2026 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Social Survey Methods C
- 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.T322
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2026
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Apr 2, 2026
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
When presenting social issues and attempting to promote improvement or change, objective evidence based on data is essential. In this course, students will work in small groups to conduct a survey on an assigned theme. Specifically, students develop research questions, formulate hypotheses, and design an analysis plan. After collecting data, they test their hypotheses and draw conclusions.
The goal of this course is to cultivate social research skills through a group research project that involves selecting methods appropriate to the research theme and hypotheses, collecting and analyzing data, and presenting the results.
Course description and aims
After completing this course, students will be able to:
1. Develop a social research plan based on their own interests and research questions derived from a given topic.
2. Design a questionnaire that takes into account variable types and clarity of wording.
3. Summarize research findings and present the results in a clear manner appropriate to the audience’s level of knowledge.
Keywords
social research, problem identification, questionnaire design, hypothesis testing, communication of results
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
This course consists of lectures and group activities. Course materials will be uploaded to the LMS. Students are encouraged to bring their own laptops to lectures involving data handling, data analysis, and presentation preparation.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Course orientation, project overview, and group assignment |
Create a project schedule |
| Class 2 | Defining the research problem and topic |
Identify and develop a topic within the parameters set by the assignment |
| Class 3 | Planning and design 1 |
Review and summarize research findings |
| Class 4 | Planning and design 2 |
Formulate hypotheses and develop an analysis plan |
| Class 5 | Presentation of research proposals |
Present a research proposal and revise it based on peer evaluation |
| Class 6 | Writing survey items |
Create a list of items and response choices |
| Class 7 | Creating a survey |
Create an online survey |
| Class 8 | Data preparation |
Clean raw data for data analysis |
| Class 9 | Descriptive statistics |
Summarize the characteristics and distribution of variables |
| Class 10 | Preliminary analysis |
Summarize correlations between variables |
| Class 11 | Hypothesis testing |
Test hypotheses according to an analysis plan |
| Class 12 | Preparation for presentation |
Summarize findings and prepare for presentation |
| Class 13 | Communicating research: Presentations 1 |
Presentations and peer assessment 1 |
| Class 14 | Communicating research: Presentations 2 |
Presentations and peer assessment 2 |
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 course materials.
Textbook(s)
No textbook is required for this course.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Reading materials will be provided.
Evaluation methods and criteria
The final grade is based on class participation (50%), written assignments (25%), and presentation (25%).
Related courses
- LAH.T117 ： Social Survey Methods A
- LAH.T216 ： Social Survey Methods B
- LAH.S454 ： Essence of Humanities and Social Sciences64:Social Survey Methods
Prerequisites
Research Methods in Social Sciences B