The following is an incomplete list of topics covered in the course.

• Scientific knowledge
• Definitions
• Hypothesis testing
• Observations and measurements
• Experiments
• Models
• Statistical reasoning
• Causes and explanations
• Engineering design
• Qualitative methods
• Risk and risk assessment
• Research ethics

After having completed the course, the student should, with regards to the theory and methodology of science, both orally as well as in writing, be able to:

• Identify definitions and descriptions of concepts, theories and problem areas, as well as identify the correct application of these concepts and theories.
• Account for concepts, theories and general problem areas, as well as apply concepts and theories to specific cases.
• Critically discuss the definitions and applications of concepts and theories as they applies to specific cases of scientific research
• identify and critically discuss fundamental theoretical and methodological problems within the PhD-student's area of research,
• identify and critically discuss specific theoretical and methodological problems within the PhD-student's own research,
• identify and critically discuss specific theoretical and methodological problems within others' research.

One on-campus lecture: Introduction and Scientific Knowledge.

10 pre-recorded video lectures. For each of these, there is a non-mandatory quiz and a text transcription. The videos are included in the schedule but can be watched at another date or time.

Two flipped classrooms on campus. For lectures 2-5 there is an associated discussion forum where you should post a question and "like" other students' questions. The teacher will make a selection of questions to answer during the flipped classroom sessions. The sessions are held together with other course codes.

Four seminars.  Each seminar is about the contents of some of the video lectures and some course texts. Before each seminar there is a mandatory quiz. The seminar consists of instruction and group discussions. The seminars are held course weeks 3, 5, 7 and 8.

Three essay meetings, with submissions for each. In this part you take a look at your own research from a methodological perspective, and write an essay about this. For this reason we recommend a year of research before starting this part of the course. The other parts (seminars and exam) can be taken first and you can re-register for the essay later. The essay meetings are held course weeks 2, 6 and 9.

Lectures

This course includes the following eleven lectures. Lecture 1 is held on campus and lectures 2-11 are available as videos on Canvas to watch whenever you want. Their place in the schedule is a suggestion of when you might view them.

1. Introduction and scientific knowledge (26 minutes)
2. Scientific inferences (59 minutes) (flipped classroom 1)
3. Observation and measurement (76 minutes) (flipped classroom 1)
4. Experiments (49 minutes) (flipped classroom 2)
5. Models (62 minutes) (flipped classroom 2)
6. Statistics (62 minutes)
7. Explanations and causes (81 minutes)
8. Engineering design (76 minutes)
9. Qualitative methods (93 minutes)
10. Research ethics (103 minutes)
11. Anticipating risk in science and engineering (85 minutes)

From the second lecture onward, there is an associated quiz of 15 questions. If you complete the quiz with at least 14 points, you will get bonus points for the exam. You can attempt to complete the quiz as many times as you like until it closes. Each quiz awards you 0.5 points and most close at the end of the week when the lecture is scheduled; this is to incentivise studying throughout the course, rather than only at the end. Some quizzes are open the entire course to give you some flexibility. Bonus points collected during this period are valid for the exam and the re-exam belonging to this period (some scaling of points might occur fo the exam; see more under exam information). For lectures 2-5, you should also post questions for the flipped classroom sessions. These are posted in a separate discussion forum linked from the main page in the Canvas course room.

Flipped classrooms

There are two on-campus flipped classroom sessions, each based on two of the video lectures. In the flipped classrooms, the lecturer will answer questions that you have submitted beforehand to the discussion board, stating things that you found to be challenging or complicated in the video lectures. On the discussion board, you can see other students’ questions and vote on which of the questions you think are the most relevant and pressing. The lecturer will choose a few questions among those in the top and answer them during the flipped classroom session.

During the second part of the flipped classroom, you will be given an exam-style question to answer by working in pairs. After working with a partner for 10-15 minutes, you submit your answer on Canvas. You must submit an answer – even if it is the same answer as the one your partner submits. The lecturer will then choose an answer at random to go through. You will get feedback and tips on ways of thinking about answering the question. This exercise is about how to target a methodological problem and may be helpful to you in the project or essay part, as well as on the exam.

Participating and completing the tasks in the flipped classroom sessions gives you 0.5 bonus points per session. The points will be added to the lecture quiz bonus points and are valid for the exam and the re-exam of this period (some scaling of points might occur fo the exam; see more under exam information).

Seminars

The course includes these four mandatory seminars.

1. Definitions, operationalizations and hypotheses (course week 3)
2. Designing a scientific study (course week 5)
3. Interpretation, analysis and evidence (course week 7)
4. Risk and research ethics (course week 8).

For each seminar, there are texts to read and a quiz to complete before you take the seminar. You need 14 points on the quiz before attending. If you attend without having scored 14 points on the quiz, you are not sufficiently well prepared and will not be marked as attending. You can take the quiz as many times as you want before your seminar.

