- Docente: Diego Garzia
- Credits: 8
- SSD: GSPS-06/A
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: In-person learning (entirely or partially)
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Media, Public and Corporate Communication (cod. 6766)
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from Sep 15, 2026 to Dec 03, 2026
Learning outcomes
The course aims to provide theoretical and methodological tools for analyzing numerical data and understanding its growing role in the production and distribution of information in the digital age. To this end, students will be equipped with a set of interdisciplinary skills spanning journalism, computer science, and statistics. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to understand the relevant scientific literature, the data, and the analysis techniques used therein, and to analyze databases firsthand using statistical software in order to effectively communicate original empirical findings in the fields of data journalism and political communication.
Course contents
The course offers students an overview of the two fundamental components of any scientific process: research design and data analysis. The first part of the course (16 hours) focuses on the subject of science as one of the possible approaches to knowledge, the conceptual foundations of scientific research, the issues inherent in the empirical detection of concepts and the operationalization of the properties to be analyzed, the types of variables, data analysis, and the necessary basics of statistics. In the second part of the course (24 hours), students will delve into one of the main quantitative research tools: the survey. In this part, attending students will be directly involved in the development of research instruments, their implementation in the field, and the analysis of the collected results using Excel software. At the end of the course, students will be able to analyze quantitative data and communicate the results in written and oral form.
Readings/Bibliography
Peter J. Schulz, Nicola Diviani & Maddalena Fiordelli (2025). La ricerca empirica nelle scienze della comunicazione. Fondamenti, metodi e strumenti. Roma: Carocci.
Attending Students: Chapters I-VII, X
Non-attending Students: Chapters I-X
Teaching methods
The course adopts a teaching method aimed at providing basic theoretical knowledge, as well as its practical application through learning how to use Microsoft Excel. The course is therefore structured in lectures alternating between classroom teaching and laboratory application of theoretical concepts. Students will be involved by the instructor in class exercises, discussions of their respective research interests, and the collective development of research tools. The data collected by the class will then be used by attending students in a research report that forms the basis of the exam.
Assessment methods
The exam format and syllabus vary depending on whether the student is attending or not attending.
Attending Students
Students intending to take the exam as attending students are required to attend at least 80% of the course lectures. They may take the exam as attending students ONLY during the two midterm exams that will be held during the course.
The midterm exam (60 minutes) is based on a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, designed to assess understanding of the basic theoretical and methodological concepts. The grade obtained in this first part of the exam contributes 40% of the final grade.
The final exam (90 minutes) consists of a series of research questions provided by the instructor. Students will answer these questions by analyzing the data collected by the class during the course and writing a short research report to support the results. The grade obtained in this second part of the exam contributes 60% to the final grade.
The final grade is therefore the result of the weighted average obtained in the midterm and final exams. Attending students who fail the exam or decide to refuse the grade may retake the exam at any time following the procedures established for non-attending students and will be graded according to the procedures established for non-attending students.
Non-attending Students
The exam is administered exclusively in written form (120 minutes) and consists of a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, designed to assess understanding of the theoretical, methodological, and statistical concepts covered in the course. The exam includes open-ended calculation questions and requires study of the additional chapters related to content analysis (chapter 8) and experimental methods (chapter 9)
Teaching tools
PC, Excel, slides, video projector
Office hours
See the website of Diego Garzia