Culture, Conflict and Social Research

Catalog description

In this course students will learn how to examine complex issues through different theoretical frameworks. Students will reflect on how these frameworks can empower them to confront issues in their personal or professional lives. Students will identify current and applicable social research methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods) to address issues and questions, whether local or global, especially in relation to development of future academic pursuits, such as the senior project. Beginning with productive questions, students will formulate hypotheses, identify appropriate research strategies for data collection, discuss reliability and validity issues, and observe ethical protocols. The course will culminate in each student designing and proposing a research project (abstract, introduction/background, literature review, methodology/design, etc.) that reflects standards of academic scholarship.