Бакалавриат 2026/2027

Научно-исследовательский семинар

Статус: Курс обязательный (Политология и мировая политика)

Кто читает: Департамент политологии и международных отношений

Где читается: Санкт-Петербургская школа социальных наук

Когда читается: 2-й курс, 1, 2 модуль

Охват аудитории: для своего кампуса

Преподаватели: Кабанов Юрий Андреевич

Язык: английский

Кредиты: 2

Контактные часы: 14

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The course is designed as a series of practical seminars aimed at preparing students for academic activities, related to their term papers, final theses, and academic research in general. During the courses students learn what research is, how to critically analyze academic literature, how to design research (using various methodological approaches), and how to write an academic paper. Moreover the course covers modern approaches and applications that help students fulfil their research tasks.

Learning Objectives

• The main goal of this course is to introduce students to the basic steps of conducting and academic research.
• As a subgoal the course aims at developing the skill of navigating, reading and understanding the research literature.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• finds, defines and uses the information from different sources which required for solving of research and professional problems (including the system approach)
• retrieves, collects, processes and analyzes information relevant for achieving goals in the professional field.
• outlines the need for resources and plan its using for solving professional problems
• chooses research methods appropriate for resolving the professional tasks.
• executes applied analysis of the political phenomena and political processes: by using political science methods and in support of practical decision making process.
• forms a research design in social sciences, with all its elements and with all its parts, by looking into specific examples
• knows what kind of research questions can be formulated and what kind of research problems there are
• Applies the techniques of bibliometric analysis and interprets their results
• Describes formal requirements for the term papers
• Describes the main peculiarities and functions of a literature review
• Uses relevant data sources and search techniques to find literature for review
• Uses relevant techniques to summarize and systematize scientific information
• Conducts a literature review taking into account the norms of academic integrity
• Uses appropriate standards of academic writing when conducting a literature review
• Describes the role of academic research in Political Science
• Describes the main parts of academic research and their role
• Describes the main characteristics of a political science researcher
• Detects and avoids plagiarism and academic integrity violations
• Uses methods and applications of citation management
• Formulates research questions and research problems
• Describes the role of theories and hypotheses in academic research

Course Contents

• DG1. Introductory session. What is research?
• DG2. How to read a research paper
• DG3. Who is a political science researcher?
• DG4. Working in a library. Working with electronic resources
• DG5. Plagiarism
• DG6. Academic integrity
• DG7. Citation management
• DG8. What is literature review?
• DG9. Research topic, research question and research problem
• DG10. Theories and hypotheses
• DG-1 (Second Year). Introduction to Literature Reviews
• DG-2 (Second Year). Searching for Literature.
• DG-3 (Second year). Science Maps and Bibliometric Analysis
• DG-4 (Second Year). Literature Selection. Abstracts.
• DG-5 (Second Year). Heuristics and Tips for Literature Review
• DG-6 (Second Year). Citation and Plagiarism
• DG-7 (Second Year). Academic Writing.
• DG-1 (3rd year) How to prepare a literature review?
• DG-2 (3rd year) Positivist research and theory building
• DG-3 (3rd year) Interpretive research and theory building
• DG-4 (3rd year) Case-selection and sample design
• DG-5 (3rd year) How can we combine research methods?
• DG1 (4th year)
• DG2 (4th year). Particularities and Constraints of Social Sciences
• DG-3 (4th year). Guidelines for a Good Research Design
• DG-4 (4th year). Research Strategies, Methodologies and Methods

