B9653 - RESEARCH DESIGN (I)

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

This course aims to familiarize students with their research design and bachelor thesis research. Students will learn basic instrument of academic research in social sciences. They will learn how to find and how to use primary and secondary sources, how to review the literature related to specific topics and themes. The course aims to strengthen students' ability to elaborate different types of academic writings, with particular attention to their structure and formal characteristics, communicative effectiveness, and critical contents. At the end of the course, students will acquire the necessary competences to write executive summaries, research reports, reviews, articles, and literature reviews for specialized academic journals.

Contenuti

Language of the course: English.

This course aims to introduce students for what their academic development is designed. This course covers the general philosophical background of academic inquiry as well as specific knowledge about generating an academic/professional profile. More specifically, students will be able to:

• understand and engage theoretical and methodological concepts and perspectives to analyze and understand social scientific research;
• develop a large set of transversal skills which students need to master in their future domestic and international work environments, so that they are equipped to use organizational, language, inter-cultural communication and information skills, when confronted with the challenges of daily professional practice;
• identify research questions, understand academic literature, understand the basics of data collection and analysis.

In this couse, students will be trained in the following dimensions:

• Understand the building blocks of research projects
• Determine the measurement and data collection strategies
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in research designs
• Develop conceptual and analytical skills
• Develop a set of methodological tools and skills
• Utilize academic insights for societal problem-solving

 

This course is reserved exclusively for students in the Bachelor of European Studies (BAES) programme. Students of other programmes are not allowed to take this course in their programme.

For more details about the course, see the BAES programme guide on the KU Leuven's website.

Testi/Bibliografia

Recommended reading and study materials will be available on Toledo. The coursebook for Research Design is Loveless, Matthew. 2025. Political Analysis: A Guide to Data and Statistics. Sage. 2^nd edition.

Metodi didattici

This course consists of:

• Lectures taught in a blended mode

• On-campus seminars, in which students practically engage with the teaching materials from the lecture. Slides and other materials will be used to supplement frontal teaching. Students are encouraged to participate in class discussions.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Type: Continuous assessment without exam during the examination period
Assessment method: Paper/Project

The evaluation of this course consists of assignments that students need to submit throughout the semester. There is no final exam. The final mark is the avarage of all assignments. Specific instructions for each of these assignments will be disseminated at the start of the course. This includes the structure and length of the assignment, deadlines, and penalties for late submissions.

The evaluation is graded by the lecturer(s), as communicated via Toledo. The final result is calculated and expressed with a whole number to 20. The passing grade is 10/20.

When submitting assignments, the agreed deadline is respected. Possible deviations are not negotiable. If special individual circumstances have arisen, one should contact the ombuds service before the deadline. If the deadline is not respected, the assessment of the component in question will be counted as a 0-score within the weighted final result, unless for a valid reason a new submission date is determined after the application.

Students are responsible for submitting work that is free of fraud. Irregularities, in particular with regard to authorship (e.g. plagiarism and the improper use of genAI), will be punished with the sanctions provided for in the BAES exam regulations.

Students who do not pass the course during the first attempt will be given a second opportunity in a form of an alternative assignment during the retake examination period, which is organized in the first half of July in accordance with the BAES student calendar.

Students who do not pass the course after the first two attempts (regular examination period and retake examination period), must take up the whole course in their ISP in the next academic year. In this case, students must complete all evaluation items as if they were taking the course for the first time. No grades from previous years can be carried over or recovered.

Grades based on the 20-point scale will be finally converted into the Italian grading scale (18-30). For a better understanding, grades on the 18-30 scale correspond to the following evaluations of the assignment:

• 18-19: Barely sufficient work.
• 20-23: Sufficient/satisfactory work.
• 24-26: Good work.
• 27-29: Very good work.
• 30-30L: Excellent work.

More details about the assessment criteria used to evaluate the assignment will be provided during the course.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

The slides and other teaching materials will be available on the platform Toledo. The lecture slides are an integral part of the course.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Nicola Maggini

Consulta il sito web di