Numbering Code	G-ECON31 6A643 LE44	Year/Term	2022 ・ Second semester
Number of Credits	2	Course Type
Target Year		Target Student
Language	English	Day/Period	Wed.2・3
Instructor name	WANG, Tao (Graduate School of Economics Associate Professor)
Outline and Purpose of the Course	This objective of this graduate course is to familiarize students with important aspects of designing interesting, rigorous research projects of social research (in particular, management and organization research). More specifically, we will examine issues involved in conducting empirical research including the framing of research questions, theory development, the choices of research designs, and basic concerns in empirical testing. We will learn about the toolbox of research strategies, designs, and operations you can use, and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. As there is no best way to answer a scientific question, we will consider different modes and their fundamentals of why and how to conceptualize and design a research project. This is NOT a class on research methods (or specific techniques). Rather, it focuses on design - the logic based on which you will devise a plausible plan and provide a convincing answer to research questions. You will have other classes on particular tools and methods, or you can pick up on your own by using many excellent online resources. We will not address data analysis techniques in detail. Rather, we will focus on the principles and engage with both conceptual arguments and practical application (between theory and the empirical world) using illustrative examples. This course is organized in a traditional seminar format. Students are expected to prepare all assigned readings, come to all session, and engage in discussions. The requirements are intended to be the base for developing your own research ideas and abilities. The course will meet every two weeks and each session will last three hours with a break.
Course Goals	By the end of the course the students will be able to - Communicate and debate the merits and limitations of different empirical research designs - Evaluate critically the methods used in empirical studies - Identify and formulate interesting and tractable research questions - Develop a logical and feasible plan for data collection to answer research questions
Schedule and Contents	Session 1: The research process Session 2: Problems, questions, and theories Session 3: Research design choices and validities Session 4: Experiments and Quasi-experiments Session 5: Survey design Session 6: Archival design Session 7: Qualitative designs
Evaluation Methods and Policy	Course grades are calculated by summing across the components below. Specific requirements are outlined. Class participation: 30% You should come to the class prepared and ready to discuss all assigned materials. Bring your best ideas, including your pointed critiques of articles you find lacking. Prepare to listen carefully to one another and respond constructively in our discussions. Learning is a collective enterprise, so everybody will benefit from an engaged, intense, and constructive conversation. Discussion Leader. You will lead discussion of the papers. If you prefer, you can do this in teams. We will assign weeks on the first day. As discussion leader, you are responsible for setting the agenda of what we talk about in class. You can, if you like, prepare summaries of the theories and papers to share with your classmates; or, when you read, you can prepare your own summaries. Pre-class memos: 30% While you must come prepared for discussion for each class, I only require a pre-class memo to be submitted for three class sessions of your choice. If you plan to submit a memo for a given session, please let me know in advance, and please submit it by email it by 8pm the evening before that class. The memo should be up to 1-2 pages, single spaced. It should summarize and synthesize the required readings from the session and highlight some thoughtful reaction that the readings prompted (e.g. what are some research questions they give rise to? What contemporary phenomena is this body of theory relevant to?) For empirical papers: What is the research design used in an empirical paper and what are the advantage and disadvantages? What alternatives would you propose for the same research question) Final term paper: 40% The final term paper is your chance to engage in research design of your own. The term paper should resemble the front end of a scholarly manuscript, up to (but not including) the empirical section. It should therefore identify and motivate a research question, develop arguments to help answer that question, and make one (or more) testable hypotheses (not for qualitative designs). In particular, it must include a sketch of two forms of research design you could use to test the hypotheses. The paper should be roughly 10 to 15 pages long (double spaced, excluding references) and is due two weeks after the last class. Students are expected to schedule a meeting with the instructor to discuss their proposed idea for a Final Term Paper some time before Week #9. Final term papers will be evaluated according to their conceptual adequacy; technical adequacy; and clarity, organization, and professionalism.
Course Requirements	None
Study outside of Class (preparation and review)	Students are expected to spend at least 3 hours outside of class each week on class preparation, readings, and review.
Textbooks	Textbooks/References	Many assigned reading materials are available through Kyoto University Library. Others will be made available by the instructor
References, etc.	Detailed reading list is TBD. Students will suggest and choose articles of their interests to present. Articles and book selections that I will provide you, or that are readily available to you online.