Bachelor's degree, consisting of 180 credits. The equivalent of English 6 in Swedish upper secondary school.

The course is included in the main area Leadership and Organisation at advanced level of 91-120 credits.

The aim of the course is for the student to develop knowledge of methodological and epistemological issues that are relevant for leadership, organization and networks of organizations. The student should develop an ability to identify and examine relevant research problems concerning leadership, organization and inter-organizational relationships.

The course focuses on both research methodology and research methods within social sciences. The students will be given a deeper knowledge of the starting points of philosophy of science in relation to the research process within the field of Leadership and Organization. The students will identify and formulate research questions, which are relevant for the field at hand, from a critical perspective, design a study and to argue for its relevance.

After finishing the course

1. Demonstrate methodological knowledge of relevance for the field.
2. Demonstrate an awareness of the challenges that appear when conducting research of and with individuals, groups, organizations and/or networks, where there could exist multiple knowledge interests, thus taking ethical aspects into consideration.
3. Demonstrate the ability to formulate research problems within leadership, organization and/or networks and argue for its relevance in relation to different specializations within the research field.
4. Demonstrate insights into the possibilities and limitations of research, and the role of research in society.

• Introductory presentations, in the form of lectures, of methodological and epistemological topics that are relevant for the field of Leadership and Organization.
• Practical exercises where students identify relevant and interesting organizational problems and develop the ability to analyze these.
• Seminars in which research within Leadership and Organization will be discussed.
• Examination in which the students practice their ability to analyze and interpret organizational contexts.

• Examination on different methodological traditions within Leadership and Organization alongside critical reflections on strengths and weaknesses, which is carried out in groups and presented as a poster and an oral presentation (5 credits) (UG) (Learning outcomes: 1-4).
• Carrying through a research project concerned with societal challenges and organizational change. This includes identifying and formulating a research problem, describing its foundation in philosophy of science, methodological approach and empirical material. (10 credits) (A-E, U) (Learning outcomes: 1-4).

To pass the course the student needs to pass all examinations of the course (15 credits).

The course grade is based on the grade of the research project.

• Agresti, A. (2017). Statistical methods for the social sciences. Pearson, London.
• Alvesson, M. (2011). Interpreting Interviews. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks. (available as e-book).
• Alvesson, M., & Sköldberg, K. (latest edition). Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
• Yin, R. K. (latest edition). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks. (available as e-book)

Complementary scientific articles will be provided electronically.

The University provides students who participate in or who have completed a course with the opportunity to make known their experiences and viewpoints with regards to the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarize the results of course evaluations as well as informing participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures initiated in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available tothe students (HF 1:14).

If a course is no longer offered or has undergone major changes, students will be offered two re-take sessions based on the syllabus in force at registration. This applies for the period of one year from the date that the changes were implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format.
The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text