Methods for Wicked Problems

World challenges concern sustainability (see https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/), are known as “wicked problems”, and are by definition complex and ambiguous. How to best ‘solve’ them? The bad news is that they cannot be solved (that’s why they are called wicked --- rather than ‘tame’). So where do we go from here? The approach we take in this course is to hone in on research methodology. That is, the way we study (or tackle) wicked problems. Research methods can broadly be divided in two camps. One is called quantitative research and uses quantitative data (a.k.a. numbers), and one uses words or qualitative data. Quantitative research methods use statistics to make inferences based on numerous observations. Qualitative research uses deep (rather than broad) contextualized insight into peculiarities and even idiosyncrasies (rather than averages). 

The starting point and main objective for this course is that there is a growing recognition and need for qualitative research in particular for complex problems, which are difficult to study via quantitative methods. Since World Challenges are pressing and are often related to development that requires a deep, nuanced, and contextualized understanding of the ‘wicked problem’,  qualitative research can prove to be a useful tool for arriving at solution(s). We will therefore demystify qualitative research and provide procedural clarity on conducting qualitative research in the context of ‘wicked problems’.  Moreover, beyond applying research methods on group assignments, you will also get the opportunity to apply it on an actual empirical setting.

In presenza

The course is based on in-person seminars and asynchronous guided self-study. Honing in on research methodology allows us to study how to study (or tackle) wicked problems. Research methods can broadly be divided in two camps. One is called quantitative research and uses quantitative data (a.k.a. numbers), and one uses words or qualitative data. Quantitative research methods use statistics to make inferences based on numerous observations. Qualitative research uses deep (rather than broad) contextualized insight into peculiarities and even idiosyncrasies (rather than averages). We believe that qualitative research is best-suited to tackling the complexity of wicked problems. 

The individual performance will be evaluated through a final, written exam (70%), and your performance as a team member (30%). NB: you need a pass-mark in both types of performance evaluations (i.e. a mark of at least six out of ten in both individual and team member performance).