Course syllabus

Course information

Syllabus - Link to syllabus

Course literature - Link to literature list

Schedule - Course schedule

Course study guide - FOU1802 study guide

Registration - opens August 15th. You must register for the course to be able to start your studies and get full access to Canvas Register here 

Contact

Course leader: Monica Rosén monica.rosen@ped.gu.se

Study administrator: Jenny Landqvist, jenny.landqvist@gu.se

Dear phd students - welcome to the course!

The autumn semester starts formally at August 30 and so does this course with respect to reading of course literature and other preparations.  At our first meeting we will present ourselves, walk through course practicalities and start the introduction of quantitative research method.  Please come prepared;

• You will give a short presentation  of yourself (be prepared to present in english), your research questions/interests, earlier experiences with quantitative research methods and expectations of the course.
• Make yourself aquainted with this course on Canvas. The course content is organised in Modules.
• It is strongly recommended that you check the correctness of your email adress and other contact details on Canvas and please upload a photo of yourself.  To do this, click on Account in the upper left corner and choose ‘profile’ and make the necessary changes. Your photo can be uploaded by clicking on the photo frame.
• It is highly recommended that you start working with the course literature as soon as possible. Please come to all meetings prepared, reading directions before each seminar and lecture are provided in the course study guide.

Content

In the course we will discuss what quantitative methods are and how they can be used in educational science research. The course is grounded in traditional social science research with extensions from the development of measurement theory. The ways problem and knowledge claims are linked to issues of observation/measurement, design and analysis will be discussed. Of central importance is the understanding of the concepts’ validity, reliability and generalizability i.e. the essential quality criteria in all research and which need to be considered in all phases of the research process. Ethical considerations are an integrated part of all empirical research. The course will emphasize methods and actions that can / should be made to ensure validity in the analysis and the conclusions.

Through the course, participants should strive to acquire an overview and a conceptual understanding of basic quantitative research methods as well as of more advanced quantitative methods that are at the frontier of the education science research tradition. The focus should be on the internal logic of quantitative methods in relation to educational and social science research issues, and on key scientific concepts and quantitative terms.

The course set-up is based on a central idea that research methodology need to be processed and conquered both orally and in writing, individually and in groups on several occasions to provide the best possible benefit.

Students are expected to (1) complete reading assignments prior to class attendance, (2) participate actively in class discussions, (3) complete all assignments.

Lectures and seminars

At every meeting we will focus on  central constructs, aspects of research methods, and quantitative methods from the course literature and our own experiences. There is also a goal that we should have a good discussion in a seminar format, where we can both clarify technical terms and discuss questions which we have prepared. We cannot address every aspect, therefore collaboration and cooperation with other course participants is of upmost importance.

Particpating researchers/lecturers

Lecturers participating in this course are experienced researcher using quantitative methods in their work. They will present themselves, their work and the study from which the article you have read .

• You are expected to read the articles in advance and prepare methodological questions.
• Your task will be to pose both critical and claryfying questions with particular focus on validity threats.
• Afterwards, you should be able to describe the methodology and measures taken to ensure the validity of the article's conclusions.

After each lecture/seminar, the students will have a short post-seminar where the task is to give a summary of the research question, design, method, results and conclusions of the article, and then discuss potential validity threats. Each group will upload a short summary of their discussion on Canvas.

In between Phd seminars

Between each lecture/seminar you will discuss the course literature in smaller groups in seminar form. In these student-led sessions, participants should revisit their questions and reflective points from the earlier seminar and discuss assigned literature. Central/critical points and issues should be distributed to group members in advance. Participants should take turns in leading the discussions, and in writing notes. Follow up on these notes will occur at the following seminar.

I look forward to good cooperation in an intensive course!

                      Monica Rosén