OVERVIEW

To describe the main types of social research, its phases and most widely used tools, permitting students to be involved in field research, to build tools (questionnaires, individual and group face to face interviews), to perform elementary data analysis

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Research strategies and different approaches. Research design and fundamentals of social research. Operative definitions of concepts, typesof variables and their relationships. Scaling techniques. Analysis methods, with regards to their specific use in social sciences. Data analysis. Sampling procedures, surveys and questionnaires. Individual and group interview techniques. Etnographic approach.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to present the fundamental concepts and logic that characterize social research, with particular reference to the design and implementation of a survey path, the nature of the data, its construction, elaboration and interpretation. The course is aimed at providing students with basic literacy on the logic of the research, in its various phases and in relation to the main methods of detection and analysis of the data used. Quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques, individually and in a comparative perspective, as well as their use in the conduct of sample inquiries are examined. Particular attention is devoted to the construction and use of the questionnaire as a tool for data capture, attitudinal detection techniques and the use of statistical sampling in social research. Part of the course is devoted to the illustration and acquisition of the basic methodological and basic knowledge necessary to analyse and interpret the collected data through quantitative detection techniques, with particular reference to statistical processing and data representation. At the same time, the course aims to prepare students for the realization, delivery and analysis of qualitative instruments of social research, both through different interview techniques and ethno-methodological techniques

TEACHING METHODS

Front lectures in attendance, with possibility of participation in thematic seminars on the topics discussed, aulaweb.

In case of impossibility to realize front lessons due to the Covid-19 emergency, it will try, compatibly with the evolution of the situation, to organize face-to-face meetings with small groups

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Specific materials in English for foreign students will be provided by the professor. Foreign students must contact the professor at the beginning of the course.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

STEFANO POLI (President)

CLAUDIO TORRIGIANI

SEBASTIANO BENASSO (President Substitute)

VALERIA SILVIA PANDOLFINI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

I semester from September 14th to December 4th 2020
II semester from February 15th to May 7th 2021

Class schedule

SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: BASIC CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES OF SOCIAL RESEARCH. APPLICATION OF THE MAIN TECHNIQUES OF SOCIAL RESEARCH A

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Written and oral. Students who intend to take the exam must sign up for “scritto e orale” (“written and oral”) in the appeals indicated in the exam session. Preliminary signing up to examination is compulsory. In case of impossibility to realize the exam in attendance due to the Covid-19 emergency, the exam will be realized in oral form through the Teams platform

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam will be realized in written mode (5 open questions, 4 in the manual and 1 in the reading book), with possible oral integration if requested by the professor or the student for further assessment of the preparation. In case of impossibility to realize the exam in attendance due to the Covid-19 emergency, the exam will be realized in oral form through the Teams platform (5 open questions, 4 regarding the manual and 1 regarding the reading book)

All students are invited to periodically consult the page of this course on the AulaWeb e-learning portal (accessible from the University site or at: http://www.aulaweb.unige.it/). All information and materials related to this course are provided exclusively on that site.

Exam schedule