Assessment Elements

• In-class tests
  In-class tests represent a set of quizzes taking place at the beginning of each seminar. Each test includes from 1 to 5 open and multiple-choice questions.
• Interim assignment
  This assignment is designed to check both skills of using Zotero and identification of research questions. At certain point srudents have to divide in groups of 2-3 people and choose a topic. Then the topic have to be approved by the instructor. After that students will have to make list of 20 bibliographic references of books and academic papers in Chicago author-date style (this one: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-2.html ) made in Zotero on the approved topic. The document also have to include a research question. Requirements: 1. Division into teams until DG5 Approval of the topic with the instructor until DG7 Deadline of submission: DG 8 before class Each day of overdue will result in subtraction of 1 point from the grade for this task 2. Requisites: a. amount of sources: 20 sources, at least 75% in English language b. types of sources: books and academic papers c. correspondence of sources to the topic of the Literature Review
• Literature review
  A literature review is a group written assignment on a topic proposed by the team themselves and approved by the tutor. Groups consisnt of 4-5 people. Teams have to be formed untill DG5, before the class, topics have to be approved until DG 9 before the class. Deadline of the submission is 20th of June 23:59. For each day of overdue – minus 1 point of final grade. Requirements: a. amount of words: i. body of review: 2000 words ( ± 10% from both verges). Bibliography is NOT included in this amount. Abstract is NOT included in this amount. For every 100 words above maximum one point will be subtracted. ii. abstract: 150 words b. amount of sources: ≥ 15 academic sources (grey-zone and non-academic sources can be used only if there is already 15 academic sources in the text) c. type of sources: books and academic papers (no less than 10 sources should be written and published in English) d. Style of references: Chicago (author-date). This implies in-text citation. Not footnote citation. If you refer to russian-language texts you should insert them in the bibliography list in russian. At the bottom of the bibliography e. font: Times new roman, size: 12, alignment is by width.
• Home Assignment 1
  The students are to build and interpret a science map based on the topic of their term papers. The technical requirements regarding the procedure of bibliometric analysis are provided by the lecturer. The home assignment is to be submitted within one week after Seminar 3. The use of AI in the assignment is strictly prohibited.
• Home Assignment 2
  The students are to build and interpret a literature matrix based on the topic of their term papers. The technical requirements regarding the procedure are provided by the lecturer. The home assignment is to be submitted within one week after Seminar 5.
• Examination
  During the exam, students are to write a literature review based on the provided materials (abstracts). The exam is written. It can be conducted in SmartLMS or in a paper-based format. The duration of the exam is 120 minutes. During the exam, students are not allowed to use any additional materials, including dictionaries or translators. The volume of the literature review should be within 3000 - 5000 symbols (with spaces).
• Research theory building
  This task is a small note (~500 words) about theory or theories that will be used in your term paper. If you are not yet sure what will be your term paper topic, please feel free to choose any other topic you are proficient at. In your submission please do the following: ● name and briefly explain the key theories that will be used in your term paper; ● explain what function do these theories serve in your term paper (are you planning to: confirm or disprove a causal theory based on some new data? develop a sub-theory for edge cases? create a conceptual framework for interpretation of your data? use a theory to justify a selection of perspective or approach? etc.); ● formulate (if applicable) expectations or hypotheses for your research, based on the theory; ● hypothesize on how these theories will shape your research in a practical sense (how your data gathering, analysis, and interpretation will be shaped by the need to conform to the theoretical framework, what limitations might occur, etc.). In-text citations may be used but the list of references is expected. Please include key sources of your theories (can be as low as one, if it is a well-known and important paper).
• Final test
  An Final trst is conducted with questions on the literature proposed for the seminars.
• Home Assignment
  After some classes students are expected to fulfill and submit a written home assignment. Assignments are to be submitted within 7 calendar days from the date of the seminar.
• Research Proposal (4th year)
  This is an individual written assignment and the main outcome of the research seminar. Students are expected to describe the research design of their future bachelor theses. The expected volume of the paper is 1500 words (+/- 10%).
• In-Class Participation
  The lecturer evalutes students' participation at the seminars.

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 4th module
  0.35 * Literature review + 0.15 * In-class tests + 0.35 * Interim assignment
• 2026/2027 2nd module
  0.2 * Home Assignment 2 + 0.6 * Examination + 0.2 * Home Assignment 1
• 2027/2028 4th module
  0.4 * Research theory building + 0.6 * Final test
• 2028/2029 2nd module
  0.2 * In-Class Participation + 0.25 * Home Assignment + 0.55 * Research Proposal (4th year)

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Political Science, Hans Keman, Jaap J. Woldendorp, publication Date: 30 Dec 2016, eISBN: 9781784710828

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• George Thomas, Colin Elman, Miriam Fendius Elman, Boundaries Historians, Political Scientists, & The Study Of. (n.d.). The Qualitative Foundations of Political Science Methodology.
• Knopf, J. W. (2006). Doing a Literature Review. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.6DDBE740
• van Eck, N. J., & Waltman, L. (2009). Software survey: VOSviewer, a computer program for bibliometric mapping. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.F4F49079

Authors

• Kabanov Iurii Andreevich
• BORISENKO MAKSIM SERGEEVICH