The overall goal of the course is for research students to develop the habits of critical and innovative thinking and acquire creative research skills. For that purpose, the course introduces and critically examines the major ontological, epistemological, methodological, and ethical debates in the social sciences. Its primary theoretical focus is the question of whether the social sciences yield objective, value-neutral knowledge about the world or if and in what sense they may be subjective and value laden. Practically, the course explores the implications of such questions for conceptualization, hypothesis making, and methodological discovery in conducting social research. Special attention is given to the paradigmatic debate between interpretivism (critical hermeneutics) and positivism in the social sciences and, associated with it, the methodological disagreement and possible synthesis between qualitative and quantitative approaches. The course is also designed to help students develop original research topics and get familiar with qualitative and quantitative methods. Students will learn and practice literature search skills as well. They are required to present their proposed research topics and methods at two in-class workshops.