Teaching

Replications in the Social Sciences [M.A., in German]

Replications are not (yet) widespread in sociology, but they play a crucial role in the advancement of scientific knowledge. As the epitome of "organized skepticism" (Merton 1973), replications are an indispensable tool to put empirical results to the test and to elaborate a body of robust empirical research. Reasons for a lack of replicability in the social sciences may be manifold: researchers make mistakes in data processing, statistical models are misspecified and misinterpreted, results are limited to specific populations/time points and cannot be generalized, findings are selectively reported or, in extreme cases, even falsified, etc. In this course, students replicate a published empirical study, thereby contributing to the credibility of social science research.

Quantitative Social Science Research and Covid-19 [B.A., in German]

The Covid-19 pandemic put classically sociological topics (e.g. social inequality, social norms, etc.) in the spotlight. Driven by political and public interest, social scientists eagerly explored these new fields of research. While the number of academic publications grew rapidly, some scholars voiced concerns that mode changes in data collections, intransparent sampling techniques, expedited review processes, and incentives to promptly give policy recommendations may impede the quality of research. This course gives student an overview of key issues and debates in quantitative social science research on Covid-19 and encourages them to critically reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of these contributions.

Lecture series "Sociological Specialization" [coordinator, B.A., in German]

The lecture series introduces students to the thematic and methodological diversity of research at LMU Munich's Department of Sociology. Instead of being a semester-long course on one specific topic, the lecture series hosts talks from various researchers with diverse backgrounds. This format is intended to provide students with a better understanding of the discipline as a whole and offers the chance to become acquainted with a variety of topics and (potential) supervisors for their thesis.