Methodology and Practice of Social and Political Research

February 9 — April , 2025

3 months

Methodology and Practice of Social and Political Research

Intensive course

Персональная обратная связь от преподавателя

Бессрочный доступ к методическим материалам

Авторская методика аналитического чтения

Что вам даст курс?

Цель курса – оказать практическую помощь слушателям в работе с концепциями для их собственных исследований путем формирования компетенции аналитического чтения “трудных” текстов и развития организованного теоретического воображения.

1 Не бояться чтения сложных текстов по социальным и гуманитарным наукам

2 Реконструировать теоретические аргументы этих текстов

3 Применять теоретические аргументы в собственных исследованиях

4 Использовать Виатекст – онлайн-инструмент для аналитического чтения

1 Не бояться чтения сложных текстов по социальным и гуманитарным наукам

2 Реконструировать теоретические аргументы этих текстов

3 Применять теоретические аргументы в собственных исследованиях

4 Использовать Виатекст – онлайн-инструмент для аналитического чтения

About the Course

The course is aimed at mastering basic professional skills by social and political science students. The course focuses on the logic and development of an empirical research program, the organization of research process, and the preparation and presentation of scientific texts of various academic genres. It is planned to conduct seminars and workshops at which students discuss course topics based on the material of their research projects, and also analyze the experience of conducting certain research projects by other scholars.

Course participants will submit short written responses on the course-related tasks, book reviews (about 1000-1500 words) and finally, drafting of research proposals related to their master’s or other projects.

Who For?

The course is open to those who want to learn how to conduct research in the social and political sciences. We will consider all stages of the research process, from the formulation of a research puzzle to the publication of scholarly articles, discuss the role of theories, hypotheses and data, and talk about formats for presenting the results of research.

Special education in this field is not required to participate in the course.

The course aimed at helping students, scholars, researchers and professors in organizing their research in the field of social and political sciences.

Program

Where to begin? Social problems and scholarly problems. Selection of a research topic: beyond rationality? Framing of a research project, its goals and objectives. Theoretical and empirical developments, policy relevance of social and political research. Research framework: external constraints and self-limitations. State of the art in the research field: in search of scholarly niches. Information search and literature review: the problem of critical reflection. Basic concepts and their operationalization. Formulation of research hypotheses.

Genres of written scholarly texts. Essays, exams, scholarly articles, review articles and book reviews. Abstracts as a genre of scholarly miniatures. Features of theoretical and empirical texts. Popular texts and scholarly criticism, social and political sciences and political journalism. Structure of the scholarly text: state of the art, evidence, data analysis and conclusions. Rhetorical strategies and the problem of clarity of content of argumentation. External constrains of scholarly texts. Rules and practices for written academic discussion. Citation rules: problems of plagiarism and incorrect use of sources. International bibliography standards. Format of scholarly texts and modes of their editing. The author vs. editors, reviewers and translators: in search of a common language.

Введение в UX и STS Что такое продукт? Какие есть исследования пользователей? Кто такие пользователи? На эти простые, но важные вопросы мы ответим на первом занятии, чтобы понять, зачем изучать пользователей, и что будет, если этого не делать. Мы также познакомимся со слушателями и преподавателями курса.

Conferences and seminars: speakers, opponents, discussants, presenters, chairs and others. Format of academic presentations and their preparation. Written texts, handout materials, the use and abuse of technical devices. Structure of the presentation: state of the art, arguments, evidence, analysis and conclusions. Format of presentations: opportunities and constraints. Online presentations: pro et contra. Rhetorical strategies and the problem of clarity of content in scholarly presentations. Rules and practices of oral scientific discussion.

Genres of large forms of scholarly texts. Edited volumes, collective and individual monographs and others. The dissertation as a scholarly genre, its tasks and formats. Master’s, and doctoral (PhD) dissertations: formal and substantive requirements. What you should and should not expect from your supervisors, reviewers, and opponents. Problems of co-authorship and participation in collective research projects. Writing scholarly books: approaches, problems of preparing a manuscript, its publication and distribution.

Academic and non-academic problems of financing research projects. Sources of research funding: opportunities and constraints. Individual and collective research projects. Problems of international cooperation in social and political sciences: content and organizational aspects. Research fellowships, travel grants and other formats. Preparing applications, filling out forms, planning the project’s budget, getting recommendations. Project management, reporting, and other issues.

Lecturer

Vladimir Gel'man

Candidate of Political Sciences, Professor at the University of Helsinki and associate researcher at Yerevan Center for International Education (YCIE)

Political scientist Vladimir Gel’man is an author and editor of more than 20 books, author of over 150 scientific articles devoted to the problems of Russian politics from theoretical and comparative perspectives. He’s a winner of book awards of the Russian Association of Political Sciences (2002, 2007, 2013). Short- listed for the Enlightener Prize (2022).

Vladimir Gel'man

Андрей опубликовал более 30 статей по темам исследований наук и технологий, акторно-сетевой теории и городских мобильностей. Его последние работы посвящены изучению широкого круга тем: беспилотные автомобили, городские партиципаторные проекты, социология научного знания, технологические аварии и наследие Бруно Латура.