Research Seminar

2024/2025

Учебный год

ENG

Обучение ведется на английском языке

3

Кредиты

Кто читает:

Департамент политологии и международных отношений

Статус:

Курс обязательный

Когда читается:

2-й курс, 1-4 модуль

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is a freshmen introduction into the craft of academic research. The class is divided into two substantive blocks. The first one attempts to engage students into a broad discussion of what the research is and how working with academic literature contributes to producing original research. The second block covers some major elements of research design, thus, providing students with the general understanding of how the research process looks like and its anticipated outcomes.

Learning Objectives

• The main goal of this course is to introduce students to the basic steps of conducting and academic research.
• As a subgoal the course aims at developing the skill of writing a literature review as one of the steps of any research process.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Students explore how a research question connected with a broader research problem. Students learn to tie their question to the theoretical problems in a partiqular field of study.
• Students learn what academic research is and what role does it play in political science.
• Students explore what place does literature review take in a single research. Student learn what goals does literature review aims to reach.
• Students learn how to choose the best research design of future paper depending on the number of cases for analysis: experiment, statistics, comparative research and case-study. Sudents learn the differences and nuances of conducting different types of reseach.
• Students learn how to form a research design in social sciences, with all its parts and elements, by looking into specific examples
• Students learn how to transfer the concepts into the measurable and relevant research variables.
• Students learn the different ways to organize and structure a literature review
• Students learn what theory and hypotheses are in social sciences. Students learn how to formulate hypotheses and how to work with them in their own research.
• Students learn which parts does research include and how fo they compose in a single paper.
• Students learn the differences between the topic of a research and a research question. Students learn how to formulate a good research question.
• Students will learn how to transfer the concepst into the measutable and relevant research variables
• Students learn what academic research is and what role does it play in political science
• Describes the purpose and structure of a literature review
• Uses relevant sources of data for literature reviews
• Applies the techniques of bibliometric analysis and interprets their results
• Applies appropriate norms of academic writing

Course Contents

• DG1. What is research paper and how to read it?
• DG2. Literature review: how to read it, how to write it
• DG3. Research topic, research question and research problem
• DG4. Theories and hypotheses
• DG5. Operationalization
• DG6. Designing your research: how the number of cases affects the design of your paper?
• DG7. Data: Sources and Analysis
• DG-1 (2nd year). Introduction
• DG-2 (2nd year). Choosing a Topic and Academic Supervisor
• DG-3 (2nd year). Searching for Literature
• DG-4 (2nd year). Science Maps and Bibliometric Analysis
• DG-5 (2nd year). Abstract
• DG-6 (2nd year). Heuristics and Tips for Literature Review
• DG-7 (2nd year). Systematic Literature Reviews.
• DG-8 (2nd year). Academic Writing.
• DG-9 (2nd year). Plagiarism.
• DG-10 (2nd year). Workshop
• DG-11 (2nd Year) Python Workshop
• DG-12 (2nd year). Data Analysis Workshop
• DG-1 (3rd year)
• DG-2 (3rd year)
• DG-3 (3rd year)
• DG-4 (3rd year)
• DG-5 (3rd year)
• DG1 (4th year)
• DG2 (4th year). Particularities and Constraints of Social Sciences
• DG-3 (4th year). Guidelines for a Good Research Design
• DG-4 (4th year). Research Strategies, Methodologies and Methods

