Empirical research plays an important role in many courses of study and in theses. It is an essential part of scientific work and a source of surprising insights. However, the process from developing an empirical question to data collection to data analysis is complex and involves a multitude of decisions that influence the success or failure of a study. Often, seemingly unimportant decisions made at the beginning of a study turn out to be very relevant - and in the most unpleasant case, mistakes - in the end. At the same time, many problems can be anticipated early on and avoided in advance. This, as well as a basic understanding of empirical research, will be the focus of the workshop.

After attending the one-day workshop

• you will know what the goals and principles of empirical research are;
• know basic epistemological issues that are discussed in this context;
• know basic quality criteria that are discussed and applied in empirical research;
• know central research ethical guidelines;
• know central methodological approaches and be able to classify them fundamentally;
• have an exemplary impression of quantitative and qualitative research as well as their potentials and limitations;
• you will be able to reflect on how decisions made during the research process affect the success of a study;
• have an idea of how to plan your own empirical projects;
• know where to find further information and support.

The event will be highly interactive. Participants from different disciplines will share their experiences and work together to develop cross-disciplinary insights for conducting empirical research projects using specific examples.

Workload for ECTS:

1 ECTS: active participation in the workshop + transfer task.

Lecturer:

Alexa Maria Kunz: The data-enthusiastic sociologist heads the methods lab and is deputy managing director at HoC. In her research she mainly focuses on qualitative methods, often working in an interdisciplinary and participatory way. In addition to her methodological focus, she is particularly at home in higher education and student research. Following the motto "knowledge multiplies when shared", she looks forward to exciting events around (qualitative) research and research data management.

Michael Mäs is a proud sociologist. His research deals with complex systems such as social networks on the Internet, which he investigates using formal approaches and quantitative methods of social research (surveys, network analysis, laboratory and field experiments). He publishes in sociology, economics, physics, biology, and computer science, among other fields.

Anmeldung unter studium@hoc.kit.edu