78160 - Methodology of Political and Social Research (F-N)

Learning outcomes

This course provides an introduction to the most important methodological problems students of political and social science have to tackle constantly. It is designed to get participants acquainted with opportunities and limits of data-gathering and data-analyzing techniques. The objectives of the class are to discourage a mechanical and non-critical use of these techniques and to make students aware of the peculiar nature of the actors of social science analysis: human beings, their symbols, values, and institutions

Course contents

The first part of the course begins with a study of the epistemological and gnoseological elements of human sciences and with the distinction between quantitative and qualitative tecniques. 

The second part deals with the logic of social research and survey design: unity of the analysis, variables, indicators, sampling procedures, data-matrix construction.

The third part is focused on the principles of statistical analysis: from the function of monovariate analysis to the logic of multivariate analysis

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (28 hours in remote on MS TEAMS) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. The division into lessons and seminars is specified in the program that follows. For the seminar section, students will be divided into 4 groups according to their preferences and according to rules concerning the current pandemic emergency: two groups will do the seminar in classroom (16 hours) and two groups will do the seminar remotely on MS TEAMS (16 hours). Therefore, a total of 44 classroom hours are scheduled for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and exercises will also be expected. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students are free to follow all lessons remotely via MS TEAMS.

The course will roughly observe the following pattern:

• 2 hours, lecture: Introduction to the course; the relationship between methodology of political and social research and statistics. I suggest students to briefly review the course of statistics or to read the following chapters of the statistics' manual:

Cicchitelli G, D’Urso P., Minozzo M, (2017) Statistica: principi e metodi, Pearson, Milano. Cap. 1 parr. 1.6 e 1.7, 1.10. Capp.: 4, 5,9,10,11,12, 18 and 20.

• 2 hours, seminar: Review of some statistical topics and their translation into the vocabulary of the methodology of political and social research

• 6 hours, lectures: Paradigms of social science research, qualitative and quantitative research.

Corbetta P., (2015) La ricerca sociale: metodologie e tecniche. I. I paradigmi di riferimento, Bologna, Il Mulino.

• 4 hours, seminars: deepening on the characteristics of the basic paradigms of social research; exercise on the comparison between quantitative and qualitative research. Readings:

Perrotta D., (2011) Vite in cantiere, Capitolo 4 parr. 1-5, Bologna, Il Mulino.

Guetto R., Fellini I. (2019) Le traiettorie occupazionali degli immigrati nel mercato del lavoro italiano, in Mondi migranti:1, pp. 143-169

• 10 hours, lectures: Quantitative research techniques: From objects to cases; From properties to variables; surveys; scaling techniques; Official documents and statistical sources. Readings: Corbetta P., (2015) La ricerca sociale: metodologie e tecniche. II. Le tecniche quantitative, Capp. 1,3,4,5,6. Bologna, Il Mulino.

• 4 hours, seminars: Deepening on the design of quantitative research; Exercises on Concepts and Indicators, Operational Definitions, Questionnaire Questions, Properties. The exercises will include the division of students into groups (max 15 per group) on the following topics:

• Intimate Partner Violence during the lockdown. an Italian questionnaire is available at: (in metadati): https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/226876
• Education inequalities: the effect of school closures. Questionnaire available at: https://invalsi-areaprove.cineca.it/docs/attach/10_Questionario_STAMPA.pdf
• Reconciling family and work: complications of smart-working. Example of questionnaire available at:  (hoc section): https://www.gesis.org/missy/files/documents/EU-LFS/Questionario_RCFL_2018_trim1_IT_2018.02.19%20cartaceo%20def.pdf
• Immigrant workers in Italy, survey example (in metadati): https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/191090

• Mid-term Take-Home Exam distributed
  

• 10 hours, lectures: Sampling procedure, Mono and bivariate analysis.

Lucchini., M (2018) Metodologia della ricerca sociale, Capp. 7,8,9. Milano, Pearson.

• 6 hours, seminars: Exercises on data mining, data interpretation, and tabulations.  Scientific and not scientific articles will be distributed and discuss.

