Introduction to Social Science

The course provides an overview of epistemological and methodological concepts, issues and techniques concerning the production of scientifically relevant knowledge in the domain of social sciences. It is designed and intended for an audience of post-graduate doctoral students coming from both quantitative and qualitative backgrounds, therefore including students of natural and applied sciences. It proceeds from the illustration of key basic concepts in defining research activities and production of knowledge, with particular reference to their historical evolution in philosophical debates, to the clarification of methodological choices for a number of social science disciplines, to the exploration of themes which are contingent to methodological questions, such as methodological pluralism and interdisciplinarity, ethics of scientific research and effective communication.