Graduate Program (& Advanced Certificate) Status
The aim of this seminar is to familiarize students with the basics of social science research focusing on the most practical issues. We will start the course with discussing research related issues from the very basics and then proceed to the more specific research related dilemmas. Among others, we will discuss how to to find a proper argument and identify the relevant theoretical framework. We will also address the issue of data collection, source identification, case selection, fieldwork, and discuss any practical problems related to research papers including citation and bibliography management, plagiarism, recycling earlier work, etc. Bearing in mind that nationalism studies is an inherently muti- and interdisciplinary field, we will discuss the specificities as well as the limitations of all the relevant research methodologies and the combination thereof. The course is a very practice-oriented seminar. Rather than reading about research challenges and dilemmas, we will discuss them through studying examples including journal articles and seminar papers.
Students by the end of course will be able to set out to write seminar papers and research proposals, plan their fieldworks successfully, and have a general understanding of conducting and reporting empirical social research.
Students are required to attend class regularly and to participate actively. There will be no obligatory readings for this course, but the in the classroom, we will turn into an editorial team and critically evaluate and discuss sample research plans, journal articles and seminar papers in order to identify their strength and potential limitations. In order to complete the course, students will need to read these samples and actively participate in their discussion.
