本課程是博士生的必修課。 在“方法論”課堂上，我們學習了引領主流理論，間接體驗了對社會現象的各種觀點。課堂上教授了知識論中的實證主義、實存主義、詮釋主義和實用主義。 我們通常在讀碩士時只專注於一兩個理論，但是通過這門課，我們每週閱讀不同理論的論文，成為理論的追隨者，從而獲得對理論的綜合理解。最重要的是，這門課提出了一個基本問題，即我們為什麼要成為政治學專業的學者，並讓我們自己找到答案。學期一開始，我就在網上看到教授在APSA會議上發表論文，這是非常令人印象深刻且讓我奮發向上。我有一個偉大的夢想，就是用好的理論寫出一篇偉大的論文，並在國際學術會議上發表。

Methodology is about what how we gain knolwdge, a tool by which we evaluate questions we ask, the methods we use, and knowledge we acquire. We will focus on reasons of doing research and help you look beyond current scope of research. Students will be guided to think widely at the discipline level by overview the major debates or controversies in the discipline. We will also evaluate some examples that may or may not advance our knowledge regarding our political life. While its reading load is heavier than other master-level courses, this course will focus more on intellectual discussion about current research in the field than on readings itself. To be more systematically formulate the flow of our discussion, the following subjects will be introduced in class, each of which will take about two weeks of reading and discussion. Note that these topics and relavent readings are introduced only for discussion purpose. We may introduce new topics and readings or modify the reading list as the semester goes.