This course provides an introduction to the methods that social scientists use in empirical research. It emphasizes the logic of social research, along with a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques for collecting and analyzing data. It will also introduce software used for analyzing data.
By the end of the course, you will have a basic set of skills for starting your own empirical research project, and for being a more informed consumer of social research. More importantly, you will have a foundation for future learning about research methods. You do not have to be a social science student for this to be useful -- social research is everywhere.
Research methods are best learned by doing. As such, this will be a project heavy class, and will require both individual and group work.
most recent syllabus available from the Department of Knowledge Integration upon request