This course provides an introduction to research design and to empirical research methods. Students will learn a variety of quantitative and qualitative techniques for collecting and analyzing data, and will have the opportunity to use these methods in real research projects. The course will also introduce software for data analysis. We will emphasize the logic of quantitative and qualitative social research, and prioritize the practical applications of methods over their mathematical and philosophical foundations.
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 empirical research. You will be able to make informed decisions about which methods to use to answer specific research questions. More importantly, you will have a foundation for future learning about research methods.
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