Research Methodologies and Epistemology II

Code:

MC112

Acronym:

MIEII

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

Instance: 2022/2023 - 2S (since 06-02-2023 to 19-05-2023)

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	44	Plano Oficial do ano letivo 2017	1	-	6	54

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

This curricular unit, divided into two parts - qualitative methodologies and quantitative methodologies – follows Research Methodologies and Epistemology I, taught in the 1st semester, aiming to complement the training provided by that curricular unit. Thus, its main objective is to provide conditions for students to deepen and solidify knowledge about qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis techniques, not only in theoretical terms, but especially at the applied level and especially using specific software. In this way, it is intended to enable students to understand the scientific literature with which they are confronted and to develop their own scientific production, namely within the scope of their Master's research projects in Criminology.

Learning outcomes and competences

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

In Part A - Qualitative Research:

• To reflect on the application potential of the observation method and the ethnographic approach in the study of criminal phenomena and deviance, and learn about its different uses. 
• To know and apply different data analysis methods in qualitative research, taking into account their specificities, differences and complementarities. 
• To develop skills in critical 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 (SPSS, JASP aand R) output.

 

Working method

Presencial

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

n.a.

Program

Part A – Qualitative Research

1. The method of observation and the ethnographic approach in the study of criminal phenomena and deviance.
2. Data analysis in qualitative research:
3. Qualitative data analysis methods and techniques;
4. Plurality and complementarity

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 groups
7. Statistical analysis complements (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
Ronet Bachman; Statistical for criminology and criminal justice. ISBN: 978-0-07-312924-2
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
Field Andy; Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS Statistics and sex and drugs and rock.n.roll. ISBN: 978-14462-4918-5
João Marôco; Análise estatística com o SPSS Statistics. ISBN: 978-989-96763-2-9
Hagan Frank E.; Research methods in criminal justice and criminology. ISBN: 0-205-44739-2
King Roy D. 340; Doing research on crime and justice. ISBN: 978-0-19-928762-8
Denzin Norman K.; Handbook of qualitative research. ISBN: 0-8039-4679-1
Emma Wincup; Criminological research. ISBN: 978-1-4462-0913-4
Rita Jorge Holbeche Tinoco de Faria; Qualitative research in criminology. ISBN: 978-3-031-18400-0
Heith Copes; The^Routledge handbook of qualitative criminology. ISBN: 978-0-415-65970-3
Lorana Bartels; Qualitative criminology. ISBN: 978-1-87606-724-3

Complementary Bibliography

Bushway Shawn 340; Quantitative methods in criminology. ISBN: 0-7546-2446-3
Fowler Jr. Floyd J.; Survey research methods. ISBN: 0-7619-2191-5
Howell, David; Statistical Methods for Psychology, Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007
Imai, Kosuke; Quantitative Social Science - An Introduction, Princeton University Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-691-16703-9
Linneman, T.; Social Statistics: Managing data, conducting analyses, presenting results, Routledge, 2014. ISBN: 978-0-415-66147-8
Mason Jennifer; Qualitative researching. ISBN: 0-8039-8986-5
Pestana Maria Helena 1958-; Análise de dados para ciências sociais. ISBN: 972-618-391-X
Weisburd David; Statistics in criminal justice. ISBN: 978-0-387-34112-5
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

R
JASP
IBM SPSS Statistics

keywords

Social sciences > Criminology
Physical sciences > Mathematics > Statistics

Evaluation Type

Evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	50,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	84,00
Frequência das aulas	48,00
Trabalho escrito	30,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

n.a.

Calculation formula of final grade

Final grade equals the average of grades obtained from the written assignment (50%) and from the exam (50%)

Examinations or Special Assignments

cf. general regulamentation.

Internship work/project

n.a.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

cf. general rules

Classification improvement

cf. general rules.