Essay part

The course includes three mandatory essay meetings. For each meeting there is a mandatory submission, and for the final two meetings there are also mandatory peer-reviews. Before  the first meeting you submit an abstract where you describe a methodological problem you wish to write about. In the first meeting you present your first draft and get peer feedback. In the final meeting you present your final version.

Note that each submission has a strict deadline. If you miss a deadline you may not continue with the essay part in that period, but have to start over in another period (note that this doesn't affect the other parts of the course).

Outline of the essay submissions (detailed information in the Canvas course room):

Submission 1 - short essay proposal / abstract (100-300 words). Course week 2.

Submission 2 - first draft of essay (at least 3ooo words). Course week 5.

Submission 3 - final essay (3000-3500 words). Course week 8.

Expected workload

The expected workload is 10 hours per week. If the entire course is taken in one period, the expected workload is 20 hours per week.

Schedule

Schedule on: www.kth.se/schema. Choose "Course" and search for course code. The course shares seminars with several other courses in the theory and methodology of science, so if you have scheduling issues, there are usually other sessions to attend. Contact course administration after course start.

There is one main course text:

• Justified Method Choice - Scientific Methodology for Scientists and Engineers by Till Grüne-Yanoff. Based on the video lectures.

In addition, there are three supplemental texts:

• Some Issues in the Philosophy of Technology, by Sven Ove Hansson.
• On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research, which is an excerpt from a text by the National Academy of Sciences.
• Ethical Thinking by Jesper Ahlin.

There is also one optional text, mainly targeting the same topics as the main course text:

• The Art of Doing Science by Sven Ove Hansson.

All are available in the file format pdf from the Canvas pages. They cannot be bought as physical books, but you are welcome to print them. On the Canvas page “Reading instructions” you can see which sections to read for the lectures. There are also texts for the seminars: see the document “Seminar information” on Canvas.

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

P, F

• SEM1 - Seminars, 1.5 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• TEN1 - Digital examination, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• UPP1 - Essay, 3.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

A student may request a home exam, with the maximum grade of E, if two requirements are fulfilled: (1) This is the last remaining exam left before graduation. (2) It is not possible for the student to attend the written exam because the student is, at the point of the request, residing outside of Sweden and will be residing outside of Sweden for at least twelve months following the request. The examiner approves or denies these requests.

Attendance ( DEL1 ) (also known as the seminars)

There are four seminars, all mandatory. To pass a seminar you need to:

• read the required material
• watch the required videos
• pass a seminar quiz
• actively participate in the seminar

During a seminar you should be able to explain the course concepts for that seminar and use them correctly as well as discuss their definitions and uses with peers. The seminars are  learning activities and thus is is acceptable to, for example, have misunderstood a concept when preparing for the seminar. The teachers are there to help. However, it is not acceptable to attend the seminar without proper preparation or to remain quiet during the entire seminar.

Exam ( EXA1 )

The examination is based on the 11 lectures and the 4 seminars, as well as the course literature. It is given in Canvas on the date and time indicated in the schedule. It consists of three parts. The first part is a multiple choice part asking you to identify the definitions and applications of course concepts. The second part is an essay part where you are to submit computer written answers to two problems. In this part you are asked to account for the course concepts. The third part is an essay part where you choose one out of three problems where you are asked to account for, apply and discuss course concepts to show skills equivalent to the grade levels B and A. This part is only corrected if the student passes parts 1&2. 

The exam is open-book, which means that one is allowed to use the course literature when answering the questions. Plagiarism is not allowed and any citations, even from the course literature, must be marked as such. Co-operation is not allowed.

During the course there are 10 non-mandatory quizzes; one for each video lecture. These quizzes test the student's ability to identify the correct definition and application of the course concepts. Passing these quizzes awards bonus points: 0.5 points per lecture. There are also two flipped classroom sessions where students can collect 0.5 bonus points per session. The bonus points from quizzes and flipped classrooms are then scaled to fit the exam format and added to the part 1 exam score, capped at the maximum for that part. Bonus points are valid for the exam and re-exam belonging to the period and year when they were collected. One may collect points valid for another exam by re-registering for that period and re-taking the quizzes.

Essay ( UPP1 )

Active participation in three meetings, three essay submissions and peer feedback. The final version of the essay is graded by a senior teacher. This essay can be passed, failed or you might be asked to revise to reach the criteria for passing.

If you are unable to attend one or more of the seminars, there are compensation seminars towards the end of the course. Alternatively you may re-register and attend the remaining seminars at a later date. Please inform the course administration when you have passed all seminars.

If you miss or fail the exam, you may take a re-exam.

Failing to submit or failing the final version of the essay means you have to re-take the essay part in another period.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.