SOCb1006 Methodology of Social Sciences

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Petr Fučík, PhD. (lecturer)
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Katrňák, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. et Mgr. Jiří Navrátil, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Světlana Nedvědová (assistant)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Tomáš Katrňák, Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Prerequisites (in Czech)
! SOC106 Methodology of Social Sciences
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course is an introduction to the methodology of social research. Main objectives are to understand the basic methodological concepts and to learn the main research strategies in social sciences. At the end of this course, students should understand connections between particular type of research question, goals and strategies and should be able to design a research proposal.
Learning outcomes
After completing the course the students will be familiar with the basic methodology of sociological research, basic research strategies, basic research paradigms and designs. Furthermore, the students will be able to design a research project, specify research problems and research questions, operationalize them, and choose the appropriate instruments for making surveys.
Syllabus
  • The course is organized as a series of weekly topics which include lectures and required reading.The weekly topics include: 1. Essence of scientific approach. What kind of sciences is social sciences? Can the methods of the nature sciences be used in the social sciences? What is the nature of the reality to be investigated - different responses?
  • 2. Accumulation of knowledge or scientific revolutions? Concepts of a normal science and a paradigm. Social science - the competition of paradigms.
  • 3. The model of empirical science. Types of social research.
  • 4. Elements of social research. Designing quantitative research: planning the project. Se-lecting a topic and research questions.
  • 5. Dimensions of theorizing in social research. Inductive and deductive strategies. Hypothe-sis and its verification/falzification.
  • 6. Basic strategies of social research.
  • 7. Language of social of social science and languages of social research. Variables and their values.
  • 8. Between theory and reality: The operational definitions. The concept-indicator problem. Types of concept-indicator link.
  • 9. Measurement in social sciences. Strategy of measurement, validity, reliability. Nominal, ordinal and interval/ratio scales.
  • 10. Research unit. The nature of the different types of sampling.
  • 11. Relations between variables. The meaning of relationship and their interpretation. 12. Doing your own project.
  • 13. Researcher as a stranger. Ethnocentrism - trap for researcher.
Literature
    required literature
  • DISMAN, Miroslav. Jak se vyrábí sociologická znalost : příručka pro uživatele. 4. nezměněné vydání. Praha: Univerzita Karlova v Praze, nakladatelství Karolinum, 2011, 372 stran. ISBN 9788024619668. URL info
  • BABBIE, Earl R. The practice of social research. 9th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2001, 1 sv. (rů. ISBN 0-534-57474-2. info
    recommended literature
  • CHAMBLISS, Daniel F. and Russell K. SCHUTT. Making sense of the social world : methods of investigation. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: Pine Forge Press, 2010, 1 v. ISBN 9781412969390. URL info
  • Současná filosofie sociálních věd :multikulturní přístup. Edited by Brian Fay - Jana Ogrocká. 1. vyd. Praha: Sociologické nakladatelství, 2002, 324 s. ISBN 80-86429-10-5. info
  • RAGIN, Charles C. Constructing social research :the unity and diversity of method. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press, 1994, xiii, 194. ISBN 0-8039-9021-9. info
Teaching methods
lectures and class discusion, project, consultations, readings and homeworks
Assessment methods
quizzes, homeworks, final writtten test, project
Language of instruction
Czech
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2025/SOCb1006