78160 - Methodology of Political and Social Research (F-N)

Learning outcomes

This course provides an introduction to the most important methodological problems students of political and social science have to tackle constantly. It is designed to get participants acquainted with opportunities and limits of data-gathering and data-analyzing techniques. The objectives of the class are to discourage a mechanical and non-critical use of these techniques and to make students aware of the peculiar nature of the actors of social science analysis: human beings, their symbols, values, and institutions.

Course contents

The first part of the course begins with a study of the epistemological and gnoseological elements of human sciences and with the distinction between quantitative and qualitative tecniques.

The second part deals with the logic of social research and survey design: analysis units, variables, indicators, sampling procedures, data-matrix construction.

The third part is focused on the principles of statistical analysis: from the function of monovariate analysis to the logic of multivariate analysis.

The course participates in the University's educational innovation project.

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (32 hours) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. The division into lessons and seminars is specified in the program that follows. For the seminar section, students will be divided into 3 groups. Therefore, a total of 46 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and exercises will also be expected.

The course will roughly observe the following pattern:

• Lessons 1-8: Introduction to the course. The Scientific research, paradigms of social science research. Operational definitions and measurement. Lessons will cover the following chapters:
  • Lucchini., M (2018) Metodologia della ricerca sociale, Capp. 1,2,3,4. Milano, Pearson.

• Seminars 9-12. deeper exploration of the characteristics of the basic paradigms of social research; exercise on the comparison between quantitative and qualitative research. Comparing quantitative and qualitative research. Students divided into groups (max 15 per group) will be asked to answer questions on empirical research.  Readings:
  • Perrotta D., (2011) Vite in cantiere, Capitolo 4 parr. 1-5, Bologna, Il Mulino.
  • Guetto R., Fellini I. (2019) Le traiettorie occupazionali degli immigrati nel mercato del lavoro italiano, in Mondi migranti:1, pp. 143-169

• Deepening on the design of quantitative research; Exercises on Concepts and Indicators, Operational Definitions, Questionnaire Questions, Properties. Students divided into groups (max 15 per group) will be asked to exercise on questionnaires. Readings:
  • Lucchini, M. (2018) Metodologia della ricerca sociale, Cap. 5. Milano, Pearson

• Lessons 13-20. Mono and bivariate analysis using STATA. Readings:
  • Lucchini., M (2018) Metodologia della ricerca sociale, Cap. 8 e Cap. 9 parr. 3-5. Milano, Pearson
  • Corbetta P., Gasperoni G., Pisati M. (2001) Statistica per la ricerca sociale, Cap. 4 e Cap. 5 Parr. 1-3 e Par. 4.1. Bologna, Il Mulino

• Seminars 21-23. Exercises on data mining, data interpretation, and tabulations. Mono and bivariate analysis using STATA. Students divided into groups (max 15 per group) will be asked to write and present a report with data analysis, graphs tabulation and relative comments. Readings:
  • Corbetta P., Gasperoni G., Pisati M. (2001) Statistica per la ricerca sociale, Cap. 2 par. 1. Bologna, Il Mulino

Some weeks before seminar 21, a nine-hour lab will start. It will focus on the use of Excel and Stata and on data mining. Seminars 21-24 will take for granted the basic knowledge of STATA. Attending lab hours will be mandatory for attending students but it would be very useful also for non attending students.

• Final Take-Home Exam distributed

The main evaluation of the seminars will be on an individual basis. Active participation in seminars and group work is aimed at improving the understanding, reworking and application of concepts and methods.

 

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings for attending students:

• Lucchini., M (2018) Metodologia della ricerca sociale, Capp. 1,2,3,4,5 e 8; Cap 9 parr 3, 4 e 5. Milano, Pearson.
• Corbetta P., Gasperoni G., Pisati M. (2001) Statistica per la ricerca sociale, Cap. 2 par. 1, Cap. 4, Cap. 5 Parr. 1-3 e Par. 4.1. Bologna, Il Mulino

Examples of empirical research:

• Perrotta D., (2011) Vite in cantiere, Capitolo 4 parr.1-5, Bologna, Il Mulino.
• Guetto R., Fellini I. (2019) Le traiettorie occupazionali degli immigrati nel mercato del lavoro italiano, in Mondi migranti :1, pp. 143-169

Mandatory readings for non attending students:

• Lucchini., M (2018) Metodologia della ricerca sociale, Capp. 1-5,7,8; Cap. 9 parr. 3-5. Milano, Pearson.
• Corbetta P., Gasperoni G., Pisati M. (2001) Statistica per la ricerca sociale, Capp. 1,2, 4, 5. Bologna, Il Mulino (in sostitution of the articles list and exercises for attending students)

Examples of empirical research:

• Perrotta D., (2011) Vite in cantiere, Capitolo 4 parr.1-5, Bologna, Il Mulino.
• Guetto R., Fellini I. (2019) Le traiettorie occupazionali degli immigrati nel mercato del lavoro italiano, in Mondi migranti:1, pp. 143-169

Further readings (not mandatory):

F. BIOLCATI-RINALDI, C. VEZZONI (2012) L’analisi secondaria nella ricerca sociale, Bologna, Il Mulino

Corbetta P., (2015) La ricerca sociale: metodologie e tecniche. I. I paradigmi di riferimento, Bologna, Il Mulino.

Corbetta P., (2015) La ricerca sociale: metodologie e tecniche. II. Le tecniche quantitative. Bologna, Il Mulino.

Corbetta P., (2015) La ricerca sociale: metodologia e tecniche. III. Le tecniche qualitative Bologna, Il Mulino

Readings could be modified till September.