• Final Take-Home Exam distributed

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings:

• Corbetta P., (2015) La ricerca sociale: metodologie e tecniche. I. I paradigmi di riferimento, Bologna, Il Mulino.
• Corbetta P., (2015) La ricerca sociale: metodologie e tecniche. II. Le tecniche quantitative, Capp. 1,3,4,5,6. Bologna, Il Mulino.
• Lucchini., M (2018) Metodologia della ricerca sociale, Capp. 7,8,9. Milano, Pearson.
• Perrotta D., (2011) Vite in cantiere, Capitolo 4 parr.1-5, Bologna, Il Mulino.
• Guetto R., Fellini I. (2019) Le traiettorie occupazionali degli immigrati nel mercato del lavoro italiano, in Mondi migranti :1, pp. 143-169

Further readings:

A. MARRADI (2007), Metodologia delle scienze sociali, Bologna, Il Mulino

F. PODESTA’ (2011) Tecniche di analisi per la ricerca comparata trans-nazionale, Milano, Franco Angeli

F. BIOLCATI-RINALDI, C. VEZZONI (2012) L’analisi secondaria nella ricerca sociale, Bologna, Il Mulino

P. CORBETTA (2015), La ricerca sociale: metodologia e tecniche. III. Le tecniche qualitative Bologna, Il Mulino

Some empirical research:

P. BORDANDINI e R. CARTOCCI (2009), Cipolle a colazione. Bologna: Il Mulino

E. CELLINI, L. BRUSCAGLIONI, B. SARACINO (2016), Dentro i quartieri di edilizia residenziale pubblica. Una ricerca etnografica per studiare la qualità dell’abitare, Milano, Guerini

G. DI FEDERICO e M. SAPIGNOLI (2014), I diritti della difesa nel processo penale e la riforma della giustizia. Le esperienze di 1.265 avvocati penalisti. Padova: Cedam

P. IGNAZI e P. BORDANDINI (2018), I muscoli del partito, Bologna, Il Mulino

F. SANTANGELO (2017), La violenza nelle relazioni intime, Milano, Franco Angeli

Readings could be modified till September. 

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars, exercises and discussion.

 

Please fill this form by the 19th of September in order to choose to participate to seminars remotely or in classrooms

 

https://www.unibo.it/sitoweb/federica.santangelo/didattica/programma/2020/%E2%80%8Bhttps://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=3EeW6QgbSkW_jGmRgbOJq1XT7tmMB6FEh5mL6ssIzZ9UNjVQQ0VCUUxFVTRDTlhWSTQ4OUhKQlk3US4u

Assessment methods

Students will be assessed through a take-home written exam. The exam will be composed by 4 questions and students will have to provide answers in a fixed range of words. Exams will be made available on Esami OnLine (EOL) 36 hours before the exam dates (“appelli”) as posted on AlmaEsami and will be due on exam date by 21 p.m..

Candidates who achieve a mark on the written exam  equal to or higher than 27 will be subject to an additional oral exam within three days after the communication of the written mark. The oral exam can lead to an unlimited lowering of the written mark or to an improvement of, at most, 4 points. Cheating, copying, plagiarism are forbidden. Any behaviour perceived as suspicious by the professor will lead to annulment of the exam.

The only valid mark is the one achieved in the most recent attempt to pass the exam.

Candidates who pass the exam can refuse the final mark (thus requesting to re-take the exam) only once, in accordance with the university’s teaching regulations.

After having rejected a passing mark, any other subsequent passing mark will be recorded definitively in candidates’ transcripts.

Each student is personally responsible for his/her registration in the exam session on AlmaEsami. Registration closes 5 days before the exam. It is not possible to sign up for the exam after registration has terminated.

Students who regularly attend classes will be assessed as follows:

• class presentation and participation (30% of the grade)
• a midterm and a final take-home exam (each one with 2 questions). Exams will be made available on Esami OnLine (EOL) or TEAMS the day of the exam by 9am and will be due 24 hours later.

Teaching tools

Power point

Office hours

See the website of Federica Santangelo