Sociology: Theory and Research

Course goals

After completion of this course the student is able to:

• Reconstruct explanatory sociological theories
• Deduct hypotheses on sociological processes 
• Analyse quantitative survey data 
• Test hypotheses on sociological mechanisms
• Conclude what the theoretical or practical implications of findings are
• Report adequately on the findings

Content

The course ‘Sociology: Theory and Research’ is a mandatory part of the master program ‘Contemporary Social Problems’. Central to the course is the understanding of processes between and within individuals in contexts, This knowledge will be applied in a research paper.

This course pays attention to effective influences on the relationships between different - groups of - actors in society by discussing contemporary theories.

Groups also have to deal with, next to internal relations, transactions, collaborations or alliances with other groups to achieve their strategic goals. These processes between groups are likewise characterized by partly overlapping and partly diverging goals and interests of actors. Conflicts that may arise from these differences in interests can be dealt with formally or informally. In this course, we will discuss possible institutional procedures to arrive at collaboration.   

The course consists of two parts. During the first half, the emphasis is on the sociological, psychological and economic theories and models that help explain processes between and within groups. Students will be responsible for part of the lectures. In the second part, students work on a research paper during seminars and tutorials as well as independently. Theoretical knowledge and skills acquired in the first part, are employed in the conduct of a small quantitative study. The first half thus focuses on reproduction of theories and the second part on doing sound research. The course is integrated with the parallel course of ‘Policy Research and Advice’. Students can write a paper for the two courses, and teachers will organise extracurricular activities together. Skills acquired in these two courses are a necessary preparation for the master thesis.