Emneside for MET4101 Vitenskapelig metode

Knowledge outcomes

On course completion, students will: 

• be able to explain key concepts in research methods
• be able to discuss some fundamental issues in the theory of science
• be able to use quantitative and qualitative methods, and choose the methods appropriate for their research questions
• be able to employ theory in research design and analysis
• be able to define and apply ethical guidelines for research

Skills outcomes

On course completion, students will:

• apply best practice skills for citations and references
• employ relevant theories and methods when posing research questions, answering them and organising inquiries relevant to their profession
• collect, analyse and critically assess various forms of information, employ information to formulate and structure their arguments in an independent manner
• complete an independent, limited research project under supervision and in compliance with current standards in research ethics

General competence outcomes

On course completion, students will:

Communicate their independent analyses according to the prevailing norms and practices in their field of study

Be able to discuss research questions, analyses and findings within their field of study, with other specialists as well as with the general public

Undervisningen består av tre deler: plenumsforelesninger, gruppearbeid og studentenes deltakelse. Det forutsetter at studentene møter forberedt og har lest det angitte pensumet til hver dag på forhånd. 

MET4101 Thematically organised reading list

(732 p.) The obligatory reading is to be read ahead of the relevant lecture or activity. Only the particularly relevant or challenging items are discussed during lectures.

Please note that either Creswell 2014 or Creswell & Creswell 2018 (identical title) may be used. Page numbers given here are for Creswell 2014 and do not correspond to Creswell & Creswell 2018. Please refer to chapter numbers instead.

The reading list may be adjusted during the course of the teaching year.

Topic 1: Research ethics (30 p.)

Jacobsen, D.I. (2015). Hvordan gjennomføre undersøkelser? Innføring i samfunnsvitenskapelig metode (3rd ed.). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, ch. 3 (15 p.)

Forskningsetiske komiteer (2016). Forskningsetiske retningslinjer for samfunnsvitenskap, humaniora, juss og teologi. De nasjonale forskningsetiske komiteer (items 1-4 & 5-18, pp. 9-23). Available from https://www.etikkom.no/forskningsetiske-retningslinjer/Samfunnsvitenskap-jus-og-humaniora/ (15 p.)

For students who are not native Norwegian speakers the following item may be substituted for Jacobsen ch. 3 above, with notification to the course convenor:

Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp. 92-101 = end of ch.4 (10 p.)

Topic 2: Fundamental issues in the theory of science (40 p.)

Nyeng, F. (2012). Nøkkelbegreper i forskningsmetode og vitenskapsteori. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget, ch. 1, 6-9, 21 (40 p.)

Topic 3: Key concepts in research methods (158 p.)

Jacobsen, D.I. (2015). Hvordan gjennomføre undersøkelser? Innføring i samfunnsvitenskapelig metode (3rd ed.). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, chs. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 (85 p.)

Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp. 3-23 (ch.1) og pp. 51-76 (ch.3) (45 p.)

Johannessen, L.E.F, Rafoss, T.W. og Rasmussen, E.B. (2018). Hvordan bruke teori? Nyttige verktøy i kvalitativ analyse. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, ch. 2 (28 p.)

Nyeng, F. (2012). Nøkkelbegreper i forskningsmetode og vitenskapsteori. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget, ch. 3 (6 p.)

For students who are not native Norwegian speakers the following items may be substituted for Jacobsen ch. 1, 4 and 5 above, and for Johannessen et al. 2018 with notification to the course convenor:

Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, ch. 1, 3, 7 (59 p.)

Topic 4: The writing process (119 p.)

Busch, T. (2013). Akademisk skriving for bachelor- og masterstudenter. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget (78 p.)

Jacobsen, D.I. (2015). Hvordan gjennomføre undersøkelser? Innføring i samfunnsvitenskapelig metode (3rd ed.). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, ch. 16 (16 p.)

Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp. 25-50 (ch.2) (25 p.)

The following web resource is a useful guide when writing up your methods section or chapter:

http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/methodology

For students who are not native Norwegian speakers the following items may be substituted for Jacobsen ch. 16 above, with notification to the course convenor:

Cresswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp. 83-92 = middle of ch.4 (10 p.)

AND

Powner, Leanne C. (2015). Empirical Research and Writing. A Political Science Student’s Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press/SAGE, ch. 9 (15 p.)

Topic 5: Qualitative methods (139 p.)

Jacobsen, D.I. (2015). Hvordan gjennomføre undersøkelser? Innføring i samfunnsvitenskapelig metode (3rd ed.). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, chs. 8, 9, 10, 11 (107 p.)

