SOS8539 - Theorizing in Social Research
SOS8539 - Theorizing in Social Research
About the course
Department of Sociology and Political Science (ISS), NTNU, Trondheim and Centre Universitaire de Norvège à Paris, at Fondation Maison des Sciences de l´homme invites applications for a PhD/Research Course: “Theorizing in social science research” to be held in Paris 12.-15. June 2023, and a Trondheim based follow up seminar/webinar 05.- 06. Sep 2023. This is a “substance course” in the Norwegian Ph.D. System.
Course credits: 10 pts (ECTS)
Deadline for registration: 14. April 2023
Acceptance to the course: 21. April 2023
Deadline for submitting final paper: 06. October 2023
Maximum number of students: 15
Obligatory requirements: One assignment prior to the course; active participation in the course; paper 20 pages (+/- 10%)
Course leaders: Professors Håkon Leiulfsrud and Peter Sohlberg (ISS) in collaboration with Associate Professors Eli Smeplass and Anna Rapp (Dept of Teacher Education- ILU, NTNU), Professor Hilde Bjørkhaug (ISS) and Professor Johs Hjellbrekke (University of Bergen, UiB).
Application and contact
Application for the course must be done via e-mail to einar.syrstad@ntnu.no. Please note that confirmation of admission will be offered based on the e-mail application to Einar Gimse-Syrstad and the pre-assignment including a Ph.D project summary & preliminary plan on use of theory and research methodology.
Local contact person in Paris:
Yann Hascoët
Rådgiver/résponsable
administrative Centre Universitaire de Norvège à Paris
CUNP FONDATION MAISON DES SCIENCES DE L'HOMME 54
d Raspail
75006 Paris, Bureau A3-08
E-mail: yann.hascoet@msh-paris.fr
phone: +33 (0)6 70 43 55 94
See also: www.paris.uio.no, facebook.com/cunpfmsh
In case of emergency, you may also contact Håkon Leiulfsrud at his mobile phone (+47) 954 04 295.
Course objectives
The narrative of theory in much of social science research tends to retell the tale of major theorists or theories in a static way; treating theories as fixed worldviews and static icons. The aim of the course is an alternative approach where we explore the dynamic and generative potential of the sociological heritage and exemplify how theoretical and conceptual constructions may be actively used in social sciences.
This course includes as major topics:
- Theorizing in the intersection between the context of justification and context of discovery in the social sciences.
- Conceptual formation as a matter of “constructing the research object” in the social sciences.
- Theoretical strategies and their knowledge generating applications in the social sciences.
The course will elaborate on concrete examples of theoretical and conceptual construction-work. The course will provide an opportunity to problematize and elaborate on theoretical and conceptual issues related to the participant’s own research.
Formal Requirements
A written essay of minimum 15 pages, maximum 20 pages formated in Times New Roman 1,5 (excluding front page and reference list). Minimum 500 pages from the course literature, and relevant literature for the essay, in total minimum 1,200 pages of reading. The obligatory reading may be based on chapters (minimum 500 pages) from all of the three Brill volumes in addition to Abbott and Swedberg.
Assignments
The final paper/assignment will consist of two parts:
- A discussion on theoretical/methodological themes presented/discussed during the course
- At the end of the term the student shall hand in a term paper where he/she demonstrates the ability to discuss a theme where matters of theory and concept-construction are related to their own research.
All papers will be evaluated by the course leaders.
Preparation prior to the course in Paris
The students are asked to submit a three-page pre assignment no later than 14. April, including a Ph.D. project summary, preliminary plan on use of theory and research methodology, and questions you would like to be dealt upon in the Paris course.
We will ask you to read and comment upon fellow students’ pre-assignments, which require reading the pre-assignments before the Paris course.
Key Note Speakers and Lecturers
Richard Swedberg
Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Cornell University (honorary professor at Uppsala University). Swedberg´s two main areas of research are economic sociology and social theory. Swedberg´s work in social theory, especially theorizing — what theorizing is and how it can be taught to students through practical exercises are of particular relevance in this Ph.D course (cf. his, The Art of Social Theory, first published in 2014). Swedberg has been a key contributor in the three volumes published by Brill on theory development and application (cf. the literature list of this course).
Johs Hjellbrekke
Professor of Sociology, University of Bergen (former director of the Norwegian University Center in Paris, CUNP). His main research fields are in class and stratification research, elites, working life, historical sociology and research methodology. His most recent research on social class, elites, capital structures and social mobility is part of a larger European research collaboration. Hjellbrekke has been an active contributor in the Brill project on the roots and functions of statistics in the social sciences.
Hilde Bjørkhaug
Professor of sociology at NTNU. Her main research fields are in sociology of agriculture and food, social theory and methodology, gender and broad range of issues in the fields of rural sociology and economic sociology.
