Research Methods in Social Sciences

Course Coordinators:

• Dr Karen Liu, BSc (SYSU); MSc (SYSU); PhD (HKU)
• Dr Law Lok Yin, BA, BEd (HKBU); MA (CUHK); PhD (NTU)

Course Developer: Dr Ruth Mei-tai Fan

This course is a compulsory course for the Social Sciences (Hons) programme. It covers the basic elements of social research, including designs, procedures, and statistical methods.

Advisory prerequisite(s)
You are strongly advised to have already studied SOSC A101.

Aims
This course aims to enable learners to understand the basic decisions and procedures in conducting research in the social sciences (e.g. psychology, sociology, political science, economics) and in applied areas such as education and health. The course discusses the main strategies of research designs, data collection and analysis used by social researchers, illustrating them from different fields of study. The course is also suitable for professionals who need to read and interpret the results of research, and be able to assess their validity.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• The various approaches to knowledge, the different paradigms and methodologies, and the overall process involved in social research
• The meaning and characteristics of measurement, and various research methods, including observation, interviewing and experimentation
• Major techniques employed to process and analyse qualitative and quantitative data
• How research is communicated, and the microsystem of social research

Learning support
There will be 15 two-hour tutorials and three day schools.

Assessment
There are five assignments and a final examination. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Set book(s)
Babbie, E R (2016) The Practice of Social Research, 14th version, Cengage Learning.