Assessment Elements

• In-class Tests
  In-class tests represent a set of quizzes taking place at the beginning of each seminar. Each test includes from 1 to 5 open and multiple-choice questions about materials for corresponding seminar. There is a 10-scale grade for each test. For each correct answer a student gets from 1 to 4 points depending on the question. The final grade for this assignment represents a median value of all test results.
• Team Literature Review
  A literature review is a written assignment on a topic proposed by the team themselves and approved by the tutor. A review has to include a clear statement of a question / thesis statement of a broader research problem; be explicit as regard the structuring principle of your review and briefly describe perspectives for further research in the concluding section of your review. Teams have to be formed until DG2. Topics have to be approved until DG3. Literature review have to be submited until DG6, before the class. The only way to submit the literature review is to send it to course instructor via corporate e-mail. (for every overdue day one point will be taken away. This means that if you send your paper three days after deadline you will lost 3 points from the result)
• Exam
  This test consists of two parts. The first part is a quiz with multiple-choice questions where each question has only one correct answer. The second consists of a set of open questions where students have to show that they have a profound knowledge of the matter. All questions are based on the mandatory readings and seminar discussions. The test lasts 1 hour 20 min.
• Detailed Plan of the Term Paper
  At the end of the course, students are to write a detailed plan of their proposed term paper. The plan must consist of titles for chapters and paragraphs within the chapters as well as short description of the proposed content of each paragraph (in a form of bullet points or plain text). The proposed literature review must adhere to one of the structural logics discussed in class. The titles must be substantial (not just “Main body” or “Paragraph 1”). Each chapter should contain at least 2 paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain at least 2 footnote references to the literature the student is going to build this paragraph on. Footnotes and the reference list must be in line with the Chicago reference style. All plan items must be coherently numbered. Instructors will assess the depth of the survey of the literature undertaken by the student, the logical coherence of the plan, and its fit with the expectations from a literature review.
• Home Assignment
  After some classes students are expected to fulfill and submit a written home assignment. Assignments are to be submitted within 7 calendar days from the date of the seminar.
• Class Assignments
  Some classes feature assignments that are graded. These assignments are to be submitted at the end of the class.
• Class Participation
  During the seminar the lecturers evaluate students' participation. The final grade for this component is the average of all grades for the seminars.
• Assignment on Data Analysis
  The final exam will take place at the end of the fourth module of the academic year. It will include working with the dataset, building, and interpreting the statistical model, and writing a short conclusion. The exam’s duration is 90 minutes, the students will be allowed to use their laptops and notes in order to complete the task.
• In-Class Participation (3)
  The lecturer evaluates students' participation at the seminars. The grade for this component is the average of all seminars attended.
• Research Proposal (3rd year)
  In this assignment, students are to submit a research proposal, based on the topic of their term papers.
• Research Proposal (4th year)
  This is an individual written assignment and the main outcome of the research seminar. Students are expected to describe the research design of their future bachelor theses. The expected volume of the paper is 1500 words (+/- 10%).
• Revision test
  The revision test will consist of multiple-choice an dopen questions covering the content of the first 5 seminars.
• In-Class Participation (4)
  The lecturer evalutes students' participation at the seminars.

Interim Assessment

• 2023/2024 4th module
  0.35 * Exam + 0.35 * Exam + 0.3 * In-class Tests + 0.3 * In-class Tests + 0.35 * Team Literature Review + 0.35 * Team Literature Review
• 2024/2025 2nd module
  0.3 * Class Assignments + 0.3 * Class Assignments + 0.4 * Detailed Plan of the Term Paper + 0.4 * Detailed Plan of the Term Paper + 0.3 * Home Assignment + 0.3 * Home Assignment
• 2024/2025 4th module
  0.7 * Assignment on Data Analysis + 0.7 * Assignment on Data Analysis + 0.3 * Class Participation + 0.3 * Class Participation
• 2025/2026 4th module
  0.3 * In-Class Participation (3) + 0.3 * In-Class Participation (3) + 0.7 * Research Proposal (3rd year) + 0.7 * Research Proposal (3rd year)
• 2026/2027 2nd module
  0.3 * In-Class Participation (4) + 0.3 * In-Class Participation (4) + 0.5 * Research Proposal (4th year) + 0.5 * Research Proposal (4th year) + 0.2 * Revision test + 0.2 * Revision test

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Political research: methods and practical skills, Halperin, S., 2012

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• The craft of research, , 2016

Authors

• KABANOV Iurii ANDREEVICH
• BORISENKO MAKSIM SERGEEVICH