Checking date: 07/05/2020


Course: 2019/2020

Multidisciplinary Seminar on International Studies
(16633)
Dual Bachelor in International Estudies and Econmics (Study Plan 2018) (Plan: 417 - Estudio: 328)


Coordinating teacher: LORENZO RODRIGUEZ, JAVIER

Department assigned to the subject: Social Sciences Department

Type: Compulsory
ECTS Credits: 6.0 ECTS

Course:
Semester:




Requirements (Subjects that are assumed to be known)
- Statistics for Social Sciences I and II courses are COMPULSORY, or equivalent that includes the understanding and management of: univariate and multivariate regressions, binomial models, principal component analysis, time series or ARIMA and VAR models. - Research Methods in Social Sciences courses are COMPULSORY, or equivalent that includes: Theoretical background to pose a research question, build the literature review and look for databases, propose a theoretical framework, as well as to establish the causal mechanisms that will lead to the research design. - The student must be able not only to interpret and critically analyze advanced statistical methodologies, but also to choose the right method for its research question and use it for the final research paper to be presented at the end of the course and which will be a significant part of the final grade.
BASIC AND GENERAL COMPETENCES CG1 ¿ Understand social, political, legal and economic realities from a comparative perspective. CG3 ¿ Know quantitative and qualitative research techniques and possess the ability to choose which is most adequate to apply in the field of Social Sciences. CG5 ¿ Be able to debate and formulate critical reasoning, using precise terminology and specialized resources, when analyzing international and global phenomena, employing both the concepts and knowledge from different disciplines as well as the methods of analysis, paradigms and concepts pertaining to the Social Sciences. CG6 ¿ Be able to apply scientific method to the economic, social and political questions of a global society; be able to formulate problems in this context, identify a possible explication or solution, and a method to contrast them by sensibly interpreting the data. CB1 Be able to show that they possess and comprehend facts and contents in an area of study which, based on a previous general secondary school level, have been extended to those included in advanced textbooks and in some aspects proceed from the most advanced studies in this area. CB2 ¿Be able to show that they have learned how to apply their knowledge professionally to their future jobs or tasks and that they possess the competences needed to develop and defend arguments and solve problems in that area of study. CB3 ¿ Be able to show that they are capable of collecting and interpreting the relevant data (normally within their area of study) needed for formulating judgments which require critical thought on social, scientific and ethical topics of relevance. CB4 ¿ Be able to show that they are able to transmit information, ideas, problems and solutions both to specialized and non-specialized publics. CB5 ¿ Be able to show that they have developed the learning skills required to perform further studies with a high degree of self-dependence. OVERLAPPING COMPETENCES CT1 ¿ Acquire the capacity to communicate knowledge in oral and written form, both to specialized and to non-specialized publics. CT2 ¿ Acquire the capacity to establish good interpersonal communication and to work both in interdisciplinary and international teams. CT3 ¿ Acquire the capacity to organize and plan workloads, taking correct decisions based on the available information, collecting and interpreting relevant data in order to provide assessments in that area of study. CT4 ¿ Develop the motivation and capacity to perform independent continuous learning for life, with an endowment to adapt to change and new situations. SPECIFIC COMPETENCES CE10 ¿ Be able to discern the differentiating elements in international problems in accordance to the development stages of a country. CE11 ¿ Be able to critically relate present and past events and processes. CE12 ¿ Be able to formulate and solve basic economic, social, political problems in an international context. CE15 ¿ Be able to design and evaluate programs to improve the management and quality of public and private services. CE16 ¿ Be able to carry out case studies and apply comparative method to analyze institutions, processes and policies in different countries. LEARNING OUTCOMES · Ability to analyze, from a pluridisciplinary perspective, the principal aspects of international relations on different levels: aggregate (states, societies and economies), individual, and collectives (organizations, firms, interest groups). · Capacity to recognize and contrast key facts, processes and historical factors and to determine the relationships between the political, social and economic aspects in the societies under study. · Capacity to elaborate with clear and well-reasoned arguments the connections between the different disciplines within established theoretical frameworks. · Capacity to determined, contrast and analyze the social, economic and political determinants of structures and developments in an international environment, and to reflect about
Description of contents: programme
The course is clearly learning by doing oriented, guiding the student to successfully develop a complete Social Sciences research project by its own, as a culmination of a sequence of courses planned in the academic program of the degree. The aim of the course will be to prepare a research study that must be presented at the end of the semester. To that end, having knowledge of advanced statistical analysis techniques is COMPULSORY. At the very beginning of the course sessions the student must choose a research question based on his/her theoretical background that seeks to respond to a real legal, economic, social or political problem. From there, lecture sessions will provide the main tools to face a complete research project process. The seminars that will run in parallel will be based on computer-lab sessions where instructors will guide and provide the necessary resources and knowledge for the development and execution of the entire research process. Therefore, the main goals of the course will therefore try to delve into the following points: -Integration of the necessary and previously acquired theoretical knowledge from the large areas of Social Sciences and Humanities to perform an interdisciplinary analysis of the social, political, legal and economic problems of International Studies. - Identify and discuss the steps of a research logic at the applied level through; first, the study of the existing literature and its results and, secondly, to formulate research questions by the students based on existing theoretical frameworks. Finally, students must be able to implement the correct method strategy to contrast hypotheses with empirical evidence: to seek for information and databases; systematization, analysis and interpretation; presentation and discussion of the results orally and in writing.
Learning activities and methodology
Methodology: Learning by doing Critical reading and in-depth analysis of academic papers and official reports from International Organizations. Lectures Lectures oriented to understand, implement and solve problems related to the development of the research process Seminars focused on guiding the student to apply skills and knowledge explained during the lectures into their own research projects Statistical Software: STATA or R (non previous knowledge required) Office hours: By motivated appointment
Assessment System
  • % end-of-term-examination 0
  • % of continuous assessment (assigments, laboratory, practicals...) 100

Basic Bibliography
  • Angrist, J.D./Pischke, J.-S. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion. Princeton University Press. 2009
  • Creswell, J. W. . Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications. 2013
  • Escobar Mercado, Modesto; Fernández Macías, Enrique; Bernardi, Fabrizio. Análisis de datos con Stata. Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas. 2012
  • Gary King, Robert Keohane and Sidney Verba. Designing Social Inquiry. Princeton University Press. 1994
  • Kellstedt, Paul. & Whitten, Guy. The Fundamentals of Political Research. Cambridge University Press. 2013
  • Phillips Shively. The Craft of Political Research. Pearson. 2017

The course syllabus may change due academic events or other reasons.