Methods and Research Design

4 Credits

The course has two principal aims - to introduce students to the logic of social scientific research and to equip them with the basic tools of research design. To that end the course 1) examines controversies surrounding the scientific method; 2) analyzes the logic of experimental, statistical, and case-study methods; 3) explores the most common methodological errors in social scientific research; and 4) gives students hands-on experience in designing a study. Prerequisites: IR 010 Attribute/Distribution: CC, Q, SS, SW