Teaching methods

The course will be based on both traditional lectures and more interactive methods on the basis of peer instruction, according to which students study the material before (and not after) the classes. 

Assessment methods

For non-attending students

Students will be assessed through The exam will be open book and will last for 3 hours. Students are required to register for the exam.

The exam will consist of a critical reading of an abstract of a scientific article, the examination of a questionnaire and its translation into a data matrix and, finally, a small data matrix will be provided (or asked to build) on which to perform monovariate and bivariate analyses (on variables chosen by the student) and relative comment. 

The valid mark is the last one obtained in a session. The mark can be refused only once: the passing mark obtained after the first refusal will be automatically recorded, according to the University regulations.

The purpose of the take home exam is to verify the student's ability to apply the notions and knowledge learned, to make the necessary logical-deductive connections and to critically analyze the data. The determination of the final mark takes place on the basis of the following criteria:

• 18-19: very poor knowledge of the course's contents
• 20-24: poor knowledge of the course's contents and limited capacity to organize critical thoughts
• 25-29: good knowledge of the course's contents and good capacity to organize critical thoughts
• 30-30 cum laude: excellent knowledge of the course's contents and excellent capacity to organize critical thoughts

For attending students

• 2 tests will be carried out in class. Each test will consist of 8 multiple choice questions, each question will be worth 2 points, 0 if incorrect or not given, for a total of 16 questions, equal to a maximum grade of 30 cum laude. A grade lower than 16 will correspond to a final failing grade. The tests are intended to ascertain the reading by the student of the material assigned and those covered by the lectures and in some cases also of their understanding. (The two tests contribute to 35% of the final grade). The vote will therefore correspond to the following:
  • Insufficient: most of the texts have not been read.
  • Grade 16-19: At least half of the texts have been read.
  • Grade 20-24: More than half of the texts have been read.
  • Grade 25-29: Almost all the texts have been read, and partially understood.
  • Grade 30-30L: All the texts have been adequately understood.
• Participation and attendance in class and group activities (will contribute to 25% of the final grade). Active participation in class activities does not mean "providing the correct answer", rather, helping the discussion by exposing doubts, limits, perplexities, mistakes, from which the class can take inspiration to discuss. The vote will correspond to the following:
  • Insufficient: the student was absent more than twice at the seminar lessons or at two of the laboratory lessons.
  • Grade 18-19: The student did not make more than two absences from the seminar lessons (and not all in the same thematic block) and no more than one from the laboratory lessons, but he never actively participated.
  • Grade 20-24: The student did not make more than two absences from the seminar lessons (and not all in the same thematic block) and no more than one from the laboratory lessons, he participated only sporadically in group and class activities.
  • Grade 25-29: The student did not make more than two absences from the seminar lessons (and not all in the same thematic block) and no more than one from the workshop lessons, he actively participated in group activities, occasionally those of the class.
  • Grade 30-30L: The student did not make more than two absences from the seminar lessons (and not all in the same thematic block) and no more than one from the laboratory lessons. He has always actively participated in group and class activities.
• 10% of the grade will be assigned by the group in which they are included, based on collaboration, participation, and fairness.
• At the end of the STATA laboratory lessons, attending students will take a test that gives them 0 to 3 points to be added to the final average of the tests listed above.
• A Take-home written exam will be made available on the day of the test at 9. Delivery is expected 13 hours later. The test involves the use of STATA. It will consist in the critical reading of a scientific article and in a report on data provided, based on what has been learned during the seminar lessons (The Take-Home test contributes to 30% of the final grade). A grade lower than 16 will correspond to a final failing grade, regardless of the grades obtained in the other tests. The Take-Home assessment is equivalent to that of non-attending students.
  
• To be considered attending students, no more than two absences are allowed in seminar lessons and the absences cannot all be in the same block of seminars. No more than one absence is allowed in stata laboratory lessons. In addition, the 2 short tests, the test of the laboratory lessons and the final take-home exam must be taken. 
• Attending students who have not passed the attending tests can choose to take another take-home test on February.
• The attending student who refuses the mark of the intermediate tests will then be free to refuse once again a sufficient mark obtained in the official exams.
• Attending students will be required to register for the final take home exam, for the laboratory test and for the 2 short tests. Under no circumstances will teachers enroll students. The mark obtained in the intermediate tests will be verbalizable by and no later than the September exam session.
  

Please note that upon delivery of the task an automatic plagiarism check will be performed by the COMPILATIO software.

 

The correction of the take-home exam will attempt to take place within 15 working days from the delivery date, compatibly with the number of exams delivered, this will not guarantee to receive the evaluation before the start of the next exam.

 

NOTE for non-attending students: the exam methods have been modified in accordance with the information provided on the university website https://www.unibo.it/it/studiare/guida-alla-scelta-del-corso/guida-al-percorso-di-studi/esami-e-appelli-desame, as no further instructions have been received.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint and other technical tools.

All students are invited to bring a laptop, tablet, or smartphone to in-class tests.

Seminars 21-24 will require specifically a laptop with STATA.

The course will widely use Virtuale, on which the mandatory texts (except the manual) and the power point's presentation will be uploaded. In Virtuale, students will be divided into 3 groups and laboratories a personalized calendar of lessons will be made available.

Since the end of September non-attending students will find in Virtuale: old power point's presentations and special notes. 

The course module with the caption "Gr123 Module" indicates the seminar lessons; the other lessons (Modulo F-N) are intended for ALL students. Modulo (D. Ass.) is for the lab lessons.

Office hours

See the website of Federica Santangelo