Methodology of Social Sciences - JKM143

• Title: Methodology of Social Sciences
• Czech title: Metodologie sociálních věd
• Guaranteed by: Department of Media Studies (23-KMS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2023
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:2/2, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 10 / 10 (10)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment; priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan
• Guarantor: PhDr. Vlastimil Nečas, Ph.D.; PhDr. Lenka Vochocová, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): PhDr. Vlastimil Nečas, Ph.D.; PhDr. Lenka Vochocová, Ph.D.
• Class: Courses not for incoming students

Annotation

Last update: PhDr. Lenka Vochocová, Ph.D. (14.09.2022)

The course addresses main areas of research in social sciences - it focuses on all necessary aspects of research design, including theoretical preparation, literature review, formulation of research questions and hypotheses, operationalization and data gathering and analysis. It introduces the basic methods used for data gathering and analysis with a specific focus on analyses of the media and communication. Lectures introducing the above specified topics will be accompanied with workshops in which students will have an opportunity do design and conduct their own research project.

Course completion requirements

Last update: PhDr. Lenka Vochocová, Ph.D. (21.12.2023)

Students' performance in the course will be evaluated based on their individual research projects by the end of the semester.

 

Submission deadline: January 31, 2024

Submission format: text file format (.doc, .docx, .rtf preferably)

Submission form: by email to [e-mail] and [e-mail]

Individual research project must contain:

a) formulation of the research problem and research topic

b) brief theoretical background description including literature review and a list of literature (2-3 paragraphs) - this theoretical background should explain which theories are relevant for and will inform your research, what is the previous scientific knowledge of the issue, what kind of data and results does previous research offer etc.

c) clear formulation of research question/s and (in case of the quantitative approach) hypotheses 

d) description of the sample character and explanation of the data selection process

e) in case you plan to gather your original data, information about data gathering techniques is necessary (such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, observation etc.)

f) information about data analysis techniques

The quality of theoretical background of the project (25%), the accuracy of research questions formulation and operationalization (25%), as well as an appropriate choice of research methods (25%) and sample design (25%) will be assessed.

The grading shall be as follows:

• 91% and more: A
• 81-90%: B
• 71-80%: C
• 61-70%: D
• 51-60%: E
• 0-50%:   F

For instance, an overall result of 50.5% corresponds to the grade E (after rounding up to the full percentage).

4.     Basic interpretation of A-F grading scale:

• A – excellent (outstanding performance with only minor mistakes)
• B – very good (above average performance with some mistakes)
• C – good (overall good performance with a number of notable mistakes)
• D – satisfactory (acceptable performance with significant mistakes)
• E – sufficient (performance fulfils only minimum criteria)
• F – insufficient/failed (more effort needs to be made).

Literature

Last update: PhDr. Vlastimil Nečas, Ph.D. (23.02.2023)

Mandatory:

ALLEN, M. The SAGE encyclopedia of communication research methods. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2017, ISBN 1-4833-8144-7 (https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781483381411)

BERGER, A. A. Media analysis techniques. Sixth edition. Los Angeles, California: SAGE, 2019.

BERTRAND, I., HUGHES, P. Media Research Methods. Audience, Institutions, Texts. Houndmills: Palgrave, 2017.

HANSEN, A. Mass communication research methods. New York: Palgrave, 1998.

WIMMER, R. D. – DOMINICK, J. R. Mass Media Research: An Introduction. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson, Wadsworth, c2006.

Recommended:

BRENNEN, B. Qualitative research methods for media studies. Third edition. New York, New York: Routledge, 2022.

DANIEL, J., Sampling Essentials. SAGE Publication, 2012.

FAGGIANO, M. P. Content Analysis in Social Research: Study Contexts, Avenues of Research, and Data Communication Strategies. Leiden: Brill, 2023

JENSEN, K., A Handbook of Media and Communication Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies. New York: Routledge, 2011.

Syllabus

Last update: PhDr. Lenka Vochocová, Ph.D. (21.12.2023)

Course objectives:
- knowledge of major theories, history and terminology (technical terms, definitions and standard words)
- training in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
- experience in research design, data collection, analysis and reporting of results
- organizing data in a suitable format for analysis
- experience with computer software facilitating analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data

Course structure (lecture+workshop):

Week 1 (5/10/2023): Epistemology and Philosophy of the Social Sciences: rationalism, positivism, skepticism; paradigms: subjectivity vs. objectivity; realism, relativism, social constructivism; Selection of appropriate research methods by identifying its strengths and limitations, the research problem identification (lecturer: V. Nečas) 

Week 2  (12/10/2023): Language of research – type of research, research question, hypothesis, variables, relationship, causal explanation (V. Necas) 

Week 3 (19/10/2023): Quantitative vs. qualitative research: an overview of use, differences, advantages, and limitations (L. Vochocova)

Week 4 (26/10/2023): Review of published literature associated with the problem area, formulation of research questions, hypotheses central to the problem selected (V. Necas)

Week 5 (2/11/2022): Qualitative approach I: Data gathering techniques (focus groups, interviews) (L. Vochocova)

Week 6 (9/11/2022): Qualitative approach II: Data analysis techniques - qualitative coding, grounded theory - introduction (L. Vochocova)

Week 7 (16/11/2022): Quantitative approach I: Content analysis: Data selection and gathering (variables, code-book, data input, sampling) (V. Necas) 

Week 8 (23/11/2022): Quantitative approach II: Survey (questionnaire design): Data selection and gathering, sampling (V. Necas)

Week 9 (30/11/2023): Qualitative approach III: Grounded theory - categorization, axial coding, paradigmatic model (L. Vochocová)

Week 10 (7/12/2023): Qualitative approach IV: Semiotic analysis - an introduction (L. Vochocová)

Week 11 (14/12/2023): Research software and tools: online surveys, transcription, text mining, SPSS, STATA, Atlas.ti, NVivo (V. Necas)

Week 12 (21/12/2023): Data interpretation, contextualization, building theory, hermeneutics (L. Vochocova)

Week 13 (4/1/2024): Student presentations (optional), lecturers' feedback