• Describe and discuss key methods, research designs, and methodologies involved in doing interdisciplinary work (as is expected in the context of the IBP Programme)
• Formulate and independently develop research questions and select appropriate research designs and methods for answering them.
• Show familiarity with the main methods, research designs, and methodologies practiced in each of the three IBP streams
• Critically assess and reflect on the strenghts and weakness of the methods, research designs, and methodologies introduced in the course.

The course provides a hands-on introduction to issues of research design and methods faced with empirical research in the social sciences. It departs from a discussion on how to find a relevant and manageable research question, and how to examine it based on the theoretical literature of reference. It then introduces conceptual analysis as a tool for conducting empirical research. The course proceeds by treating specific types of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research designs as well as methods for studying international law, while encouraging critical reflection on the advantages and drawbacks of the particular methods in question. The course also deals with issues of case selection and the practice of carrying out a case study. Throughout the course, the role of methods will be discussed as tools that can be used in the context of the IBP Master thesis. Three exercise seminars allow the students to apply the learned methods to specific cases in international political economy, business studies, and international law.