This general introduction to qualitative and quantitative research methods will provide information about 1) methodological underpinnings of research methods 2) different forms of methods 3) use of statistical software 4) application to test data and finally about 5) the combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches. Moreover, we will discuss the quality assessment and the possibilities of how to combine different approaches in a fruitful manner.

Topics of the quantitative part: working with STATA, statistical inference, OLS regression, logistic regression.

STATA is both a very powerful statistical package and in wide use by academics and researchers in a variety of subjects, including economics. It is relatively easy to use and learn and especially recommended if you have little statistical knowledge and no programming knowledge at all.

The great advantage of Stata is that it can be extended by a considerable selection of user-written plug-ins (so-called 'ados'). Coding in the so-called do-files with the special Stata code is the primary operating option, as the code is surprisingly concise and efficient.

Topics of the qualitative part: systematic literature review, qualitative (expert) interviews, focus groups and data analysis (working with MAXQDA). 

This semester the focus is on building foundational knowledge for a further applied deepening in the winter term.

After successful completion of this introduction, students will be able to:

- understand different research methods and strategies

- design an interview guideline

- analyse data

- apply statistical methods

- use of STATA

- understand quality criteria in methods

- write a critical reflection on quantitative and qualitative methods

80% attendance of the class is required! If you miss a class, please inform us in advance!

Presentations, discussions, hands-on exercises, application of statistical methods using Stata

Marking is based on your contributions in the quantitative and qualitative part:

• In class contributions, oral presentations:  20%
• Individual home assignments 40%
• open book tests: 40%

Minimum points for each grade are as follows:

minimum points
5    -
4    61
3    71
2    81
1    91

SEEP courses do not allow creation of assignments, exam answers or other assessed work using generative AI (e.g. ChatGPT).  All such work is expected to be the original work by the student concerned and is assessed as such.  Work copied from a generative AI source is equivalent to plagiarism and will be treated as such.

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barbara.haas@wu.ac.at

astrid.pennerstorfer@wu.ac.at