Discover the principles of solid scientific methods in the behavioral and social sciences. Join us and learn to separate sloppy science from solid research!
Annemarie Zand Scholten
阿姆斯特丹大学
课程概述
Can we still put our trust in the social and behavioural sciences? Cases of social scientists exposed as frauds keep turning up and many disciplines are under fire for their failure to replicate key results. No wonder the integrity of our field is being questioned; sloppy science is starting to seem the norm rather than the exception!
As social scientist Daniel Kahneman suggests, it is time for the social sciences to clean house. We will try to answer his call with a series of courses that explain the scientific principles of research and how methodology and statistics can help to ensure that research is solid. We will explain the basics and put them into context by showing you how things can go horribly wrong when methods and statistics are abused. And we will teach you how to recognize these questionable research practices - after the fact - in published articles.
This first course, Solid Science: Research Methods (in the Social and Behavioral Sciences), will cover the fundamental principles of science, some history and philosophy of science, research designs, measurement, sampling and ethics. This basic material will lay the groundwork for the more technical stuff in subsequent courses. The course is comparable to a university level introductory course on quantitative research methods in the social sciences, but has a strong focus on research integrity. We will use examples from sociology, political sciences, educational sciences, communication sciences and psychology.
Please note that this course will focus on quantitative methods, qualitative methods will be treated in a separate course.
授课大纲
Week 1: Origins of the scientific method
non-scientific and scientific ways to gain knowledge, types of scientific claims
history of the scientific method (classical period, enlightenment, modern science)
philosophical considerations: ontology and epistemology
approaches to science (qualitative versus quantitative)
warm-up assignments (not graded)
Week 2: The scientific method
the empirical cycle and testing hypotheses
scientific criteria and causality
threats to internal validity
variables of interest and disinterest
small assignments (graded)
Week 3: Research designs
true experiments, manipulation and randomization
experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational designs
factorial and repeated measures designs
matching and ecological validity
small assignments & paper on week 1 & 2 due (graded)
Week 4: Measurement
variables and operationalizations
measurement levels and types, validity and reliability
surveys, questionnaires and tests, items and scales
other forms of measurement
small assignments (graded)
Week 5: Sampling
threats to external validity
random and non-random sampling
random sampling methods
sampling bias and error, sample size
assignments & paper on on week 3 & 4 due (graded)
Week 6: Practice, ethics & integrity
research protocols and data management
ethics towards participants and research integrity
review and publication process
questionable research practices
small assignments (graded)
Week 7: Study week
time to catch up and study for the final exam
time to ask your final questions
time to work on last paper
Week 8: Exam week
paper on week 5 & 6 due (graded), final exam (graded) and course evaluation
先修知识
No previous knowledge is required. If you’re interested in methodology and research integrity in the social sciences, join this course and help us clean house!
参考资料
Additional readings will be suggested during the course. These suggestions are optional and will always refer to freely available material.
授课形式
Course length
8 weeks (6 weeks lectures, 1 week to catch up and study, 1 exam week)
Lecture format
per week: on average 10 lecture videos (4-8 min.) and one interview (10-20 min.)
per video: 1 or 2 quiz questions to assess your understanding (not graded)
Assignment format
1 to 3 small graded assignments per week (e.g. a 10 item multiple-choice test or a small peer-graded writing assignment or contribution to the discussion forum)
1 larger paper assignment per two weeks, 3 in total (e.g. a paper reviewing the internal validity of a particular research study of around 400-800 words)
Exam format
the final exam will consist of multiple-choice questions
