Research Methods in Development Studies (1 º Sem 2020/2021)

1ª semana (2 horas), 19 Setembro
1. Introduction to scientific research (Prof. Pedro Raposo)
topics: what is science and scientific knowledge; scientific research and scientific method; types of scientific research; a (brief) historical view of scientific thought.
2. What means to make scientific research: main concepts (Prof. Pedro Raposo)
topics: the unit of analysis; concepts, constructs and variables; propositions and hypotheses; theories and models.
2ª semana (2 horas), 26 Setembro
3. The research process: main issues (Prof. Pedro Raposo)
topics: paradigms of social research; overview of the research process and the main phases: exploration (research questions, literature review, identification of theories), research design, the research proposal, the research execution (pilot testing, data collection, data analysis), and the research report.
3ª semana (2 horas), 3 Outubro
4. The role of theories in scientific research (Prof. Pedro Raposo)
topics: what is a theory: main components (constructs, propositions, hypotheses); the role of assumptions in the theories: what is a "good" theory; how, and when, does the theory come into the research process.
5. Research designs (Prof. Pedro Raposo)
topics: the (internal and external) validity of a research design; types of research designs: experimental studies, field surveys, secondary data analysis, case research, focus group research, action research, ethnography.
4ª semana (2 horas), 10 Outubro
6. Hypothetical Constructs and Measurement (Prof. Ana Sampaio)
Topics:
-Measurement of constructs and latent response formulation: continuous, grouped, interval-censored, ordinal, dichotomous and censored responses).
-Classical test theory: reliability. Summated scales. Validity.