TYPE OF COURSE UNIT	Compulsory Course
LEVEL OF COURSE UNIT	Bachelor's Degree
YEAR OF STUDY	2
SEMESTER	Third Term (Fall)
NUMBER OF ECTS CREDITS ALLOCATED	6
NAME OF LECTURER(S)	Assistant Professor Erdem Damar
LEARNING OUTCOMES OF THE COURSE UNIT	At the end of this course, the students; 1) become capable of assessing the fundamental concepts, styles and techniques in social and political research; 2) identify various sources, their types (i.e. primary and secondary sources, periodicals, manuscripts and official sources, etc.) as well as how and why to use these sources in conducting an empirical social and political research; 3) gain vision on differentiating scientific empirical research from other styles of conduct; 4) are familiar with issues and ethics of social and political research at every stages of empirical research process; and 5) are capable of analysing various types of data in qualitative and quantitative modes through applying to computational data programs.
MODE OF DELIVERY	Face to face
PRE-REQUISITES OF THE COURSE	No
RECOMMENDED OPTIONAL PROGRAMME COMPONENT	No recommended optional programme components.
COURSE DEFINITION	This course covers the foundations of social and political science research. It introduces general concepts (i.e. variable, hypothesis, empirics, scientific knowledge, paradigm, theory, conceptualisation, operationalisation etc.), dominant logics (inductive and deductive), and basic visions and tools of research designs used in social and political research. The course is designed to instruct students on the fundamentals of social research as well as various modes, processes and procedures of observations through which social research is to be conducted. Qualitative and quantitative data gathering techniques (i.e. experiments, survey, field research, unobtrusive research, etc.) as well as qualitative and quantitative techniques for data analysis including descriptive and inferential statistical analyses in computational programs with an emphasis on SPSS will then be introduced in detail at the last quarter of the course.
COURSE CONTENTS	WEEK TOPICS 1st Week Introduction of the Course Content and Syllabus + Why do Research? (Babbie, Ch. 1) 2nd Week Theory Construction in Social Research (Babbie, Ch. 2) 3rd Week Ethical Issues in Social Research (Babbie, Chapters 3 & 17, pp. 503-505 Avoiding Plagiarism) 4th Week Elements of Research Proposals, Research Projects and Fundamentals of Research Design (Babbie, Chapters 4 & 17,pp. 487-503) 5th Week Measurement Processes (Babbie, Ch. 5) 6th Week Index, Scales, and Typologies (Babbie, Ch. 6) 7th Week Logics of Sampling (Babbie, Ch. 7) 8th Week MID-TERM EXAM 9th Week Survey Research, Content Analysis & Secondary Analysis (Babbie, Chapters 9 & 11, pp. 323-341). 10th Week Qualitative Field Research & Historical-Comparative Research (Babbie, Chapters 10 & 11, pp. 341-349). 11th Week Evaluation Research (Babbie, Ch. 12) 12th Week Qualitative Data Analysis (Babbie, CH. 13) 13th Week Quantitative Data & Multivariate Analysis (Babbie, Chapters 14& 15) 14th Week Statistical Analyses (Babbie, Ch. 16)
RECOMENDED OR REQUIRED READING	Textbook Earl Babbie. 2014. The Practice of Social Research. 14th ed. Cengage Learning.
PLANNED LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND TEACHING METHODS	Lecture,Discussion,Questions/Answers,Presentation
ASSESSMENT METHODS AND CRITERIA	Quantity Percentage(%) Project 1 40 Attendance 1 10 Total(%) 50 Contribution of In-term Studies to Overall Grade(%) 50 Contribution of Final Examination to Overall Grade(%) 50 Total(%) 100
ECTS WORKLOAD	Activities Number Hours Workload Midterm exam Preparation for Quiz Individual or group work 14 3 42 Preparation for Final exam 1 55 55 Course hours 14 3 42 Preparation for Midterm exam Laboratory (including preparation) Final exam 1 1,5 1,5 Homework Project 1 40 40 Total Workload 180,5 Total Workload / 30 6,01 ECTS Credits of the Course 6
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION	English
WORK PLACEMENT(S)	No