Sociologia | SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGY

cod. 0312300007

SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGY

	0312300007
	DIPARTIMENTO DI STUDI POLITICI E SOCIALI
	EQF6
	SOCIOLOGY
	2021/2022

CURRICULUM ECONOMICO

	OBBLIGATORIO
	YEAR OF COURSE 1
	YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2019
	SPRING SEMESTER

TEACHING UNITS

	SSD	CFU	HOURS	ACTIVITY	TYPE OF ACTIVITY
	SPS/07	9	60	LESSONS	BASIC COMPULSORY SUBJECTS

	Objectives
	THE AIM OF THE COURSE IS TO ENABLE STUDENTS TO ACQUIRE LINGUISTIC, LEXICAL AND THEORETICAL SKILLS REGARDING THE SUBJECT AND METHODS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGY. THE TEACHING IS BASED ON THE EXPLANATION OF THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND TENDS TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONCEPTUALIZATION AND DEFINITION OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF RESEARCH IN THE SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS MUST: KNOW HOW TO DISTINGUISH METHODOLOGY FROM METHODS AND TECHNIQUES; KNOW HOW TO DISTINGUISH UNDERSTANDING FROM EXPLANATION; KNOW THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF COGNITIVE OBJECTIVITY; KNOW THE ELEMENTS OF METHODOLOGICAL DISCOURSE: CONCEPTS, ASSERTIONS, PROPERTIES, VARIABLES, INDICATORS AND INDICES; KNOW THE RULES FOR ESTABLISHING EMPIRICAL RESEARCH; KNOW THE MAIN SOURCES OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH. ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING STUDENTS MUST BE ABLE TO IMAGINE A POSSIBLE APPROACH TO EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, APPLYING TO THE VARIOUS RESEARCH TOPICS THE RULES OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL METHOD LEARNED DURING TEACHING; BE ABLE TO ORIENT THEMSELVES IN THE SELECTION OF INFORMATION SOURCES; BE ABLE TO ORGANIZE THE DATA IN A MATRIX; PROVE TO MASTER, ALBEIT IN AN EMBRYONIC WAY, THE MAIN TOOLS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH.

THE AIM OF THE COURSE IS TO ENABLE STUDENTS TO ACQUIRE LINGUISTIC, LEXICAL AND THEORETICAL SKILLS REGARDING THE SUBJECT AND METHODS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE METHODOLOGY. THE TEACHING IS BASED ON THE EXPLANATION OF THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND TENDS TO HIGHLIGHT THE CONCEPTUALIZATION AND DEFINITION OF THE PERSPECTIVES OF RESEARCH IN THE SOCIAL AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
STUDENTS MUST: KNOW HOW TO DISTINGUISH METHODOLOGY FROM METHODS AND TECHNIQUES; KNOW HOW TO DISTINGUISH UNDERSTANDING FROM EXPLANATION; KNOW THE MAIN PROBLEMS OF COGNITIVE OBJECTIVITY; KNOW THE ELEMENTS OF METHODOLOGICAL DISCOURSE: CONCEPTS, ASSERTIONS, PROPERTIES, VARIABLES, INDICATORS AND INDICES; KNOW THE RULES FOR ESTABLISHING EMPIRICAL RESEARCH; KNOW THE MAIN SOURCES OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
STUDENTS MUST BE ABLE TO IMAGINE A POSSIBLE APPROACH TO EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, APPLYING TO THE VARIOUS RESEARCH TOPICS THE RULES OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL METHOD LEARNED DURING TEACHING; BE ABLE TO ORIENT THEMSELVES IN THE SELECTION OF INFORMATION SOURCES; BE ABLE TO ORGANIZE THE DATA IN A MATRIX; PROVE TO MASTER, ALBEIT IN AN EMBRYONIC WAY, THE MAIN TOOLS OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH.

