In the course, you will learn how to plan and conduct quantitative research.

This will include:

1. the introduction of fundamental terms;
2. the presentation of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including quantitative methods such as self-completion questionnaire, structured observation, content analysis, and qualitative methods such as interviews, focus groups, ethnography and participant observation;
3. how to decide whether a research question requires quantitative or qualitative methods;
4. overall the focus will be on quantitative studies!
5. what are the phases of an empirical project;
6. how to relate the empirical study to theory;
7. how to design a study (objectivity, reliability, validity) including the design of hypotheses and research questions;
8. Finally, the questionnaire will be set up online by the end of the course and data will be collected during the semester break so that the data will be available at the beginning of the Summer Semester.

Note: This course provides you with the theoretical background and skills to define, setup up and conduct an empirical study on your own. Therefore, the course is a prerequisite for a follow-up course in the Summer Semester where the course participants design and conduct empirical studies, ideally on their own data collected during the Winter Semester.

"Students from other faculties or universities will receive a place on the course subject to room capacities."

For the successful participation of the course, the following criteria must be fulfilled:

- Regular attendance (at least 80%)

- Timely submission of partial services (literature-based research question, hypothesis, operationalization, excerpt, questionnaire)

- Timely submission of a research paper covering the research question, some background literature and the final online questionnaire.

Deadlines to hand in your final paper:

1st deadline: 16 Feb 2026

2nd deadline: 30 March 2026

3rd deadline: 30 April 2026