2024/2025 KAN-CPOLO1043U Advanced Mixed Methods
English Title | |
Advanced Mixed Methods |
Course information |
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Language | English |
Course ECTS | 7.5 ECTS |
Type | Mandatory (also offered as elective) |
Level | Full Degree Master |
Duration | One Semester |
Start time of the course | Spring |
Timetable | Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk |
Study board |
Study Board for BSc/MSc i International Business and Politics,
MSc
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Course coordinator | |
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Teaching methods | |
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Last updated on 25-06-2024 |
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Learning objectives | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Students should:
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Course prerequisites | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Our aim in this course is to open up further avenues from fundamental methods and give concrete examples of how to combine different approaches. Therefore, we expect students to be familiar with core concepts from quantitative and qualitative methods and have experience applying these methods separately in projects or assignments. The course will rely on the statistical software R, but no prior knowledge of the software is assumed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Examination | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Course content, structure and pedagogical approach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The purpose of Advanced Mixed Methods is to make students better consumers and producers of multi-method research. To that end, we will 1) discuss how fundamental building blocks of social scientific research can speak to and qualify one another 2) learn how to apply and combine various concrete methods such as case studies, content analysis, process tracing and relational quantitative methods such as social network analysis, correspondence analysis & sequence analysis and; 3) critically examine and learn from prominent examples of mixed methods in existing research.
Reflecting these learning priorities, the course aims to give students practical experience incorporating mixed methods into their own research design. We will discuss the uses of different types of data in making inference regarding a research question. The goal is to both give students new tools to work with and the ability to consume and assess their past and current application in political research. Each method will be introduced in a set of lectures; then students will get the chance to work with the methods themselves in smaller workshops. These workshops will serve as the foundation of a final research paper - in which mixing methods is a requirement - which functions as the exam assignment for the course.
In relation to Nordic Nine Advanced Mixed Methods introduces students to a variety of methods, with the aim of teaching them to be analytical and data-driven in making inferences while retaining awareness of the limits, ambiguities, and complexities of such work (NN2). Not only does this make students better producers of knowledge, it also makes them better consumers of it, bolstering their ability to assess the challenges facing humanity and the pathways towards resolving them, incuding the trade-offs and ethical dilemmas this may involve (NN3; NN5; NN7). Pedagogically, the course centers around collaborative group work and mutual learning and teaching within these groups (NN6; NN8). |
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Description of the teaching methods | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The course will be taught in-person. We will focus on making methods concrete by letting students read the excellent examples of existing scholarship while also working on a course-long project in the workshops, which can be used in the exam project. Students are expected to present and share their work with other students during the workshops. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Feedback during the teaching period | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The course offers continuous feedback and
establishes an ongoing dialogue with students. Particular feedback
includes: a) direct feedback on learning attainment during
workshops with methodological training; b) the use of in-class
quizzes in live lecture sessions; c) focused feedback on ‘work in
progress’ presentations of arguments and evidence; d) engagement
via regular office hours in person or online. Feedback is given to
explain how particular analysis, answers and arguments can be
improved.
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Student workload | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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