Michael Wicki: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2018 |
| Name | Dr. Michael Wicki |
| Address | Raumentwicklung und Stadtpolitik ETH Zürich, HIL H 31.2 Stefano-Franscini-Platz 5 8093 Zürich SWITZERLAND |
| wimi@ethz.ch | |
| Department | Humanities, Social and Political Sciences |
| Relationship | Lecturer |
| Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 853-0205-00L | Proseminar I: Political Methodology  Only for Public Policy BA | 3 credits | 2S | D. Kolcava, M. Wicki | |
| Abstract | Teaching of formal requirements of scientific work (philosophy of science with a focus on the social sciences); literature reviews and the basics of conducting independent research on short as well as simple topics; basics of conceptualizing research designs for politically relevant questions and hypotheses. | ||||
| Learning objective | 1) Understanding the goal and the basic procedures of (empirical social sciences) scientific work (philosophy of science, theory building, research design, as well as the correct employment of sources, data and literature). 2) Identification of relevant research questions. 3) Creating a common basis for a thorough and systematic analysis of these. | ||||
| Content | Political Methodology I seeks to introduce students to the basics of scientific work and procedures in the social sciences, which in turn shall allow them - also in conjunction with Political Methodology II - to conduct work that fulfills satisfactory standards of research quality throughout their further studies. With regard to Political Methodology I, this seminar primarily focuses on the philosophy and theory of (empirical social) sciences, its structure, and procedures. The seminar emphasizes substantive contents and ways of presenting them, research and, conceptual work. Additionally, it deals with the basis of establishing research designs with politically relevant questions and hypotheses. | ||||
| Literature | Behnke, Joachim und Nathalie Behnke. 2006. Grundlagen der statistischen Datenanalyse -- Eine Einführung für Politikwissenschaftler. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. Diekmann, Andreas. 2007. Empirische Sozialforschung - Grundlagen, Methoden, Anwendungen. Reinbek: Rowohlts Taschenbuch Verlag. Maier, Michaela und Hans Rattinger. 1999. Methoden der sozialwissenschaftlichen Datenanalyse. München/Wien: Oldenbourg Verlag. Plümper, Thomas. 2008. Effizient Schreiben. München/Wien: Oldenbourg Verlag. Schnell, Rainer, Paul B. Hill und Elke Esser. 2008. Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung. München/Wien: Oldenbourg Verlag. | ||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | Each student will be graded by two exercises (50% each). 1) Source analysis and acquisition: based upon a research question that will be given by the lecturer, the student shall collect a comprehensive list of the relevant literature and summarize that with her/his own words. 2) Critical analysis of sources: based upon a research article that the student chooses on her/his own, the student shall write a critical analysis of that, which mirrors frame and structure of scientific writing Submission dates will be communicated in the first meeting. | ||||