Profile

The core interest of the Professorship in Sociology (Empirical Social Research) is to conduct theoretically driven empirical research. Our main research fields are survey research (e.g. social desirability, response behavior, cross-national surveys), structural equation modeling and causal inference, social context analysis and attitude-behavior research, especially ethnocentrism, environmental concern, and technology acceptance.

Students get to know the research process already during their Bachelor studies via research led teaching and have the opportunity to further develop their skills in their final dissertation project. Especially during the Master degree students can then develop their own international comparative research questions and address these with the relevant data and methods.

Research method teaching plays a dual role in this regard: firstly to prepare students for their own research projects and, in some cases, an academic career; secondly, to develop core skills and competencies relevant for other career paths outside of university. The labour market increasingly demands graduates with solid methodological skills, which makes this a central learning objective. In this context quantitative and qualitative methods should not be seen as opposites, but rather as a toolkit that allows us to answer relevant social research questions.