Contents of the current courses of Oliver Brust

Methods for the Practice: Conducting Effective Personnel Selection Interviews (General qualification - AQUA) -

'What is your greatest weakness?' - 'Why should we hire you of all people?' - What questions do I have to ask a job applicant to find out what's really relevant? How do I make the most of the short time available for the interview? Are the 'HR questions' I find on Google really useful? In this seminar you will learn the basics of structured interviewing for the special application context of personnel selection. The structure of the seminar is based on the diagnostic process: requirements analysis, creation of guidelines, conducting and evaluating interviews, and feedback. In three seminar sessions and two block days, you will first learn the fundamental contents, which will then be tested in interview exercises and finally be deepened in a simulated interview, which will be prepared, conducted and evaluated by the participants. For the written evaluation (short assessment of the applicant's suitability), you will receive, in addition to the AQUA certificate, a graded certificate, which details the knowledge and skills you have acquired and which can be enclosed with an application for an internship or a job in the personnel department.

Test Theories (methods training Sociology)

Is the calculation method really only worth half of the points of the final result of a math problem? Is it possible to measure the political attitude of a person with 5 questions, by simply averaging them? Measuring on the test object human being with tests and questionnaires involves many problems. For example, when using scales (i.e. averaging or summing over a number of several tasks/items) it is often unclear whether it is really a one-dimensional concept that is being measured or whether unintentionally apples and oranges are being added together. In this context, there also arises the question of the measurement accuracy of a test or questionnaire. These problems are intended to be solved by means of measurement theories. Classical test theory, for example, offers simple approaches for checking the homogeneity of a scale and for estimating the measurement accuracy. With item response theories, which are used for example in educational research (PISA study), it is possible to construct fair tests in which the differences in the performance of individual persons on the test do really match their actual differences in performance. The seminar covers both classical test theory and probabilistic test theories (especially the Rasch model, models for multiple-choice tasks with and without rate correction, the linear-logistic test model, the partial credit model according to Masters, the graded response model according to Samejima). The various models are first discussed and then tested in practice in the PC pool using sample data.

Statistics with R (methods training Sociology)

For complex data analyses, script-based statistics packages like R are often advantageous. In addition to the possibility of automating analyses, packages are available for any special application (such as network analysis, estimating parameters in item response theories, structural equation modelling). These packages can be downloaded from the Internet for free to be added to your installation. Moreover, there is a large online community for the use of open source software in general and of R in particular, where you can easily ask for help with application problems. A further advantage is of course that R, like all open-source applications, is free of charge. In this seminar, you will learn how to use R on simple analyses of data from the ALLBUS and ESS surveys. This will also give you an insight into the methodology of these two population surveys. In particular, you will practice the use of frequently used statistical procedures in R (descriptive statistics, visualisation, correlation, difference tests, regression, analysis of variance, and, where applicable, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling).

How to Publish in Empirical Journals - Academic Writing (methods training Sociology)

'An article is written in the shape of an hourglass. It begins with broad general statements, progressively narrows down to the specifics of your study, and then broadens out again to more general considerations.' (Bem, 2002) Academic writing (of empirical research reports) requires following a variety of explicit and also rather implicit rules. This often presents students with great challenges when writing their first term papers or project papers, and eventually also when writing their final papers. In this seminar, we develop and practice techniques of academic writing, with a special focus on empirical research reports. First, we discuss the individual chapters of an empirical research paper in the individual sessions (obligation to read, presentations). Afterwards, in the seminar and especially in the homework, we practice the formulation section by section (obligation to write). The homework is based on both empirical data provided by the teacher of the seminar (basic knowledge of statistics is advantageous) and empirical journal articles (obligation to write). Always three students will work together on one topic, writing a project paper in the form of an empirical journal article in group work.

Structured Interviews and Content Analysis (methods training Sociology)

In this seminar you will learn the basics of academic interviewing and the evaluation of interviews by means of content analysis. You will apply the acquired techniques in your own project.
In a seminar session and a block day, you will first learn and practice the basics of structured interviewing (types of scientific interviewing, questioning techniques, leading techniques, exploring features, non-verbal behaviour, observing and evaluating, judgment errors, taking minutes, recording and transcribing, planning and conducting interviews). Afterwards, you will apply what you have learned in group work independently in the context of your own investigation, with the opportunity to conduct an interview yourself. For this purpose, the participants in their groups first agree on a topic and develop together a guideline, which they will then present in the seminar. After revising the guideline, the participants conduct the interviews independently and transcribe them.
On the second block day, you will learn techniques to evaluate interviews using content analysis and will apply them to your own transcripts. Furthermore, first results of the interviews will be presented.

Observation (methods training Sociology)

In this seminar you will learn the basics of scientific observation and implement them in your own project. In two seminar sessions and one block day you will first learn and practice the basics of scientific systematic observation (characteristics of scientific observation, prerequisites on the side of human perception, scientific vs. everyday observation, heuristic vs. deductive observation, types of scientific observation, planning and conducting scientific observation, observation errors). You will apply what you have learned in group work independently through your own observation. On the second block day, the results of this observation will be presented and discussed. Furthermore, you will get to know the basics of the evaluation of observations (especially calculation of observer agreement). Finally, the participants write a short research report on the observation they have made.