Making Sense of Methods for Theoretical and Historical Research

SOC-STD 60 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course has three interrelated aims. First, it will introduce students to the foundational questions of the philosophy of social science. How do social scientists and theorists interpret and explain the world around them? How are models and concepts created and applied? What does it mean to argue that one event causes another one? Second, the class will familiarize students with the range of theoretical and historical methods that could be used in a senior thesis. What are the established and cutting-edge paradigms of social-science research? Where do these disciplines converge and diverge? What topics and questions are best suited to each method? Third, the course will prepare juniors and first-semester seniors to undertake thesis research. Through a range of exercises and activities, students will shape their interests into precise questions and feasible projects. In deciding which approach might be the most apt for their theses, they will confront the stakes—practical, philosophical, and political—of methodological choices.

*Reminder: Social Studies concentrators must enroll in a methods course during their junior year. If you did not take Social Studies 50 or 60 in the Fall, you must take it in the Spring*

Course Notes

This course will be lotteried and is open to non-concentrators if space permits. This course must be taken for a Letter Grade and cannot be taken Pass/Fail.