After successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain the concept and scope of empirical social research,
• Explain the stages of theory building,
• Describe and classify the types of research (descriptive, explorative, hypothesis testing) and research methods used to collect social data (content analysis, observation, interview, experiment),
• Explain the characteristics and possible applications of qualitative and quantitative research,
• Describe the research logic of empirical studies,
• Create a suitable sample
• Explain the characteristics and possible uses of central instruments of qualitative research (qualitative content analysis, qualitative interviews, focus group discussions),
• Create a guideline for conducting qualitative interviews,
• Evaluate the results of qualitative interviews,
• Explain characteristics and possible uses of central instruments of quantitative research (survey, observation, experiment),
• Create a questionnaire for conducting a quantitative survey,
• Conduct descriptive analyses of quantitative surveys independently

none

• Concept, purpose, methods and areas of application of empirical social research.
• Theory formation and hypothesis generation
• Types of research and research methods
• The research process
• Characteristics of qualitative methods
• Characteristics of quantitative methods
• Types of sampling
• Central instruments of qualitative social research
• Central instruments of quantitative social research
• Evaluation of qualitative surveys
• Evaluation of quantitative surveys

Atteslander, P. (2003): Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung (10. Aufl.). Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter Verlag.
Bortz, J. & Döring, N. (2006): Forschungsmethoden und Evaluation für Human- und Sozialwissenschaftler (4. Aufl.). Heidelberg: Springer.
Friedrichs, J. (1990): Methoden empirischer Sozialforschung (14. Aufl.). Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag.
Kromrey, H. (2009): Empirische Sozialforschung (12. Aufl.). Stuttgart: Lucius & Lucius Verlagsgesellschaft.

Moderated group work, lecture, discussion, case work

Integrative module examination
Assessment type: Continuous assessment
Assessment method/s: Participation in class, presentation, final written examination
Evaluation of module examinations:
25 % "Fundamentals of Empirical Social Research": Final written examination