Course syllabus Research Design: The Fundamentals of Writing a First Year Research Plan

Accepted into a PhD programme in political science or equivalent at an international or national university.

The purpose of the course is to enable the PhD student to develop his or her ability to design and write research. This involves methods for how to identify a research problem in the field of political science, with a focus on how to contribute to the existing literature and the close relationship between research problem and theorization (Learning goal: Knowledge and understanding). A ‘research problem’ is defined as necessary and sufficient reason or set of reasons for conducting new research, and during the course the PhD student will explore and discuss different understandings of the concept in light of various research traditions. ‘Theorization’ is defined as theory development, where theory can be defined either: (a) more broadly as everything that organizes a field systematically, by structuring questions and establishing concepts and categories, or (b) more narrowly as the causal relationship between a dependent and an independent variable (Learning goals: Competence and skills). The course consists of seminars, several of which have a lecture component and during which the PhD student will be asked to perform a review of previous scholarship relevant to her/his own project, pinpoint and discuss sets of research problems/theorization, and start to conceptualize and write a research problem for her/his PhD project and think about what type of theorization it may require (Learning goals: Judgement and approach).

Type of Instruction
Seminars

Upon completion of the course the PhD student should be able to:

Knowledge and understanding

• distinguish and compare different understandings of research problems in political science,

Competence and skills

• identify and delimit a field of research,
• identify how a certain research problem relates to theory and a need for theorization,

Judgement and approach

• identify, describe, develop and evaluate research problems in political science,
• write a research problem/theorization and situate it vis-à-vis the existing research.

Assessment
Scope: 7.5

Grading Scale: Fail, Pass

The examination is assessed on active and constructive participation in mandatory seminars as well asthe submission of a written examination task.

Absence from a mandatory seminarcan be compensated by a supplementary task given by the examiner.

Grading
The student is graded on a two-point grading scale: Fail (U) and Pass (G). Grading criteria are reported at the latest at the start of the course.

Restrictions in Number of Examinations
There is no limit on the total number of examination opportunities.