 and 10

• 3 May 2010                   

Final discussion

 

Long break

• 31 May 2010:               

10:00 – 15:00: Students present the methodological reasoning of their 8-month papers

 

Readings:

Adcock, Robert and David Collier. 2001. “Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard

for Qualitative and Quantitative Research,” American Political Science Review
95 (3): 529-546.

Bevir, Mark and Asaf Kadar. 2008. “Concept Formation in Political Science: An Anti-Naturalist Critique of Qualitative Methodology,” Perspectives on Politics 6(3): 503-18.

Collier, David, Henry E. Brady, and Jason Seawright. 2004. “Toward an Alternative View of Methodology: Sources of Leverage in Causal Inference.” In Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards, edited by H. E. Brady and D. Collier. Boulder: Rowman and Littlefield.

Geddes, Barbara. 1991.” A Game Theoretic Model of Reform in Latin

American Countries.” American Political Science Review 85 (2):371-392.

Gerring, John. 2001. Social Science Methodology. A Criterial Framework.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gibbs David N. ”The Mirage of Replicability in Qualitative Research (unpublished

          manuscript).

Goldenberg, Sheldon. 1992. Thinking Methodologically. New York: HarperCollins.

Goldthorpe, John H. 2000. On Sociology - Numbers, Narratives, and the Integration

of Research and Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Ch. 7: “Causation, Statistics, and Sociology,” pp. 137-160.

Hammersley, Martyn. 2008. Questioning Qualitative Inquiry: Critical Essays. London: Sage.

Hoover, Kenneth R. 1992. The Elements of Social Scientific Thinking. New York: St. Martin's Press, 5th ed.

King, Gary, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba (KKV). 1994. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Kirk, Jerome. 1986. Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research, Qualitative Research Methods 1. London: Sage.

Norris, Nigel. 1997. “Error, Bias and Validity in Qualitative Research,” Educational Action Research 5(1): 172-176.

Trochim, William M. 2000. The Research Methods Knowledge Base, 2nd ed. Accessible at: http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/.

Williams Malcolm. 2000. “Interpretivism and Generalisation,” Sociology 34(2): 209-

224.

Yanow, Dvora. 2003. “Interpretive Empirical Political Science: What Makes This Not a Subfield of Qualitative Methods,” Qualitative Methods Section (APSA) Newsletter, Issue 2, Fall 2003.