Research Methodologies and Epistemology II

Code:

MC112

Acronym:

MIEII

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Epistemologia e Metod. de Invest. em Educação

Instance: 2018/2019 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Course/CS Responsible:	Criminology

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MC	35	Plano Oficial de MC - 2010	1	-	6	54
		Plano Oficial do ano letivo 2017	1	-	6	54

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

With this curricular unit it is intended that students solidify and increase their skills towards using quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. They should also be able to understand and interpret the analytical components of research papers, as well as to select the most adequate analytical tools for their research projects. Students should also be able to use a software for statistical analysis, such as the SPSS, JASP and R.

 

Learning outcomes and competences

In particular, in this course it is intended that students are able to:

In Part A - Qualitative Research:

• To apply the methods of observation, interview and documentary analysis in order to study different dimensions of the criminal phenomenon. 
• To know the methods of qualitative data analysis, and learn to apply the techniques of content analysis. 
• To develop skills of critic reflection and debate. 

In Part B - Quantitative Research:

• To perform preliminary exploratory analysis of quantitative data (data screening); 
• To describe available data based on descriptive statistics; 
• To apply suitable statistical methods when making inference; 
• To interpret and comment statistical software outputs (SPSS, JASP and R outputs).

 

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

n.a.

Program

Part A – Qualitative Research

1. Qualitative methodologies to collect data: qualitative interview (individual, focus group, life stories), observation and documental research;
2. Data analysis in quantitative research:
1. Data preparation;
2. Types of qualitative data analysis
3. The quality of qualitative research:
1. Ethical and methodological considerations;
2. Objectivity, reliability, validity and generalization in qualitative data analysis.

 

Part B – Quantitative Research

1. Quantitative data analysis and data screening
2. Descriptive statistics
3. Inference, sample and population
4. Correlation and association between two variables
5. Linear regression
6. Differences between two groups
7. Statistical analysis complements (multilevel regression, multinomial regressions, factorial analysis and discriminant analysis)

Mandatory literature

Albarello Luc 070; Práticas e métodos de investigação em ciências sociais. ISBN: 972-662-554-8
Bachman Ronet; The^practice of research in criminology and criminal justice. ISBN: 0-7619-8706-1
Bardin Laurence; Análise de conteúdo. ISBN: 978-972-44-1320-4
Flick Uwe; Métodos qualitativos na investigação científica. ISBN: 972-9413-67-3
Foddy William 1942-; Como perguntar. ISBN: 972-8027-54-0
Mason Jennifer; Qualitative researching. ISBN: 0-8039-8986-5
Bachman, Ronet e Raymond Paternoster; Statistical Methods for Criminology and Criminal Justice, McGraw-Hill, 2003. ISBN: 0-07-251844-8
Bushway Shawn 340; Quantitative methods in criminology. ISBN: 0-7546-2446-3
Field Andy; Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics and sex and drugs and rock.n.roll. ISBN: 978-14462-4918-5
Marôco, João; Análise estatística com o PASW Statistics (ex-SPSS). ISBN: 9789899676305
Weisburd David; Statistics in criminal justice. ISBN: 978-0-387-34112-5
King Roy D. 340; Doing research on crime and justice. ISBN: 978-0-19-928762-8
Linneman, T.; Social Statistics: Managing data, conducting analyses, presenting results, Routledge, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-415-66147-8

Complementary Bibliography

Blumer Herbert; Symbolic interactionism. ISBN: 0-520-05676-0
Denzin Norman K.; Interpretive interactionism. ISBN: 0-8039-3003-8
Denzin Norman K.; Handbook of qualitative research. ISBN: 0-8039-4679-1
Fowler Jr. Floyd J.; Survey research methods. ISBN: 0-7619-2191-5
Hagan Frank E.; Research methods in criminal justice and criminology. ISBN: 0-205-44739-2
Howell, David; Statistical Methods for Psychology, Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007
Pestana Maria Helena 1958-; Análise de dados para ciências sociais. ISBN: 972-618-391-X
Wilcox, Rand; Modern Statistics for the Social and Behavioral Sciences, CRC Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-4987-9678-1

Teaching methods and learning activities

During classes programmatic contents are presented and discussed, with the help of exercises and the application to concrete cases.

In the case of quantitative analysis, students will follow classes with a computer, performing the analysis and following tutorial examples given by the teacher.

Software

JASP
R
IBM SPSS Statistics

keywords

Social sciences > Criminology
Physical sciences > Mathematics > Statistics

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	100,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	114,00
Frequência das aulas	48,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

n.a.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final grade will correspond to the final exam classification.

Examinations or Special Assignments

cf. general regulamentation.

Internship work/project

n.a.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

cf. general regulamentation.

Classification improvement

cf. general regulamentation.