Social science research is ultimately about constructing and evaluating social theory. A successful outcome of a research project is not more data, but new ideas. Social research relies on the creative spark of a theoretical idea studied through iterations of deduction and induction, testing and reformulating. Thus, this course understands research as a dialectic between ideas and evidence. The dialog is structured by theoretical approaches and collections of methodologies. This course studies the conceptual and methodological aspects of social science with a primary emphasis on methods. It introduces a range of methods and tools that can be applied to a wide array of social science research situations. The course emphasizes how different strategies (or designs) for collecting and analysing data strengthen social science arguments and inform their credibility.
This course is designed as an advanced introduction to key fundamental theoretical and methodological aspects of research in the social sciences. The aim is to enable you to critically examine past studies, assess the adequacy of their claims and evidence, and develop the competencies required to design and conduct your own research. More specifically, we would like you to be able to understand:
– The structure of scientific work, including the role of concepts, hypotheses, and theories
– The nature and value of robust research design and evidence quality
– How to integrate theory and methods Why design is key to strengthen science arguments.
– The complementary strengths and limitations of various qualitative and quantitative methods
– How biases that make causal arguments difficult
– The importance of sample, ideological, and researcher diversity
– The critical role of research ethics and its applicability to your own work
Weekly topics:
Week 1 – Orientation & Ethical Research
Week 2 – Surveys & Associations
Week 3 – Qualitative Interviews (Lecture to take place on Friday week 2, 3-5pm)
Week 4 – Causality and Experiments
Week 5 – Ethnographic Research
Week 6 – Discourse Analysis
Week 7 – Evidence Synthesis
Week 8 – Applied Research Ethics & Diversity in Science
Associate Professor in AI and Society
Ekaterina Hertog is an Associate Professor of AI and Society at Oxford Internet Institute and Institute for Ethics in AI. She studies how the rising digitalisation is reshaping private lives across the world.
Professor of Digital Markets and Competition
Greg Taylor's research focuses on the economics of competition policy and regulation for digital and technology markets.