Activities related to the laboratory are aimed to improve student’s skills on social research, within both the qualitative and quantitative approach, and by means of theoretical overviews and of field work. Students will have mastery on social research plans and practices, from designing to deliver research outcomes.

Lectures will examine the following topics in depth:

• Designing and planning a research work
• Collecting and analysing data, qualitative and quantitative research techniques
• Polls and questionnaires, sampling, input, clearing and data analysis
• Open data
• Types of interviews and social research
• Interviews analysis: techniques and text analysis
• The ethnographic research method
• Samples of qualitative and quantitative researches
• Deliver the final paper

During the laboratory activities the teacher will introduce some sociological researches and field studies and will show how to use open data and data archives. Attending students will practice social research plans from the overall planning to the structure of the final report.

List of the topics:

1.     Social research samples

• Social research on local politics
• How to study corruption in policy field
• Political communication and voting intentions
• Youth and politics
• School and deviance

2.     Ethnographic research: observing, reading, and questionning

3.     Open data and national elections data research

4.     The overall research plan

• Defining the research topic, designing the overall research plan and techniques to undertake on the ground level, data collecting and data analysis, outcomes and final report
• Deepening the interviews’ techniques and analysis

None

Deepening the overall knowledge over social research paradigms and social science main approaches.

Improving student’s skills over the designing and the planning of a social research project, within the qualitative and quantitative approach, along the field of sociology and political science

Increasing student’s abilities on the choice of methods and research techniques that fit the overall research plan

Giving students full mastery on communicating the final research results

Increasing student’s skills on the proper mixing of methods, techniques and data analysis

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Students may get in touch with Prof. Francesco Fratto (francesco.fratto@uniurb.it) to address questions related to the practical activities assigned.

Teaching

Practical and theorethical excercises and training tasks will be assigned to each attending (in person or remotely) students by the teacher, to deliver on the blended course page

Attendance

Attendance to at least ¾ of the lessons (in person or remotely) and undertake fullfillments and assignments

Course books

Text books and other learning and training material (such as articles, working paper, research report) will be assigned to the students and delivered and uploaded into blended course page

Assessment

Attending students will be provided by learning and training material uploaded on the blended course page. Attending students must upload their training outcomes one week before the end of the course.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Non-attending students must show the teacher abilities on building a research plan and designing an interview outline

Attendance

Attendance to less than ¾ of the lessons (in person or remotely)

Course books

The teacher suggest non-attending students to use the following text books list in order to improve skills on designing research plans and interview outlines:

- Agnoli M.S., Il disegno della ricerca sociale, Carocci, Roma, 2004 (ristampa 2015)

- Martire F., Parra Saiani P., Cataldi S., La ricerca sociale e le sue pratiche, Carocci, Roma, 2023
- Bezzi C., Glossario critico della ricerca sociale, Bonanno Editore, Catania.

The study of books listed above is not mandatory.

Assessment

Non-attending students will undertake a written examination (2 hours) in order to design a research plan or an interview outline over a topic suggested by the teacher

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The teacher is available to assign students a research plan in order to write their final dissertation. Email the teacher for further information: terenzio.fava@uniurb.it.