SOSGEO4000 – Introduction to advanced research methods

This course provides an advanced course in research design in the social sciences. It covers a variety of data types and methods for analyzing them.

The course gives you a broad foundation in central methodological choices and challenges in the social sciences. The aim is threefold. It provides a basis for evaluating published academic and applied research in terms of design, offers guidance for implementing smaller research projects, and prepares the student to conduct research in an ethical and transparent way.

Knowledge objectives

Throughout this course, you will acquire in-depth knowledge about

• different types of research design and their strengths and weaknesses

• ethical issues related to research practices and methodological choices

• evaluation of quality and criteria for evaluating implementation of social science methods

Skill objectives

Throughout this course, you will learn how to

• reflect on design choices in research projects

• develop good research questions

• develop and evaluate hypotheses in research designs

• prepare and refine case studies and comparative designs

• demonstrate ethical awareness in research processes

• develop good data management practices

• design different kinds of research projects

• present your methodological choices in written reports

• process data using suitable software

General competence

This course will enable you to

• develop an advanced methodological understanding which will allow you to develop your own research project
• devise and apply different research designs
• evaluate and assess research quality in your own and published research

Admission to the course is dependent on admission to a master’s degree programme at the Department of Sociology and Human Geography.

The course is open to master specialisation in didactics for social science in the Teacher Education Programme (Lektorprogrammet) - please see the link for information regarding admission.

If you are sick or have another valid reason for not attending the regular exam, we offer a postponed exam later in the same semester.

See also our information about resitting an exam.