Håkon Leiulfsrud
Professor of sociology at NTNU. Leiulfsrud´s research fields are in comparative sociology, class and inequality, family and childhood, and educational sociology. He has been the project leader (together with Peter Sohlberg) in organizing an international collaboration sponsored by the Norwegian Research Council on theory development and theory application (cf. the literature list of this course). Leiulfsrud has over the years thought a broad range of courses in sociology, including social theory, and is currently in charge of a Ph.D course in Philosophy of Science at NTNU.
Eli Smeplass
Associate professor in vocational pedagogy at the Department of Teacher Education, NTNU. Her research concerns sociology of professions, education and educational systems, social inequality in childhood, welfare and political intervention, and pragmatic sociology.
Peter Sohlberg
Professor emeritus of philosophy of science and sociology at NTNU. Sohlberg's research fields are in philosophy of science, social theory and methodology, functionalism. He has been the project leader (together with Håkon Leiulfsrud) in organizing an international collaboration sponsored by the Norwegian Research Council on theory development and theory application (cf. the literature list of this course). Sohlberg has over the years thought a broad range of courses dealing with theory, methodology and theory application in Uppsala, Stockholm and Trondheim. He was until recently in charge of a Ph.D course in Philosophy of Science at NTNU. His most recent book is Functionalist Construction Work in Social Science: The lost heritage, published by Routledge in 2022.
Anna Rapp
Associate professor in Pedagogy, Department of Teacher Education, NTNU. Rapp has a background in sociology and sport sciences. Her research concerns education and educational systems, sociology of sports and leisure, social inequality in childhood, organizational theory, system theory and social constructivism.
Timetable (at Fondation Maison des Sciences de l´homme)
10.20: We meet in the reception area of FMSH before we walk over to the seminar room
10.30-11.00: Håkon Leiulfsrud and Peter Sohlberg: Introduction
11.00-12.00: Peter Sohlberg & Håkon Leiulfsrud: On theory and theory construction I
12.00-13.00: Lunch
13.15-14.15: Peter Sohlberg & Håkon Leiulfsrud: On theory and theory construction II
14.30-15.30: Johs Hjellbrekke: ‘Research-based theorizing
15.45-18.00: Seminar: Presentation and discussion of Ph.d. projects with special emphasis on theory, concepts and theory construction (6 students presenting their own project + designated comments from co-students)
20.00: Dinner at a restaurant in Paris (hosted by CUNP)
10.00: We meet in the reception area of FMSH and walk over to the seminar room
10.15 -11.00: Richard Swedberg: Theorizing (web-based presentation)
11.00-12.00: Follow up seminar on theorizing
12.00-13.00: Lunch
13.00-15.00: Seminar: Presentation and discussion of Ph.d. projects with special emphasis on theory, concepts and theory construction (5 students presenting their own project + designated comments from co-students)
15.15-16.30: Abduction, creativity and methodological reflexivity (Smeplass, Sohlberg, Bjørkhaug & Leiulfsrud)
16.40-18.00: Seminar on theorizing and methods of discovery (Smeplass and Bjørkhaug)
20.00: Dinner at a restaurant in Paris (hosted by CUNP)
10.00: We meet in the reception area of FMSH and walk over to the seminar room
10.15-11.00: Peter Sohlberg : Functional design and functional reasoning
11.15-12.00: Johs Hjellbrekke: On Statistics and the Social Sciences.
12.00-13.00: Lunch
13.00-16.00: Open session including time for own work and one to one supervision with the teachers.
10.00: We meet in the reception area of FMSH and walk over to the seminar room
10.15-12.00: Summary, wrapping up, questions and planning ahead for next module
12.00-13.00: Lunch
Timetable (Trondheim, NTNU)
10.00 –12.00: Seminar based on student papers
12.00-13.00 Lunch
10.00 -12.00: Web-based seminar based on student papers
13.00-15.30: Web-based seminar based on student papers
Readings
Abbott, A. (2008): Methods of discovery. Heuristics for the social sciences. New York, Norton and Company.
Swedberg, R. (2014): Theorizing in Social Science. The context of discovery, Stanford: Stanford University Press
Sohlberg, P. and Leiulfsrud, H. Eds. (2016): Theory in Action: Theoretical Constructionism. Leiden & Boston, Brill. Available in paperback at Haymarket Publisher´s Studies in Critical Social Sciences, 2017(check digital access provided by your institution/available from Haymarket or Adlibris in print). See also web link provided in the course.
Leiulfsrud, H. and Sohlberg, P. Eds. (2018): Concepts in Action: Conceptual Constructionism. Leiden & Boston, Brill. Available in paperback at Haymarket Publisher´s Studies in Critical Social Sciences, 2019 (check digital access provided by your institution/available from Haymarket or Adlibris in print).See also web link provided in the course.
Leiulfsrud, H. and Sohlberg, P. Eds. (2021): Constructing Social Research Objects. Leiden & Boston, Brill. Available in paperback at Haymarket Publisher´s Studies in Critical Social Sciences, 2022 (check digital access provided by your institution/available from Haymarket or Adlibris in print). See also web link provided in the course.