Intro

An overview of both the course and the field of research methods. 

Topics

• Why do we need research methods (and a course in it)? 

• What are we trying to do? What are research methods for?

• Concepts of causality, explanation, bullshit and theory

• Epistemology and ontology

• What is knowledge?

• Is a separate science of man needed? Or could the social sciences be folded under biology? 

Readings

• Read three excerpts from Reynolds, P.C. 1991. Stealing Fire:  The Atomic Bomb as Symbolic Body. Iconic  Anthropology Press. [yes, there is a reason i'm having you read this!]

  • Introduction

  • Bloody Stumps 

  • Galileo

• Gilovich, T. 1991. How we know what isn't so. Free Press. [read chapters 1 and 2; a brilliant book]

• Wikipedia. Epistemology. [skim this] 

• Wikipedia. Frankfurt's take on Bullshit. Chatgpt summary.

Handouts

• List of epistemologies (see wikipedia for an alternative)

•  Practical epistemology and ontology 

• Gettier problem

Class notes

• Notes | Introduction

Video

• zoom video 28 aug

Optional Readings

• Tversky and Kahneman. Cognitive biases [pdf]

• Excellent videos on theory of knowledge by Jennifer Nagel

• King, Gary/ Keohane, Robert O./ Verba, Sidney: Designing Social Inquiry. Scientific Inference in Qualitative Research, Princeton University Press, 1994. 

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