Social Research as a Craft

This course is an invitation to PhD scholars in political science (and closely related fields) who want to learn more about how to systematically tackle some of the issues pertaining to the craft of designing good social science research. Political science is a broad discipline covering a wide range of research questions studied across diverse contexts by using a variety of methodological approaches. Even a cursory inspection of the research published by major scholarly journals and university presses reveal an almost infinite number of themes covered and an abundant variety of research methods and approaches. Within different research traditions, there are either established or developing best practices, suggesting that good social science is a craft that can be learned.

In this course, we will explore best practices in three core research traditions in the social sciences: variance-based, case-based, and interpretivist approaches. This is not a philosophy of science course, but some rudimentary understanding of the core ontological and epistemological building blocks of each approach is required in order to make sense of the best practices of the three different research traditions. The aim of the course is to present and discuss how to identify puzzles and good research questions, develop theoretical arguments and propositions, and craft appropriate research designs within different research traditions. We will only pay scant attention to the different techniques of data collection and analysis (interviewing techniques, survey measures, regression analysis etc.). A premise of the course is that scholars, regardless of their own methodological approach, will benefit from knowing and reflecting on how alternative research traditions approach the craft of social science research. Moreover, the course is intended to provide each participant with the opportunity to critically reflect and get feedback on design-related elements of his or her own project. The goal of the course is to help fostering more ambitious and cutting-edge PhD projects.