GS2321: Research Design and Methods, Introduction

Per Knutsson, School of Global Studies

Learning Outcomes
- Students will understand the power and limitations of various research methods.
- Students will evaluate the validity and reliability of secondary data.
- Students will evaluate and design data collection methods.
- Students will assess ethical issues.
- Students will design and plan an independent research project using quantitative and/or qualitative methods.
- Students will critically reflect on the coherence of research designs.

Course Structure
- Part one: Research Design and Methods (planning and overarching questions.
- Part two: Either Quantitative or Qualitative Methods

Content
- Students will work towards writing a master thesis through exploration of the following:
● Ontology and Epistemology
● Introduction to research design
● Single and comparative case studies
● Quantitative/ Qualitative divide
● Mixed methods
● Crash course on quantitative and qualitative research designs, methods, and data analysis

Seminars
- 1st: Evaluate and discuss the research design of a master thesis.
- 2nd: Evaluate and discuss research design and selection of cases in research papers.
- 3rd: Propose a research design based on a specific research theme/ question.

Course Coordinators
- Per Knutsson, "the spider in the web"
- Maria Stern
- Anna Persson
- Martin Sjöstedt

Part Two: Qualitative Methods
- ethnography and participant observation
- interviews
- discourse and argumentation analysis
- action research and trans-disciplinary methods
-policy and project evaluation

Part Two: Quantitative Methods
- Evaluate correlations
- Estimate regressions
- How to interpret results

What's Expected in a Master Thesis?
- One of the principal expectations is a coherent argument running throughout the thesis.
- The thesis must unfold logically.
- Conclusions must be theoretically and empirically based.
- The thesis must have a well-defined, viable, relevant, and feasible research question.
- It is essential that you "live" with your research question.
- The thesis must be no more than 25,000 words in length.