POLS138 Basic Ideas of Sociology
Annotation:
• This course introduces students to the fundamentals of sociological theories and its basic methods. The course is structured in two parts.:
o It will examine the building blocks of the most influential sociological theories and their usefulness and application in political science.
o Students will learn how to formulate a research question, develop a hypothesis, review existing literature, develop research methodology, collect and analyse data. The course will review both the main qualitative and quantitative research techniques.
Lecturers:
Boris Gurov, PhD
Course Description:
Competencies:
This course is designed for undergraduate students. The focus will be on four related issues:
• How can a researcher in political science and other related fields benefit from classical sociological theories?
• How can you distinguish between good and bad research? What are the criteria for good research? Our goal is for students to develop a taste for criticism.
• What are the steps and the procedures to follow so that you can produce good, meaningful and convincing data and research?
• After successfully completing the course students will know how to use the relevant theory andmethods of research to study a current social or political problem and are expected to be able to construct a research proposal and formulate hypothesis about the explanation of social and political phenomena.
Prerequisites:
No
Types:
Full-time Programmes
Types of Courses:
Lecture
Language of teaching:
English
Topics:
Assessment:
PARTICIPATION IN SEMINAR - 25%
ESSAYS - 75%
During the semester, the students are required to submit at least three (3) essays on a given subject. Achieving an average grade of 4.50 or above, they could be skip the final exam