Research Methodologies in Urban Studies
Code
73217144
Academic unit
Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas
Department
Sociologia
Credits
10
Weekly hours
2
Teaching language
Portuguese
Objectives
Present some research methodologies in the urban context, choosing case’presentations that encourage understanding of the diversity of disciplinary perspectives.
Sensitize students to the many methodologies and techniques of urban research, qualitative, quantitative, observational, documentary, related to different disciplinary perspectives, including anthropology, sociology, history, geography and urban planning;
1) Apply methods from more than one social science or adjacent discipline to analyze urban issues;
2) Promote critical thinking and encourage creativity in the choice of primary sources and research methods.The diversity of spaces, temporalities, scales of observation and analysis, are some of the core topics;
3) Encourage and train the exercise of practical urban research, by using mixed methods and multi-level approaches of urban realities.
Prerequisites
None.
Subject matter
The program is organized into four modules that synthesize complementary methodologies of urban research. Ethnography, the quantitative analysis of data, analysis of historical sources and mapping / SIGS in dialogue with the urban design, are different ways of approaching the city and urban, that complement and enrich the practice of interdisciplinary urban project.
Briefly, the working points are:
1. The city of ethnography (the field, to get access, observation and interview, description and meaning, places, situations, networks and circuits);
2. The city by numbers (object, method and basic concepts in statistics, univariate descriptive analysis of qualitative and quantitative variables, bivariate descriptive analysis, critical reading of reports of data analysis)
3. SIGS and urban mapping, urban design practices;
4. The city by archive (sources and historical practice of file). Ethical issues.
Bibliography
Agier, Michel, 2009 Esquisses d’une anthropologie de la ville. Lieux, situations, mouvements, Louvain-la-Neuve: Bruylant-Academia (em 2010 edição em português do Brasil;
Bryman, A. e D. Cramer (2003). Análise de Dados em Ciências Sociais, Introdução às Técnicas Utilizando o SPSS para Windows, Oeiras, Celta Editora, 3ª Edição, 2003.
Maroco, J. e R. Bispo (2003) Estatística Aplicada às Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Lisboa, Climepsi Editores.
Pujadas, Joan J.; Dolors Comas d’Argemir; Jordi Roca i Girona, 2010 Etnografia, Barcelona: Editorial UOC.
Reis, E. (1998). Estatística Descritiva, Lisboa, Sílabo, 4ª ed.
Revel, Jacques (dir.) Jeux d´échelles. La micro-analyse à l´expérience (Hautes Etudes /Gallimard/Le Seuil,1996) .
Robinson, A. H., Elements of Cartography, 6ª. Ed., Nova Iorque, John Wiley and Sons, 1995, pp315-423.
Wood, D., Making Maps: A Visual Guide to Map Design for GIS, Londres, The Guilford Press, 2005, pp 56-108.
Teaching method
Lectures and practices, based on exposure of the syllabus and seminar presentation and discussion of empirical cases related to each module. In addition to classes, to reading the literature of the program, each student will develop a practical exercise, with accompanying tutorial, which will develop the methodology for a micro-research project, using creatively some of the different research techniques and methodologies learned.
Evaluation method
The evaluation of the student shall be the sum of activities of active monitoring of different classes (20%), the discussion of issues and cases presented (30%) of the final report based on practical and methodological exercise his discussion with the teachers (50%).