	Prerequisites
	NONE

	Contents
	THE COURSE WILL BE INTRODUCED BY A GENERAL DISCUSSION ON THE PROBLEMS OF SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE, COMPARED TO ITS ONTOLOGICAL, EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. IT WILL FOLLOW A DEEPENING OF THE VARIOUS METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES AIMED AT HIGHLIGHTING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THOUGHT AND REALITY, BETWEEN THEORY AND EMPIRICAL FACT, THE CONCEPT OF "CAUSE", THE CONTROVERSIAL NATURE OF THE "GIVEN", THE PROBLEM OF ITS "OBJECTIVITY" AND ITS POSSIBLE HERMENEUTICAL INTERPRETATION. THESE PRELIMINARY ARGUMENTS WILL FORM THE BASIS FOR ANALYSING SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCIENCE AND COMMON SENSE, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND NATURAL SCIENCES. IN THE SECOND PART, STARTING FROM THE THEORETICAL TRADITIONS OF ÈMILE DURKHEIM AND MAX WEBER, IT WILL BE DISCUSSED THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN METHODOLOGY AND METHOD, UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLANATION, EVALUATION, MEASUREMENT AND OBJECTIFICATION. THE THEME WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ANALYZE THE DISPUTE OVER THE METHOD THAT HAS DEVELOPED ON THIS BASIS AND THE WIDER DISCUSSION ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF THE THEORIES, WITH A SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL OF KARL POPPER. THE THIRD PART OF THE COURSE WILL FOCUS ON THE "TOOLS" FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A RESEARCH PROGRAMME. IT WILL START FROM THE LEXICON OF THE METHODOLOGY TO EXTEND THE DISCUSSION TO THE MOST OPERATIVE ASPECTS: FROM THE FORMULATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS, WITH REGARD TO ITS IMPLICIT OR EXPLICIT THEORETICAL REFERENCES, TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN AND ITS EMPIRICAL BASIS, FROM THE SELECTION AND DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND VARIABLES, TO THEIR OPERATIONALIZATION, BOTH WITH REGARD TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANALYSIS MODELS, BOTH TO THE CAUSAL LOGICS THAT UNDERLIE THEIR "LINKS"BOTH IN RELATION TO THE INDICATION RATIOS AND THE PROBLEM OF THEIR VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY. THE FINAL PART OF THE COURSE WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF QUANTITATIVE, QUALITATIVE AND SECONDARY ANALYSIS.

Contents

THE COURSE WILL BE INTRODUCED BY A GENERAL DISCUSSION ON THE PROBLEMS OF SOCIOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE, COMPARED TO ITS ONTOLOGICAL, EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. IT WILL FOLLOW A DEEPENING OF THE VARIOUS METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES AIMED AT HIGHLIGHTING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THOUGHT AND REALITY, BETWEEN THEORY AND EMPIRICAL FACT, THE CONCEPT OF "CAUSE", THE CONTROVERSIAL NATURE OF THE "GIVEN", THE PROBLEM OF ITS "OBJECTIVITY" AND ITS POSSIBLE HERMENEUTICAL INTERPRETATION. THESE PRELIMINARY ARGUMENTS WILL FORM THE BASIS FOR ANALYSING SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SCIENCE AND COMMON SENSE, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND NATURAL SCIENCES.
IN THE SECOND PART, STARTING FROM THE THEORETICAL TRADITIONS OF ÈMILE DURKHEIM AND MAX WEBER, IT WILL BE DISCUSSED THE DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN METHODOLOGY AND METHOD, UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLANATION, EVALUATION, MEASUREMENT AND OBJECTIFICATION. THE THEME WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ANALYZE THE DISPUTE OVER THE METHOD THAT HAS DEVELOPED ON THIS BASIS AND THE WIDER DISCUSSION ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF THE THEORIES, WITH A SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO THE METHODOLOGICAL PROPOSAL OF KARL POPPER.
THE THIRD PART OF THE COURSE WILL FOCUS ON THE "TOOLS" FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A RESEARCH PROGRAMME. IT WILL START FROM THE LEXICON OF THE METHODOLOGY TO EXTEND THE DISCUSSION TO THE MOST OPERATIVE ASPECTS: FROM THE FORMULATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS, WITH REGARD TO ITS IMPLICIT OR EXPLICIT THEORETICAL REFERENCES, TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE RESEARCH DESIGN AND ITS EMPIRICAL BASIS, FROM THE SELECTION AND DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND VARIABLES, TO THEIR OPERATIONALIZATION, BOTH WITH REGARD TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF ANALYSIS MODELS, BOTH TO THE CAUSAL LOGICS THAT UNDERLIE THEIR "LINKS"BOTH IN RELATION TO THE INDICATION RATIOS AND THE PROBLEM OF THEIR VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY.
THE FINAL PART OF THE COURSE WILL BE DEDICATED TO THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF QUANTITATIVE, QUALITATIVE AND SECONDARY ANALYSIS.

	Teaching Methods
	LECTURES AND SEMINARS

	Verification of learning
	THE LEARNIG ASSESSMENT CONSISTS OF AN ORAL EXAMINATION TO VERIFY THE STUDENT’S PREPARATION AND SUITABILITY TO USE THE SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES METHODOLOGY. THE INTERVIEW WILL ASSESS THE ABILITY TO DEVELOP REASONING AND BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE IN A CLEAR AND UNAMBIGUOUS MANNER, HIGHLIGHTING THE KNOWLEDGE OF CONTENT AND METHODOLOGY ACQUIRED.