Denscombe, M. (2017). The Good Research Guide for small-scale research projects (6. utg). Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill, ch. 3 (case) (12 p.)

Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, pp. 183-213 (ch.9) (20 p.)

Additional reading for students using qualitative methods in their masters thesis (127 p.)

It is advisable to look through all the additional items listed here before deciding what is relevant to your project.

Aberbach, J. D. & Rockman, B. A. (2002). Conducting and Coding Elite Interviews. PS: Political Science and Politics, 35(4), 673-676. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1554807?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (4 p.)

Berry, J.M. (2002). Validity and Reliability Issues in Elite Interviewing. PS: Political Science and Politics, 35(4), 679-682. Available from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1554809?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents  (4 p.)

Tansey, O. (2007). Process Tracing and Elite Interviewing: A Case for Non-Probability Sampling. PS: Political Science and Politics, 40 (4), 765-772. Available from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20452062?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (8 p.)

Denscombe, M. (2017). The Good Research Guide for small-scale research projects (6th ed). Maidenhead: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill, ch. 13 (interviews) and 14 (observation) (44 p.)

Johannessen, L.E.F, Rafoss, T.W. og Rasmussen, E.B. (2018). Hvordan bruke teori? Nyttige verktøy i kvalitativ analyse. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget, ch. 5 (categories), 10 (thematic analysis) (67 p.)

Topic 6: Quantitative methods (246 p.)

Jacobsen, D.I. (2015). Hvordan gjennomføre undersøkelser? Innføring i samfunnsvitenskapelig metode (3rd ed.). Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk, chs. 2, 13, 14, 15 (132 p.)

Ringdal, K. (2013). Enhet og mangfold: samfunnsvitenskapelig forskning og kvantitativ metode (3rd ed.). Bergen: Fagbokforlaget, pp. 390-393 (4 p.)

Martinussen, M. & Hunter, D (2008). Luftfartspsykologi. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget, ch. 2 (39 p.)

Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage, pp.155-182 (ch. 8) (28 p.)

Students who are not native Norwegian speakers are advised to read the following items as general introductions to quantitative methods and in partial substitution of the Jacobsen chapters above, however only in consultation with those chapters for scope and detail:

Cresswell, J. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage, ch. 8 (28 p.)

AND

Powner, Leanne C. (2015). Empirical Research and Writing: A Political Science Student’s Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press/SAGE, ch. 7 (21 p.)

Additional reading for students using qualitative methods in their masters thesis (164 p. + Field):

It is advisable to look through all the additional items listed here before deciding what is relevant to your project. Field 2013 is proposed as a reference guide to SPSS.

Fosse, T.H., Buch, R., Säfvenbom, R., & Martinussen, M. (2015). The impact of personality and self-efficacy on academic and military performance: The mediating role of self-efficacy. Journal of Military Studies, 6(1) Available from: https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/jms/6/1/article-p47.xml

Johansen, R. B., Laberg, J.C., & Martinussen, M. (2013). Measuring military identity: Scale development and psychometric evaluations. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 41(5), 861-880. Available from: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=88161724&site=ehost-live (20 p.)

Køber, P.K., Lang-Ree, O. C., Stubberud, K.V. & Martinussen, M. (2017). Predicting Basic Military Performance for Conscripts in the Norwegian Armed Forces. Military Pshychology, 29(6), 560-569. (10 p.)

Martinussen, M., Gundersen, E., & Pedersen, R. (2011). Predicting fear of flying and positive emotions towards air travel. Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors, 1(2), 70-74. Available from: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=f5be419e-b6f1-47a9-a8da e84710a77be6%40sessionmgr4010&vid=0&hid=4104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=2011-28687-002&db=pdh (5 p.)

Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Ringdal, K. (2013). Enhet og mangfold: samfunnsvitenskapelig forskning og kvantitativ metode (3rd ed.). Bergen: Fagbokforlaget, chs. 9, 15, 17 (83 p.)

Powner, Leanne C. (2015). Empirical Research and Writing. A Political Science Student’s Practical Guide. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press/SAGE, pp. 181-221 (chs. 8 & 9, in ch.9 the paragraphs on quantitative projects) (40 p.)

Obligatorisk arbeidskrav: Et paper, inntil 1000 ord, oppgitt oppgave Obligatorisk arbeidskrav: Seminar-/samlingsdeltakelse. Hver student skal 1) muntlig presentere tema og problemstilling for sin egen masteroppgave og 2) gi en forberedt tilbakemelding/kommentar på en medstudents prosjektskisse, og delta i diskusjon.

Vurderingsform: Muntlig eksamen, individuell

Varighet: 15 minutter

Karakterskala: Bestått / ikke bestått