Introductory course (proseminar I)

Abstract

The proseminar is designed to provide students with the necessary methodological skills and formal requirements for scientific work. Topics include skills such as researching, editing and presenting; outlining and operationalizing a research design regarding politically relevant issues and hypotheses; researching a selected topic. Lecture notes are available.

Objective

The proseminar has three goals: a) to give a good structure to a written research paper and to deal with sources, data, and literature, b) to deal with a political research questions in a proper and scientific way, c) to understand the relevance of a scientific approach for its own individual and professional interests and challenges.

Content

Both proseminars give the students an introduction into the way of scientific work and research. This will be the basis for further scientific work throughout their studies. Methodological approaches are at the centre of the proseminar I. Later, in the proseminar II, the focus will shift to the content of a scientific work. The students will improve their skills in doing research and transforming the results into a good written framework. It is also important to present the research work.

Resources