PSIR309 RESEARCH METHODS FOR POLITICAL SCIENCE
| Course Code: | 3540309 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 8.0 |
| Department: | Political Science and International Relations |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Assoc.Prof.Dr. HANDE SÖZER |
| Offered Semester: | Fall and Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
This course introduces the students a range of commonly used methods of social research at an introductory level. Particular emphasis will be on the needs of the research in political science and international relations disciplines. As the course is about how to conduct research, it will focus on how to formulate research questions and subsequent hypotheses, how to design a research plan, determining what methodologies are appropriate, and performing the specified analysis. The course is not restricted to purely quantitative or qualitative approaches, rather it will emphasize determining appropriate methodologies given specific research areas of interest.
The general objective of this course is to develop the student's capacity to conduct empirical research in political and other social sciences and to critically evaluate the research of others.
Course Content
This is a level 4 course which will look at a wide variety of methods for researching politics in the contemporary world. Although the first sessions will look at some general and theoretical issues of research methodology, subsequent sessions will tend to be more practical and concentrate on issues directly related to carrying out research projects using the different methodologies. They will deal with the use of different research methodologies, their appropriateness for investigating particular issues, and the analysis and assessment of different types of data. The final sessions will look at ideas on how to design and write up a piece of research and present these ideas to an audience.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester, students should be able to:
- understand main goals, principles and concepts in political research,
- get acquainted with a multitude of methods and designs available for empirical political and social research,
- be aware of the various problems (objectivity, biases, ethics, etc.) in conducting a political or social research,
- identify all the steps involved in conducting a research,
- identify topics in political science open to systematic empirical analysis,
- learn how to write a research proposal,
- become familiar with designing a research project involving the collection and analysis of data, obtaining research findings, and communicating the results in a written paper.
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Having academic knowledge in Political Science and International relations disciplines | ✔ | |||
| 2 | Developing an interdisciplinary perspective incorporating other areas of the social sciences as well | ✔ | |||
| 3 | Being capable of evaluating political, economic and social matters at local, national and international levels | ✔ | |||
| 4 | Being capable of making sense of, follow and analyze political, economic and social events | ✔ | |||
| 5 | Being sensitive to global, environmental and social problems | ✔ | |||
| 6 | Developing a critical mind capable of making constructive criticisms, open to lifelong learning, researching, inquiring, questioning and problems solving | ✔ | |||
| 7 | Being capable of individual work, entrepreneur, good time management and able to actively take part in group work for common purposes | ✔ | |||
| 8 | Having effective communication skills in Turkish and English languages | ✔ | |||
| 9 | Being capable of using communication technologies in reaching to information and organizing and presenting this information in a systematic way | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution