Quantitative Methods of Empirical Social Research and Social Structure Analysis

The Mixed Methods Forum and Workshop provide a setting where the application of methods and practical discussions of mixed methods research (MMR) go hand in hand. The focus is on two central aspects of survey preparation: the development of instruments and survey experiments. Unlike introductory MMR workshops for doctoral students or purely academic conferences, this event combines mentoring and consultation with a broader space for exchange and discussion for researchers at all career stages. The combination of plenary sessions, interactive poster sessions, and targeted mentoring and advisory services for doctoral students creates long-term benefits for mixed-methods research in sociology.

Our goal is to enable all students to achieve successful, sustainable learning outcomes in introductory statistics that go beyond passing the exam. Students should recognise and actively experience the value of a sound statistical education for their future studies and careers. To achieve this goal, we are developing an innovative online edu-escape room that combines knowledge acquisition, practical application, and teamwork. The active involvement of students in designing the escape room is central: they select relevant research areas and help develop the tasks, thereby establishing a direct connection to their interests.

The project ‘Who, why, how, and at what price? A mixed-methods study of caring for a sick child among working fathers and mothers’ is funded for three years by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and conducted under the direction of Prof. Dr. Katrin Golsch and Prof. Dr. Kai-Olaf Maiwald. The team is reinforced by postdocs Dr. Joanna Fröhlich and Dr. Ayhan Adams as well as two doctoral students.

We are delighted that the three-year project ‘(Non-)utilisation of sick days for children by mothers and fathers – a challenge from different perspectives’ will start at our Institute of Social Sciences in autumn 2025. Funding is provided by the ‘zukunft.niedersachsen’ funding programme of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture and the Volkswagen Foundation.

The research project, led by Prof. Dr Golsch and Dr Ayhan Adams, plans to collect data on the use, organisation, and attitudes toward sick days for children through a standardised survey of working parents and human resources managers. The data obtained will contribute to expanding empirical evidence on the compatibility of work and family life, structures of inequality, and the signal effect of care work. Given the economic relevance of absenteeism and the increasingly important question of the balance between work and family life, it is essential to examine the prevalence, determinants, and consequences of sick days among children.