»Bigness and the Problem of Large«

Long research papers – mostly known as Dissertations – can be considered as a literary genre in their own right: they appear as something unknown, difficult, but also holding a very particular reward. Their accomplishment is associated with an enormous amount of work, its anticipated product is a paper that is serious, easy to read and comprehensible – no easy task! Difficulties arise not only in connection to methodological problems in the narrow sense, but also in connection with the structure of the paper and the organization of a workflow – which is a methodology in its own right. These are the main aspects that will be covered in the seminar.

This seminar is understood as an addition (excercise) to the lecture course Methodology for PhD students. The course  provides the opportunity to apply different scientific methods in practice. We will focus on various research methods and their application in relation to a particular problem.

Practical excercises in:

– finding a research question
– finding the appropriate method for a particular problem
– applying that method in a short research thesis
– organizing a workflow
– organizing a (long) text and (short) passages
– presentation and defense

Thursday 10:00-12:00 am
1st meeting: 20.03.14
At the Seminarraum Architekturtheorie