Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. Lea Sgier

Schedule: 03.-04.11.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
This seminar aims to introduce doctoral students to key elements of qualitative research: 1) its main traditions and paradigms, in particular ‘mainstream’ qualitative research aiming for theory-testing and by and large grounded in the assumptions of positivism, and interpretive research aiming for an understanding of deeper structures of meaning that shape the social and political world; 2) the specificities, uses and limitations of qualitative research and their implications for the research process and research design; 3) the main approaches to data collection and analysis, in particular documentary/archival research, qualitative interviewing, focus groups and ethnographic research; content-based types of analysis and interpretive types of analysis such as discourse and narrative analysis. The aim of this workshop is twofold: students who do (or consider doing) qualitative research will find some “food for thought” as to how what they do or consider doing fits into the wider universe of research methodology, and what key difficulties they should be prepared to deal with; students who do not work with qualitative methods should acquire a basic “literacy” in qualitative research so as to be able to understand what other researchers do and think about it constructively.

About the lecturer
Dr. Lea Sgier is an assistant professor at the Political Science Department of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, and an associate researcher and lecturer at the University of Geneva. She is also an instructor at various social science methodology summer schools and doctoral programmes in and outside Europe.

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Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Heike Klüver

Schedule: 27.-28.10.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
This course will introduce PhD students to the fundamentals of crafting a research design in the Social Sciences. A well-thought and carefully designed research plan is the key to a good disser-tation. The research design specifies how you are going to carry out your research project and, particularly, how to use empirical evidence to answer your research question. This course is designed to introduce students to the core issues involved in developing a sound research design.

The course will cover basic issues of crafting a research design such as finding a research question, conceptualization and measurement and we will talk about different research design types. Students will also have the possibility to present their own research designs in the light of the different design strategies discussed in the seminar and are expected to actively participate in the seminar meetings.

About the trainer
Prof Dr Heike Klüver is Professor of Comparative Politics at the University of Hamburg. She previously worked as Professor of Empirical Political Science at the University of Bamberg.

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Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner

Schedule: 13.10.2016

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Participants need to register online by filling in the registration form that is available on the website of the respective event (see below).

Course description:
This first introductory seminar on Comparative Area Studies (CAS) explains where CAS come from and what they set out to do. We will start with a brief discussion of what area studies are and what kind of critiques they have faced, then spell out the rationale of CAS, and finally trace their development at the GIGA and beyond. A particular focus will be put on the types (or levels) of comparison employed in CAS-related scholarship. Seminar participants will be provided with core texts on CAS and with additional literature on issues covered in the seminar.

About the lecturer
Prof Dr Patrick Köllner is director of the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies and acting lead research fellow of GIGA’s research programme 4 on Power and Ideas.

Further information

The GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies / Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien is an independent social-science research institute based in Hamburg. It analyses political, social and economic developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and combines this analysis with innovative comparative research in the fields of Accountability and Participation, Peace and Security, Growth and Development, and Power and Ideas across multiple levels of analysis.

The GIGA Doctoral Programme invites applications from Prospective Doctoral Students (Ref.-No. GIGA-16-01) to join the programme on 1 October 2016.

The GIGA Doctoral Programme is a three-year structured programme for young academics, in which they can pursue their research and professional development, particularly in the field of comparative area studies (CAS). We strongly welcome international applications. The reconciliation of work and family life is of great importance to the institute.

GIGA doctoral students are fully integrated into the GIGA’s research process with a view to achieving excellence, individually and collectively. The training programme fosters their engagement with the GIGA’s unique CAS approach and provides them with the necessary methodological and soft skills to pursue a career in academia and beyond. Through academic exchanges and field work, GIGA Doctoral Students engage with the ‘GIGA regions’, build their own networks, and collaborate with international experts. They are offered exposure to policy advice activities and expected to embrace the Leibniz Association’s mission statement ‘Theoria cum Praxi’. Doctoral degrees will be awarded by one of our partner universities, dependent upon the affiliation of the student’s first supervisor.

Applicants are expected to fulfil the following criteria:

• An excellent grade point average and a final degree (masters or equivalent) in political science/international relations, economics, history or a related discipline.
• A high-quality project proposal that fits with the GIGA’s research agenda. Priority will be given to projects with a cross-regional or a comparative area studies focus.
• Strong command of the English language (German is not a prerequisite).

Applications including:

• The GIGA DP application form, stating contact details of two reference persons,
• a letter of motivation, a research proposal of 2000 words max. and an additional academic writing sample,
• a CV and simple copies of degrees and academic transcripts (BA, Diploma, MA),
• proof of English language skills, and
• a statement about intended funding for the duration of three years

should be sent by 1 March 2016 to Gabriele Tetzlaff, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20354 Hamburg, Germany. Email: jobs-dp@giga.hamburg
(email applications are particularly welcome. If the size of your email exceeds a maximum of 10 MB, please split your application).

For further information and the GIGA DP application form, please visit the GIGA Doctoral Programme website www.giga.hamburg/en/dp or contact us (Email: dpgiga@giga.hamburg).

The final admission to the programme is dependent upon the applicant’s ability to provide proof of funding by the starting date, 1 October 2016.

Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. Susanne Friese, QuaRC

Schedule: 16.-17.11.2015

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Online via the GIGA website

Course description:

The course starts with an overview of analysis approaches to qualitative data in order to provide the context for coding approaches that are mainly used when using software to support the analysis process. As part of the course, the software ATLAS.ti is introduced and you learn how to set up a project, how to prepare and code data. Throughout the course, the technical aspects of the analysis process are related to methodological considerations, as just knowing the mouse clicks will not help you to conduct your analysis. Students will have the possibility to present their project. If you want to do so, please get in touch with the instructor one month before the course, so we can discuss where you are at and where your presentation best fits in.

About the lecturer
Dr. Susanne Friese studied Nutrition, Home Economics, Family Resource Management, and Marketing at the universities of Bonn and Oregon (USA). During her studies she became interested in qualitative research methods and computer-assisted data analysis.
In 1996, she founded QUARC, a consultancy that specializes in procedures and methods of qualitative data analysis, with a special focus on computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS).

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Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Monika Wohlrab-Sahr, Leipzig

Schedule: 12.-13.11.2015

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Online via the GIGA website

Course description:

The workshop will introduce to principles, forms and techniques of interviewing in qualitative social research. It will discuss questions like: Why and for what purposes do we use interviews as opposed to other forms of data collection? What are the basic principles and specific types of interviewing in qualitative research as opposed to quantitative approaches? Which type of interview (individual/collective, narrative/semi-structured etc.) do we use for which type of research question? Which problems do we face in specific types of interviews (narrative, expert, focus interviews, group discussions etc.) and with regard to specific interview partners (age, class, gender, region). How does our own role and standpoint influence interviews and how can we deal with that in the course of the research? What are typical mistakes and problems during the interview? etc. The workshops will combine input lectures with intensive discussions of the participants’ projects and research experience. Active participation is necessary.

About the lecturer
Prof. Dr. Monika Wohlrab-Sahr is professor of cultural sociology at Leipzig University. Her research focuses on Islam in Western societies, secularisation, and qualitative methods. She has published extensively in German and International Journals. Her publications on social science research methods include the book “Qualitative Sozialforschung. Ein Arbeitsbuch” (co-authored with Aglaja Przyborski, 2008, German).

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Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. Michaela Saisana, EC-JRC

Schedule: 05.-06.11.2015

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Online via the GIGA website

Course description:

Topics such as welfare, sustainable development, good governance, innovation, culture and creativity, are so versatile that they cannot be captured by a single (existing) variable alone. This is why we need summary measures to make sense of the complexity around us. Yet, there is a polarized audience when it comes to performance indices. On one side enthusiastic supporters, mostly from advocacy groups developing their own indices to advance a cause; on the other skeptical economists and official statisticians concerned by the subjective nature of the variables’ and weights’ selection and aggregation procedure. This course touches upon the composite indicators’ turbulent growth over the last years in the international arena and within the European Commission, where they are used to help shape EU policies and monitor progress in areas such as financial risk, consumers and markets, innovation, environmental pressure and rule of law just to name a few. We offer principles of good practice, established between the JRC and the OECD already in 2008 and continuously refined since then. We shall also discuss surprising examples of how things can often go wrong and unnoticed with adverse consequences on the policy implications of the measures.

About the lecturer
Dr. Michaela Saisana works at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission where she leads the Composite Indicators Research Group (COIN). The group works on multidimensional measures related to social, economic, health and environmental issues in support to the policy directorates of the European Commission. Ms. Saisana has a PhD and an MSc in Chemical Engineering. She has offered lectures at international conferences and workshops, and has organized all twelve annual JRC trainings on composite indicators and multicriteria analysis.

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Institution: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)

Lecturer: Dr. Steffen Mohrenberg, Zürich

Schedule: 02.-03.11.2015

Place: GIGA, Neuer Jungfernstieg 21, 20534 Hamburg, Germany

Registration: Online via the GIGA website

Course description:

Day 1: Intro to linear and logistic regression
This first day of the seminar is meant as an introduction to regression analysis for social scientists with no previous background in statistics and regression. We cover the basics of linear regression and logistic regression, and focus on using regression techniques for data description. We do not go into detail on statistical inference and causal inference with regression.

Day 2: Presenting and commenting on regression results the smart way
During the second day of the seminar, we discuss multiple ways how identical regression results can be presented. We assume that the goal of such a presentation is not a thorough and complete coverage of all mathematical and technical details. Instead, such a presentation is intended to enable an audience with diverse scientific backgrounds to understand the most important aspects of the results and to give comments that may help the author to improve her/his research. While the first day of the seminar was mostly lectures and short exercises, this second day will have a workshop character. Given interest and time, individual participants may give short presentations of their own work. This is not meant as a platform for substantive feedback about participants’ PhD theses but rather as a possibility to acquire specific presentation skills for future colloquia. Participants who are interested in giving such a presentation are kindly asked to submit a short outline together with their course registration.

About the lecturer
Dr. Steffen Mohrenberg is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences at ETH Zurich. In the past, Steffen worked as an academic staff member (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) at the University of Hamburg, where he taught political science research methods, data analysis and visualization using R, and courses on social network analysis.

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