The standard economic approach to model human decision-making rest on the assumptions of rationality and selfishness. Behavioral economics investigates departures from these assumptions and develops alternative models. In this course, we will first study the standard economic model and then take a look at empirical evidence which reveals systematic deviations from the theoretical predictions, for example, in risky and inter-temporal decision-making. Finally, we will analyze models that aim at a better description of actual human behavior. More detailed information will be made available on Stud.IP.

The course aims at providing an overview and understanding of a selection of commonly applied qualitative data collection and interpretation methods and is divided into three parts: Firstly, students will be introduced to overarching methodologies of qualitative research as well as research designs. Secondly, data collection methods will be discussed, such as interviewing, document analysis and ethnography. The third part of the seminar will deal with interpretation methods, including qualitative content analysis, process tracing and discourse analysis. Quality criteria of and ethics in qualitative research will also be discussed. The focus will be on real-world applications, students will develop and execute their own empirical research project.

The aim of this course is to provide a sound, application-oriented introduction to quantitative methods in political science. After a brief review of statistical (descriptive) basics, the course will primarily teach techniques of multivariate regression analysis. Among other things, students should be enabled to understand, interpret and critically consider the current
quantitative research literature. Furthermore, students will be enabled to practically apply the learned concepts. Independent empirical work is accompanied in particular by an introduction to the statistical software "R".

MA Komplexes Entscheiden, VAK: 09-M39-3-08-39