Your second study year
Module 1: Philosophy
Our thoughts, our actions, and our evaluations refer, most of the time implicitly, to underlying beliefs and assumptions about reality, in daily life as well as in scientific activities and in professional practices. Philosophical reflection provides us with tools to live and act more consciously, and can give us a deeper understanding of the world we live in.
This module focuses on questions like:
- What is knowledge? How do we acquire reliable knowledge of the world around us? Is it possible at all to acquire reliable knowledge?
- What is science? What are the criteria used to distinguish scientific statements from non-scientific statements?
Literature:
Dooremalen, H., de Regt, H., & Schouten,M. (2007). Exploring Humans. An Introduction to the Philosophy of the Social Sciences. Amsterdam: Boom. ISBN 978 90 8506 226 4; prize: ± € 35,-
Module 2: Research Methodology
The main goal of this module is to provide students with knowledge and skills on how to organize and conduct quantitative empirical research. Part of this module consists of lectures by guest speakers from inside and outside of Stenden who report about their own research.
Topics covered: The empirical cycle, research design, measurement instruments, validity and reliability, and the rules of writing an empirical scientific article.
Literature:
To be announced
Module 3: Statistics
This module provides students with a basic background in statistics that will enable them to apply statistical concepts, methods, and techniques to solve real world problems and to make informed decisions. Emphasis will be on inferential statistics.
Topics covered : Introduction to probability theory, discrete and continuous probability distributions, interval estimation, hypothesis testing (including the commonly used statistical tests), regression analysis, analysis of variance, components of a time series, multivariate analyses like multiple regression and principal components analysis.
Literature:
Moore, D.S., McCabe, G. & Craig, B. (2007). Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (6th revised edition). New York: W.H. Freeman & Co. ISBN 978-1-4292-1622-7; prize: ± € 60,-
Module 5 (Optional): Mathematics
The Honours Programme also offers an optional course in Mathematics.
Topics covered are: elementary algebra, equations, functions, differentiation and integration, matrices and determinants.