Credit: Anna Logue
Sociology
The CDSS Doctoral Program in Sociology offers courses in topical coursework complemented by training in methods of empirical social research. Advanced courses provide students with the tools for rigorous and thorough theoretical and empirical analysis. They learn how to deal with event history and panel data, experimental and survey designs, network analysis, game theory and causal analysis.
Research at the Department of Sociology
Researchers at the Department of Sociology are concerned with central social phenomena, particularly with
- Demographic change,
- Education and labor markets,
- Migration and integration,
- Developments in private sector and welfare state organizations and institutions.
Research activities at the Department are clearly empirical-analytical in nature, which means they draw on empirical data, but are informed by theory and based on rigorous methods. Frequently, empirical studies are also complemented with international comparisons and longitudinal studies. Extensive surveys, administrative data, experimental designs, and historical sources form the basis of empirical research.
Research projects:
- Research at the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES)
- Welfare state research, sociological theory, and economic and organizational sociology
- Research on methods of empirical social research
- Sociopsychological research
Empirical-analytical research with a quantitative focus, methodological diversity as well as interdisciplinarity are the linchpins of research conducted within the department and the School of Social Sciences. The School of Social Sciences closely collaborates with GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences and the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW).