Ten-Day Online Workshop in Research Methodology
for MPhil, PhD and Postdoctoral Scholars in Social Sciences

Organised by

Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai

Supported by

Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi

15–26 February 2021

• Open to: Research Scholars pursuing MPhil, PhD or Postdoctoral fellowships in social sciences in recognised universities/institutions in India. Applicants must enclose a copy of the joining letter (for MPhil, PhD or PDF).
• Online meeting platform: Zoom
• Registration fee: Nil
• Last date for applying: 8 February 2021 (Monday)

How to Apply

To apply, please click on the Google Form (Google account required)

Around 60 participants will be selected for the workshop, based on the quality of research proposals submitted by applicants. The selected participants are expected to participate actively and arrange necessary technical support for uninterrupted Internet access.

About the Workshop

Methodology plays an important role in shaping the nature and process of research and its outcomes. Differences in its approach have been instrumental in developing new discourses and enquiries in social science research. Basic training gained through a regular programme may be supplemented with thematic and focused training in applying various methodological traditions.

The workshop aims to address critical gaps in training social science researchers in the country. While doing this, it recognises the importance of both quantitative and qualitative traditions and their combinations in relevant contexts. Social scientists continue to follow the methodological development in natural sciences and technology studies to enhance their explanatory domain. At the same time, aggregate measures and estimates are better understood with the process through which they are estimated or with an emphasis on the subjective location of the researcher and the importance of interpretive, ethnographic methods.

The choice of methods is guided by the nature of the research questions posed. However, the Indian reality suggests that there is little scope for scholars from different streams of research to learn from each other, and, more importantly, to appreciate and/or critically assess the validity of diverse approaches. It is also important to develop a critical awareness of the limitations of the respective approaches, especially of the assumptions made in constructing claims of validity. The workshop will address some of these issues and enrich research scholars in social sciences on research methodology. The workshop focuses on theoretical and practical inputs on different stages of research that expose the scholars to relevant for quantitative and qualitative traditions.

Specific objectives of the workshop are,

• to help research scholars build critical perspectives on dominant strands of research followed in theoretical and empirical research;
• to expose scholars to key strategies, frameworks and tools followed in research design, critical review, and collection, processing, and analysis of data in quantitative and qualitative traditions; and
• to expose scholars to recent developments and challenges in philosophy and practice of social science research.

The workshop will comprise a series of lectures by senior social scientists on various aspects of research methodology (see programme schedule), who will train the participants in select tools and techniques. The workshop will also encourage participants to share their work and seek feedback.

Course Coordinators

L. Venkatachalam (Professor, MIDS)
K. Jafar (Assistant Professor, MIDS)

For More Information

Please write to rmworkshop2021@mids.ac.in

Session	Title	Resource Person	Date & Time
1	Introduction	Inauguration: Director, MIDS Remarks: Course Coordinator	15 Feb 10.30–11.00
2	Methodology: Finding the Middle Ground	P. G. Babu Director, MIDS, Chennai	15 Feb 11.15–12.45
3	Philosophy of Social Science: Foundations of Positivist and Interpretative Traditions	Achin Chakraborty Director, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata	15 Feb 14.00–15.30
4	Interdisciplinary, Multidisciplinary, Transdisciplinary Approaches	M. Vijayabaskar Professor, MIDS, Chennai	16 Feb 09.30–11.00
5	Critical Reading and Review	Ajit Menon Professor, MIDS, Chennai	16 Feb 11.15–12.45
6	Research Design	L. Venkatachalam Professor (RBI Chair), MIDS, Chennai	16 Feb 14.00–15.30
7	Understanding Data: Sources, Nature; Census, NSSO, CMIE/ASI and Online Databases	Brinda Viswanathan Professor, Madras School of Economics (MSE), Chennai	17 Feb 09.30–11.00
8	SPSS/STATA: Applications–I	Sowmya Dhanaraj Assistant Professor, MSE, Chennai	17 Feb 11.15–12.45
9	SPSS/STATA: Applications–II	Sowmya Dhanaraj Assistant Professor, MSE, Chennai	17 Feb 14.00–15.30
10	Quantitative Analysis–I: Statistical Inference, Hypothesis Testing, Types of Data, Summary Statistics	M. Umanath Assistant Professor, MIDS, Chennai	18 Feb 09.30–11.00
11	Quantitative Analysis–II: Statistical tests, Probability, Bi-variate and Multivariate Models, Panel Data Analysis	B. P. Vani Associate Professor, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru	18 Feb 11.15–12.45
12	Quantitative Analysis-III: Time Series Analysis	Vijayamohanan Pillai N. Guest Faculty, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Thiruvananthapuram	18 Feb 14.00–15.30
13	Questionnaire Design	L. Venkatachalam Professor (RBI Chair), MIDS, Chennai	19 Feb 09.30–11.00
14	Survey Methods and Sampling	Hukum Chandra National Fellow, ICAR–Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi	19 Feb 11.15–12.45
15	Experimental Methods: Application of RCTs	Shagun Sabarwal Director of Policy, Training & Communications, J-PAL SA, and Director of CLEAR SA	19 Feb 14.00–15.30
16	Qualitative Research–I: Qualitative and Ethnographic Methods	Karen Coelho Associate Professor MIDS, Chennai	22 Feb 09.30–11.00
17	Qualitative Research–II: Principles, Tools and Techniques	Karen Coelho Associate Professor, MIDS, Chennai	22 Feb 11.15–12.45
18	Qualitative Research–III: Intersectionality—Issues Concerning Caste, Gender and Tribal Communities	S. Anandhi Professor, MIDS, Chennai	22 Feb 14.00–15.30
19	Mixed Methods	Kripa Ananth Pur Associate Professor MIDS, Chennai	23 Feb 09.30–11.00
20	Data Processing, Field Notes, Coding and Analysis	Kripa Ananth Pur Associate Professor, MIDS, Chennai	23 Feb 11.15–12.45
21	Digital Data Collection	Kripa Ananth Pur & Tamil Nadu Household Panel Survey Team	23 Feb 14.00–15.30
22	Quality of Survey Data and Survey Estimates	Santanu Pramanik Senior Fellow & Deputy Director, NCAER - National Data Innovation Centre (NDIC)	24 Feb 09.30–11.00
23	Ethics in Social Science Research and Publishing	Ashok R. Chandran Publication Officer, MIDS, Chennai	24 Feb 11.15–12.45
24	Archival Data Collection	A. R. Venkatachalapathy Professor, MIDS, Chennai	24 Feb 14.00–15.30
25	Academic Writing, Editing and Publishing	S. Armstrong Professor & Head, Department of English, University of Madras	25 Feb 09.30–11.00
26	Reference Manager & Citation Styles	Sriram V. Chief Librarian, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram	25 Feb 11.15–12.45
27	Avoiding Plagiarism	K. Kaliyaperumal Librarian, University of Madras & S. Baskaran Assistant Librarian, University of Madras, Marina Campus	25 Feb 14.00–15.30
28	Design and Structure of Paper, Report and Book	L. Venkatachalam Professor (RBI Chair), MIDS, Chennai	26 Feb 09.30–11.00
29	Writing and Presenting Data and Results: Selective Reporting and Misrepresentation of Data	K. Jafar Assistant Professor, MIDS, Chennai	26 Feb 11.15–12.45
30	Publishing in Journals: Publication Process, Indexing databases (Web of Science, Scopus, UGC-CARE), Open Access, Predatory Publishing	K. M. Shibu Assistant Librarian, Pondicherry University, Puducherry	26 Feb 14.00–15.30
	Concluding Session	Director, MIDS Course Coordinator	26 Feb 15.30