Methodology and statistics

In our courses on methodology and statistics, we place great emphasis on understanding and applying scientific methods and statistical analyses. These fundamentals are essential for conducting sound research and critically evaluating scientific results.

Methodology: Here, students learn how to develop scientific questions, create research designs and plan empirical studies. The aim is to collect data systematically and methodologically correctly in order to be able to make internally and externally valid statements about sports science phenomena.

Statistics: In this area, we teach data analysis and interpretation skills. Students learn how to apply statistical methods to evaluate data and visualise the results. This ranges from basic statistical procedures to complex multivariate analyses.

By combining methodology and statistics, our students acquire the skills to carry out their own research projects and make scientifically sound decisions in the context of sports science.

 

 

Methodology and statistics in bachelor's and teacher training programmes

The descriptive and analytical statistics exercise and the seminar on social and human sciences methodology are compulsory courses in the bachelor's programme and in various teacher training programmes. We teach these two courses in close coordination in terms of timing and content. This makes it possible to use research questions to discuss the appropriate choice of methods for measuring the concepts of interest, the appropriate parameters for describing the results, and the appropriate statistical test procedure.

Methodology and statistics in the Masters programmes

In the masters programmes, we offer seminars on advanced statistics and applied statistics, research designs and empirical methods in the social sciences. The main objectives are

  • to recognise the relationship between the characteristics of the hypotheses to be tested, the measurement methods used, decisions on research design and the appropriate statistical method in each case,
  • to become familiar with the range of applicable statistical methods, including those for complex issues,
  • to guide students towards independent, critical, detached but also well-structured discussions of published studies, and
  • to provide students with the tools to independently design an appropriate research plan for a research question in sports science and to carry it out (e.g. as part of their Master's thesis).