Face-to-face , first term, 45 hours of theory.

First term
Wednesday from 17:15 to 20:15 at 43 Botanique 6

French. Students should be able to read texts in English and to find their way through bibliographical databases in English.

By the end of the course, each student should:
- be familiarized with the main steps of a research approach in social science;
- be able to critically analyze the production requirements of a research;
- be able to build a research problem around a question that he is interested in, based on a scientific literature magazine and with the help of exploratory interviews;
- have a good knowledge of the possibilities and limitations of the main methods of collection and analysis of social science data.

For the Bachelor in Political Sciences: General (Evening Programme) :

None

The first part of the course addresses the epistemological presuppositions, as well as the first steps of a research approach in social sciences: the beginning of a research, the exploratory stage, the construction of a problem, operationalisation of concepts, the development of observation measures.

The second part is devoted to the presentation of the main methods of collecting and analyzing data in social sciences: experimental approach, research interview (questionnaire survey, semi-structured interview, group interview) and content analysis, secondary analysis of existing data, observation and field studies. The course ends by putting into perspective the different methods and with considerations on the ethical and political issues of research.

The “Critical view of information sources” course directly completes this course. The experimental approach is also developed in the “Psychology” course. In general, we can consider all general courses as conceptual “tool boxes” for research in social sciences, and therefore as essential for this course.

The course is supplemented with illustrations drawn from actual research practice. As the course focuses partly on the acquisition of know-how and a research “habitus”, a significant time is spent monitoring, helping and supporting the students in their course work.

The assessment consists of
1°/ the formulation and development of a research problem starting from a question chosen by the student (work done in groups of 2-3 students),
2°/ an examination relating to the course material, which counts for half of the points.

Quivy R., Van Campenhoudt L., 2011, Manuel de recherche en sciences sociales, 4th ed, Paris, Dunod.

In addition to the manual (see above), which serves as reference to the course, the course website, additional articles, video (research illustrations) and lecture notes prepared by the teacher.