The course should provide students with improved critical skills, especially with regard to the methodologies underlying empirical studies and the outcomes of surveys. Moreover, it should equip them with new interpretative categories, meant to help them to understand and manage social complexity, and with a sensibility towards the problem of social order.
Course Prerequisites
Basic notions in economic history and a sound knowledge of the classics of economics (in particular, Smith, Ricardo and Malthus).
Teaching Methods
Lectures and seminars
Assessment Methods
The exam is written. The student must answer three open questions choosing them in a list of six.
Answers are expected to be as precise and detailed as possible.
Texts
Handbook in general sociology:Franco Rositi, Sociologia, Egea, Bocconi, Milano 2015.
Selected chapters from Alberto Marradi, Metodologia delle scienze sociali, Il Mulino, Bologna 2007
Contents
The course is divided in two parts. In the first, students are introduced to the main alternative conceptions of society and to key concepts of the discipline (role, status, institution, ideology...). It follows a critical overview of the classics of sociology (Comte, Durkheim, Simmel, Weber, Marx), both from a theoretical and methodological perspective. In the second part the epistemological status of sociology is discussed and the language of variables displayed. The course ends with a presentation of the main tools for data gathering (survey, in-depth interview, participant observation, focus group) and with a critical discussion of their own advantages and limits.
Course Language
Italian
More information
Students will also be provided with the complete set of slides on Kiro at the end of the course.
