Urban Research Methods

Catalog description

This course is designed for graduate students completing original urban research. For students in Penn’s Master of City Planning (MCP) program, it is the first class in a two-semester sequence in which students research and write their thesis. In the fall semester, this course takes students from the point of scoping and refining research questions through producing an in-depth literature review, research design, and initial fieldwork. In the spring, students completing an MCP thesis will complete the research and writing of the thesis. This fall class involves regular readings, orientation to research design, and a variety of methods exercises that students will help lead (for the methods they are employing in their own research). Students outside of the MCP program are welcome to take this class as long as they have a substantial urban research project to pursue. * To take this course, each student must submit a research proposal – either for an MCP thesis or a similarly substantial, original research project – and receive permission from the instructors of the MCP thesis classes (fall and spring).