Research Design

As policy analysts you are expected to evaluate policies and propose policy solutions. As an integral part of this process, policy analysts rely on studies which look at various aspects of the problems you are called to address. But how do you know whether these studies produce valid and reliable results? The secret is in the research design. Does the study choses the appropriate methodology? Has the correct data been colected? Has the data collection process been biased in anyway? Is the analysis rigurous? Questions like this help you evaluate other scholars’ research, and help you build your own research. Many employers expect their employees to understand qualitative and qualitative studies, as well as be able to conduct both high-quality qualitative and quantitative reasearch on their own.  

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the nuts and bolts of research design. The course addresses questions such as:

•What are the main elements of a research design and how do we adapt them to answer a given research question? 

•What are the strengths and weaknesses of various methodological approaches in the study of welfare state/public policy related issues?    

•How can the qualitative quantitative divide be bridged? 

•What issues do we encounter in relation to conceptualization and measurement?

The course builds on basic texts in social science research design and on studies which illustrate how various research design can be applied to study social issues. 

By discussing practical aspects related to the choice of methods and overall research designs, and by encouraging critical assessments of the designs used in different research papers, as well as of issues related to conceptualization and measurement, the course aims at providing students with critical apparatus for discussing the literature used in all other Master courses and for writing their own Master theses, as well as at preparing them for many possible positions on the labour market.

This course covers the following topics:

• The epistemological and ontological underpinnings of (comparative) welfare state research
• Quantitative variable-oriented research designs
• Qualitative case-oriented research designs
• Qualtative interpretive research designs
  
• Mixed-method designs: Combining qualitative and quantitative methods
• Typical challenges in comparative welfare state research such as small-N designs, measurement validity, and case selection
• Conceptualisation and role of theories
• Data: qualitative and quantitative data collection, evaluating the quality of data sources; 
• Validity and reliability

Have the knowledge that enables them to:

• Distinguish different approaches (positivist, constructivist, interpretivist).
  
• Be aware of different research designs, their strengths and weaknesses
• Identify different forms of causality and their implications for the research process.
• Define principles of case selection and the constitution of populations.
• Be aware of different forms of data collection and their best practice.
• Identify relevant data for various research designs
• Account for role of comparison in controlling for variation. 

Have the skills that enable them to:

• Assess and eliminate alternative explanations.
• Assess the principles, strengths and weaknesses of different research designs.
• Communicate and discuss methodological issues.
• Communicate and discuss issues related to concepts definitions and measurement.
• Communicate and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of data collection.
• Communicate and discuss practical problems of different forms of data collection. 

Have the competences that enable them to:

• Independently formulate viable research questions.
• Prepare and execute a feasible empirical research project based on systematic methodological considerations.
• Justify the choice of particular research design in terms of strengths and weaknesses with reference to specific research aims
  
• Critically reflect on how different research designs may impact answers to a given research question.
• Critically reflect on the methodological problems of their empirical analyses and discuss the consequences of their methodological choices for the substantive conclusions drawn from their own empirical work.

Examples

The textbook for the course is:

• Punch, Keith. Introduction to Social Research. Sage Publications (latest edition)

Additionally, the course includes material from the following books:

• Ragin, Charles and Lisa Amaroso. Constructing Social Research: The Unity and Diversity of Method. Pine Forge Press. (latest edition)
• Blackie, Norman. Designing Social Research. Polity Press. (latest edition)

Articles on relevant topics as well as informative online video material will be included in the syllabus.

Overall, the readings for this course will approximate 1200 pages.

1. Flipped classroom.

The course starts with several face-to-face sessions (lectures), which will introduce students to the basics of various research designs. The main part of the course consists of discussion-based sessions, which will rely on in-class exercises, based on a flipped classroom approach: students will make group presentations in which different research designs and conceptualisation/measurement issues will be discussed, based on real existing studies (published and/or work in progress). In order to prepare for these discussions, students read materials and watch explanatory videos in adavance of each session. In class, they engage in discussions and exercises applying the notions acquired in the preparatory/study materials.