MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Fall 2021

ADM 2311 – FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL RESEARCH

Tuesday @ 9:40-12:30

Instructor:
Taylin@metu.edu.tr, A27/B
(Office Hours: by appointment)

Purpose of the Course:

Social problems are complex and most of them are contentious issues. Social science has the key
role to simplify these complexities and test the conflicting points of views on social problems.
Careful observation is critical but, in most cases, social problems are only partially knowable
through observation. The role of social science is to guide us to understand how our observations
are related to underlying realities of social relations. The main purpose of this course is to assist
you to analyze social phenomena systematically and to deal with the operational problems of
designing a research project of your own.

We will begin with discussing the very foundations of knowing. We will compare scientific
knowledge with other forms of knowledge. Then, we will trace the steps involved in building
scientific understanding and focus on different techniques employed in social research. We will
discuss how we can use science as a means of increasing our understanding of social problems
and suggest ways to resolve those problems to improve the quality of human life.

Course Requirements:
Your grade in this online course will reflect your performance in one midterm exam, one written
assignment, and a final exam. The midterm exam will be worth 30% and the final exam 40% of
your final grade. You will prepare a research proposal as a term project, present it online, and
turn in the written research proposals due the day of the final exam. This requirement will be
worth 30%. You are expected to follow the asynchronous lectures on weekly bases as well as to
attend the synchronous discussions each week.

1|Page
 POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Required Materials
There is no required textbook for this course. We will benefit from various bodies of the
literature and scholarly works on these strands of literatures, all of which will be uploaded on
OdtuClass. Lectures of the class will be uploaded to OdtuClass on Fridays to be watched before
the synchronous hour on Tuesdays from 11.00 am to 12.30. Please note that these asynchronous
presentations are the basic guideline for the course content, which we will build upon during our
synchronous discussions.

General Rules
Students are encouraged to read the general rules and regulations at Middle East Technical
University at http://oidb.metu.edu.tr/orta-dogu-teknik-universitesi-lisans-egitim-ogretim-
yonetmeligi-0, covering a variety of important issues such as academic integrity, procedures
about assessments of students’ performances, make-up exams etc.

Our task throughout the semester is to guide you in the process of research and learning. The
instructor and the teaching assistant of the course will provide instruction and assistance to help
you to achieve the course goals outlined above. Teaching assistant will be available to discuss
the issues and problems related with the research proposals through group appointments.

All of the work you do in this course is expected to be your own. Absolutely no cheating or
plagiarism (using someone else’s words or ideas without proper citation) will be tolerated. Any
cases of cheating or plagiarism will be reported to the university committee on academic
misconduct and handled according to the University policy. For questions about the University
policy, see the aforementioned Rules and Regulations website
http://oidb.metu.edu.tr/sites/oidb.metu.edu.tr/files/ODTUAkademikDurustluk-Kilavuzu-
7.3.2016.son_.pdf and http://oidb.metu.edu.tr/sites/oidb.metu.edu.tr/files/ODTU%20Sinav
%20Kurallari-Kilavuz-7.4.2016.son_.pdf.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COURSE AND THE READING LIST

2|Page
Week 1. Introduction and overview of the syllabus (19. Oct. 2021)

Week 2. Basic Concepts (26. Oct.)

Furlong, P. and Marsh, D. (2010). “A Skin Not a Sweater: Ontology and Epistemology in
Political Science” in Theory and Methods in Political Science (eds. David Marsh and
Gerry Stoker). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Research teams of three students will be formed by the instructors in each section.

Week 3. Positivism/Empiricism (2 Nov.)

Crotty, M. (1998). “Positivism: The March of Science” in The Foundations of Social

Research: Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process. London: Sage.

“Popper” in Philosophy and Philosophers: An Introduction to Western Philosophy. London:

UCL Press.

Week 4. Rationalism & Interpretivism (9 Nov.)

Shand, John. (1993). “Descartes” in Philosophy and Philosophers: An Introduction to Western

Philosophy. London: UCL Press.

Crotty, M. (1998). “Interpretivism: for and against culture” in The Foundations of Social
Research: Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process. London: Sage.

Research teams will turn in three possible research topics laid out in one paragraph each.

Week 5. Critical Realism (16. Nov.)

Danermark, B., Ekström, M., Jakobsen, L. and Karlsson, JC. (2005) “Science, reality and
concepts” in Explaining Society: Critical Realism in the Social Sciences. New York, NY:
Routledge.

Research teams will come to an agreement with the instructor on the research topic.

Week 6. Review - MIDTERM EXAM (23. Nov.)

Week 7. Research Design, Proposal, & Literature Review (30 Nov.)

Henn, M., Weinstein, M. and Foard, N. (2006). “Getting Started in Research: The Research
Process” in A Short Introduction to Social Research. London: Sage.

Creswell, JW. “Review of the Literature” in Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and
Mixed Method Approaches. London: Sage.

3|Page
Henn, M., Weinstein, M. and Foard, N. (2006). “Designing a Research Proposal” in A Short
Introduction to Social Research. London: Sage.

Each student will pick three scientific studies (typically a academic journal article or book
chapter) related to their research topic to review.

Week 8. Research Questions & Sampling (7 Dec)

Booth, WC., Colomb GG. and Williams, JM. (2008). “From Topics to Questions” and “From
Questions to a Problem” in The Craft of Research. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago
Press.

Buttolph Johnson, J., Reynolds, HT. and Mycoff, JD. (2016). “Sampling” in Political Science
Research Methods. London: Sage

Research teams will turn in a brief literature review combining teams members’ individual
reviews.

Week 9. Concepts & Measurement (14 Dec)

Buttolph Johnson, J., Reynolds, HT. and Mycoff, JD. (2016). “The Building Blocks of Social
Scientific Research: Measurement” in Political Science Research Methods. London: Sage.

Research teams will turn in three research questions on their research topics.

Week 10: Review (21 Dec)

Research teams will pick the central concepts to be operationalized and “measured.” They will
start discussing about the ways in which those concepts would be observed/assessed/examined in
their research.

Week 11. Causal Research: Case Studies, Comparisons, Large-Ns, Experiments (28 Dec)

Barakso, M., Sabet, DM. and Schaffner, BF. (2014). “Experiments” in Understanding Political
Science Research Methods: The Challenge of Inference. New York, NY: Routledge.

Barakso, M., Sabet, DM. and Schaffner, BF. (2014). “Small-n Observational Studies” in
Understanding Political Science Research Methods: The Challenge of Inference. New York,
NY: Routledge.

Weeks 12. Collecting Qualitative Data: Interviews & Texts (4 Jan 2022)

Buttolph Johnson, J., Reynolds, HT. and Mycoff, JD. (2016). “Survey Research and
Interviewing” in Political Science Research Methods. London: Sage.

Buttolph Johnson, J., Reynolds, HT. and Mycoff, JD. (2016). “Document Analysis: Using the

4|Page
Written Record” in Political Science Research Methods. London: Sage

Research groups turn in short discussion paper considering whether their research would
require a case, a comparative or Large-N analysis.

Week 13. Collecting Quantitative Data: Questionnaires (11 Jan)

Buttolph Johnson, J., Reynolds, HT. and Mycoff, JD. (2016). “Survey Research and
Interviewing” in Political Science Research Methods. London: Sage.

Research teams will turn a short discussion paper about how their research project can benefit
from qualitative data collection techniques.

Week 14. GROUP PRESENTATIONS (TBA)

Research groups will present the proposal of their research project in 15 minutes each.

FINAL EXAM (TBA)

5|Page