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Department of Sociology Department of Sociology

Mag. Dr. Bernadette Müller Kmet Mag. Dr. Bernadette Müller Kmet, +43 512 507 73423

408010

PS Scientific Working in Sociology

PS 2

5

weekly

each semester

German

The students will learn rules and standards of academic work. The proseminar provides an introduction to working methods of academic research and the composition of academic texts; various aspects of academic work will be discussed and taught. Literature research, differences between theoretical and empirical research projects as well as linked challenges and steps in planning but also the formulation of research questions and hypotheses and quality standards with regard to academic texts (citation standards, text structure etc.) will be discussed (cf. curriculum, §5).

Academic work requires not only an adequate self-conception with regard to the respective area of expertise, but also knowledge about basic assumptions of the own discipline (also as a basis for inter- and transdisciplinarity). In the proseminar we would like to practice formalized working methods via practical participation as well as social-scientific ways of thinking through extensive discussions. Some sessions will be reserved for the important „quadrinity“ of social-scientific working methods “reading-writing-presenting-discussing” as well as for the usage of technical facilities (literature research in libraries, computerized databases as well as text arrangements and citation styles). Moreover, we will focus on the following core questions: What are the different problems and tasks with which sociology deals? What are differences between theoretical and empirical research questions and in which contexts are they relevant? How do I find and develop my research question as well as my “response” for a presentation, an assignment, a bachelor, master or doctoral thesis? How do I design my studies? And: what do sociologists actually do in what jobs? The proseminar allows us to tackle together the question what it means to understand oneself as a sociologist, and to orient oneself towards this conception, or to work and to think as a sociologist? Methodologically, we will approach the above mentioned problems, on the one hand, via the input of the course lecturers, the reading and discussion of selected texts; on the other hand, group work and the common analysis and discussion of particular and practical examples will be central. Moreover, the proseminar provides enough space to take personal interests and topics of the participants into account.

Berger, Wolfram/Böhmer, Sabrina (Hg.) (2007): Was werden mit Soziologie. Berufe für Soziologinnen und Soziologen. Das BDS-Berufshandbuch Lucius & Lucius.
Eco, Umberto (2002): Wie man eine wissenschaftliche Abschlussarbeit schreibt. Doktor-, Diplom und Magisterarbeiten in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften, Heidelberg: C.F. Müller (9. Auflage).
Ernst, Wiebke/Jetzkowitz, Jens/König, Matthias/Schneider, Jörg (2002): Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten für Soziologen, München; Wien: R. Oldenbourg.
Schäfers/Bernhard et al. (Hg.) (2006): Grundbegriffe der Soziologie, Wiesbaden: VS Verlag (9. Auflage).

Sesink/Werner (2010): Einführung in das wissenschaftliche Arbeiten. Mit Internet, Textverarbeitung, Präsentation, E-Learning, Web 2.0, München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag.

Turecek, Katharina/Peterson, Birigit (2010): Handbuch Studium, Wien: Krenn.

 

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