Theoretical Paradigms of the Social Sciences 1600-SZD-WM-PTNS
It is quite commonplace to argue that conscious, active, and systematic use of theories in empirical research is a sign of scientific maturity and advancement. Yet, PhD dissertations fulfil this expectation to a limited extent only. For this reason, it is essential to pay close attention to the important role that a theoretical framework plays in the entire construction of a doctoral thesis and to the key contemporary research paradigms, debates, dilemmas, and choices that the social science researchers face. At the same time, following the pluralist spirit, one should acquaint himself with those approaches that do not put theories in the center. In general, this course will offer a road map that students will independently follow upon the completion of the course to solve their own research dilemmas. For this reason, only selected range of issues will be addressed. In all cases, the analysis of the foundations and rules of paradigms will be illustrated by looking at the way how they have been used in the academic literature.
A few building blocks organize the course structure:
1. The nature of paradigms according to Thomas Kuhn
2. Paradigms in the social sciences: types, importance, functions, applications
3. Neopositvism
4. Interpretivism
5. Social sciences as a multiple paradigm field
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
Upon the completion of the course the student:
KNOWLEDGE
- describes the origins, foundations and applications of the concept of paradigm
- recognizes main contemporary paradigms of the social sciences
SKILLS
- explains major dilemmas, debates and challenges concerning the role of theories in the social research
- compares theories and paradigms discussed during the class
- evaluates their usefulness and potential application in his or her own research or in that of other researchers
Assessment criteria
At the end of the course, the students write a research proposal in any paradigm discussed in the course, and subsequently they ‘defend’ it orally to the instructor.
Research proposals are assessed by checking whether they fulfil a model set of criteria established in a paradigm that the student used to situate his or her project. Full details will be announced at the class.
The reassessment has the same format.
Bibliography
Bevir, Mark, and Jason Blakely. Interpretive Social Science: An Anti-Naturalist Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Blaikie, Norman W. H. Approaches to Social Enquiry. Cambridge: Polity, 2007.
Della Porta, Donatella, and Michael Keating. Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Godfrey-Smith, Peter. Theory and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, various editions.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: