2026 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Social Survey Methods B
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Reina Takamatsu
- Class Format
- Lecture
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.T216
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2026
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Apr 2, 2026
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course aims to provide foundational knowledge of social research and to develop practical skills applicable to real-world research settings. Given that each research method has its own strengths and limitations, students learn to understand the characteristics of different methods and to select the most appropriate approach for testing their hypotheses. Accordingly, the course covers not only the features of various types of research but also practical considerations from the perspective of conducting research. In particular, survey research is widely used in the social sciences and is relatively accessible to university students. Therefore, this course places special emphasis on survey research and explains practical techniques for conducting surveys. In addition, introductory statistical methods are introduced, and students learn the overall process from data collection and analysis to drawing conclusions.
The goal of this course is to equip students with the practical skills necessary to carry out independent research.
Course description and aims
After completing this course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the overall research process and develop a research plan.
2. Evaluate the characteristics of different research methods and select an appropriate method to test hypotheses.
3. Apply basic statistical methods to test hypotheses and interpret the results.
Keywords
social research, questionnaire design, online survey, hypothesis testing, data analysis
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
This course consists of lectures and indivieual/group activities. Course materials will be uploaded to the LMS. Students are encouraged to bring their own laptops to lectures covering data analysis methods.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Introduction to social research methods |
Define social research and explain its purpose and significance using examples |
| Class 2 | Types of social research methods |
Understand the advantages and disadvantages of each social research method and choose the most appropriate one according to the research purpose |
| Class 3 | The structure of inquiry |
Understand the process from problem identification to hypothesis formulation |
| Class 4 | Estimation of the population mean and sample bias |
Understand how population mean estimation works and apply this to explaining social research |
| Class 5 | Probability and non-probability sampling |
Understand the characteristics of different sampling methods and choose the most appropriate approach for your research |
| Class 6 | Survey design |
Develop survey questions in accordance with the three basic principles: structured question formats, clarity, and variable types |
| Class 7 | Scale evaluation and quiz 1 |
Understand the process of scale development and learn how to select and use appropriate scales. In the second half of the course, a test covering lectures 1-6 will be administered to assess students’ level of understanding. |
| Class 8 | Online survey |
Learn how to design online surveys by taking account the characteristics of the online environment |
| Class 9 | Research ethics |
Understand ethical issues in human subjects research |
| Class 10 | Data preparation |
Learn how to organize data to prepare for analysis |
| Class 11 | Introduction to hypothesis testing |
Identify 5 steps for hypothesis testing |
| Class 12 | Data analysis 1 |
Learn how to conrduct and interpret t-test for 2 independent samples |
| Class 13 | Data analysis 2 |
Learn how to conduct and interpret correlation analysis |
| Class 14 | Data analysis 3 and quiz 2 |
Learn how to conduct and interpret text mining. In the second half of the course, a test covering lectures 7-13 will be administered to assess students’ level of understanding. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to reference books and other course materials.
Textbook(s)
No textbook is required for this course. Reading materials will be provided.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Ohtani Nobusuke, Kinoshita Eiji, Goto Noriaki, Komatsu Hiroshi (2023). Contemporary Approaches to Social Research: Logics and Methods. Minerva Shobo. ISBN: 9784623095247
Evaluation methods and criteria
The final grade is based on class participation (50%), written assignments (20%), and quizzes (30%).
Related courses
- LAH.T117 ： Social Survey Methods A
- LAH.T322 ： Social Survey Methods C
- LAH.S454 ： Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences64:Social Survey Methods
Prerequisites
None