F2022

Global Studies * / International Development Studies * / International Public Administration and Politics * / Politics and Administration * / Public Administration *

master course

English

You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage.

When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts and overlaps between course and exam time and dates. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programmes, which should not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programmes, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose.

In case of too few registrations, the course will be cancelled.

Students are expected to have completed Basic Course 8: Quantitative Methods or equivalent.

We used to believe that experiments did not work in the social sciences. Today, that view has radically changed. Randomized controlled trials and survey experiments fill the pages of scholarly journals, covering everything from government corruption and development interventions over voting behavior and attitudes to immigrants to public sector recruitment and motivation.

Outside the academy as well, experiments are gaining ground. Governments, including Danish central and local government, evaluate policies experimentally with increasing frequency; international organizations such as the World Bank have teams devoted to randomized trials; think tanks, experts, and even algorithms used to budget public expenditure, increasingly weigh experimental evidence highly; and consultancies increasingly place experimentation as the gold standard for evidence used in serving their clients.

The course introduces students to the art and science of social experimentation, focusing extensively on survey experiments. While readings do include some math and statistical tools, the course itself places emphasis heavily on design, for a simple reason: With properly designed and executed experiments, the statistical tools needed for analysis are simple. For most analyses, you already know them.

The course consists of ten modules, each oscillating between lectures focused on exemplary published experiments and student work on designing their own experiment, which will form the basis of the exam.

The aim is that students will gain:

Knowledge:

1. Knowledge of the purpose and logic of experimental research design.

2. Knowledge of types of experimental designs in social science.

3. Knowledge of the tools needed to analyze experimental data.

Skills:

1. Skills in understanding and evaluating experimental results.

2. Skills in designing experiments to answer given or self-determined research questions.

3. Skills in critically assessing and discussing limitations of experimental designs.

Competences:

1. Competence to evaluate and assess the benefits and feasibility of experimentation in study and work-life settings.

2. Competence to collaborate with others in the design and implementation of experiments.

3. Competence to reflect on skills acquisition and take responsibility for professional development.

Sessions: 20 hours Preparation: 70 hours including readings, exercises, and design of own experiments. Exam: 45 hours. In total: 135 hours.

The syllabus totals approximately 500 pages distributed between readings on experimental design and analysis and more or less exemplary applications. Examples include

1. Blom-Hansen, J., Morton, R., & Serritzlew, S. (2015). Experiments in public management research. International Public Management Journal, 18(2), 151-170.
2. Gerber, A. S., & Green, D. P. (2012). Field experiments: Design, analysis, and interpretation. New York: WW Norton
3. Hainmueller, J., Hopkins, D. J., & Yamamoto, T. (2014). Causal inference in conjoint analysis: Understanding multidimensional choices via stated preference experiments. Political Analysis, 22(1), 1-30
4. Pedersen, M. J., Stritch, J. M., & Taggart, G. 2017. “Citizen perceptions of procedural fairness and the moderating roles of ‘belief in a just world’ and ‘public service motivation’ in public hiring”. Public Administration, 95(4), 874-894 2

Evaluation of students occurs in the exam, via exercises, peer feedback, and discussions with lecturer. Evaluation surveys will be distributed at least once during the course.

ISE Studyadministration (ise-studyadministration@ruc.dk)

Kim Sass Mikkelsen (ksass@ruc.dk)

5

• Knowledge and understanding:

  Knowledge and understanding of academic and/or scientifically based practice-oriented methods and their application and relevance on an advanced level

• Being able to understand and critically reflect upon academic and/or scientifically based practice-oriented methods in the field of social science research and how they are used in the students’ future careers as, for example, lecturers, project managers, consultants, managers or researchers

• Skills:

  Carrying out studies and analyses with the aid of academic and/or scientifically based practice-oriented methods

• Evaluating and selecting methods from research-related and professional practices

• Being able to communicate and discuss academic and/or scientifically based practice-oriented studies in a type of language that is correct, clear, professionally accurate, well-structured and well-argued.

• Competences:

  Working with colleagues in the application of various academic and/or scientifically based practice-oriented methods and forms of analysis in relation to relevant issues in research and professional contexts

• Reflection on one’s own learning and taking responsibility for one’s own professional development

• Research and professional premises for academic and scientifically based practice-oriented analyse
• Approaches to the use of academic and/or scientifically based practice-oriented tools in research and professional contexts, respectively

Lectures, exercises, student presentations, peer feedback and discussions. The course requires that the students contribute and participate actively. Handing in the assignments on an ongoing basis is not required in order to participate in the examination, but typically it would be an advantage to do so. Thus, part of the portfolio can contain elements related to the teaching and ongoing submissions, such as feedback.

Elective course

Individual portfolio consisting of written products and other types of products.

The portfolio consists of 3 to 5 products, that wholly or partially developed during the course. The products are e.g.. answers to exercises, an outline for a presentation, written feedback, written reflections and written assignments, wiki-inputs, sound productions and visual productions.. The preparation of the products may be subject to time limits.

The total character limit of portfolio incl. the written products is 24,000-31,200 characters, including spaces.
The character limits include the cover, table of contents, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices.

The portfolio's specific products and the (if relevant) recommended size (character limits) for the individual products are made public on study.ruc.dk before the course begins.

The entire portfolio must be handed in at the same time (uploaded to eksamen.ruc.dk). Handing in the portfolio or parts of the portfolio to the supervisor for feedback, cannot replace the upload to eksamen.ruc.dk.
The submission deadline will be announced on study.ruc.dk before the course begins.

The assessment is individual and based on the entire portfolio.

Assessment: 7-point grading scale.

Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam