The research unit is responsible for quantitative methods training at the Mainz Institute of Sociology. Teaching in the field of quantitative methods covers the entire social science research process, from the theoretical foundation, the development of a suitable theoretical approach and the derivation of hypotheses, the selection of a suitable research design, data collection and recording, data analysis using various statistical procedures to the interpretation and appealing presentation of the results. The focus of the training is on enabling students to apply methods in a reflective manner and to conduct (self-)responsible research. In particular, the students’ spirit of research is to be awakened and the enjoyment of independent research strengthened.

The methodological orientation of the research unit in research and teaching is based on the principles of analytical Sociology. The focus here is on a theory-based empirical approach and the identification of causal mechanisms. The methodological focus is therefore on structural testing procedures and methods of causal analysis, in particular panel analyses, multi-level and structural equation models as well as (quasi-)experimental designs (e.g. factorial surveys, natural experiments). In the context of explorative research, we also use structure-discovering procedures such as correspondence, factor or latent class analyses. In addition to working with secondary data, we also conduct primary surveys and address general questions of data quality and survey methodology, especially the combination of classical test theory and item response theory for the survey-based measurement of latent constructs (e.g. attitudes and competencies).

Substantively, our research centers on work and the economy, particularly in relation to their intersections and interactions with other domains of life and society – such as household, family, and partnership, education, social networks, religion, culture, and sustainability. For instance, we study the determinants and consequences of job-related spatial mobility in partnership and household contexts, (regional) gender wage gaps, and the effects of temporal work flexibility (e.g., remote work) on workers’ life situations and social integration. Ongoing projects also address the forms and dynamics of paid and unpaid care work, as well as processes of professionalization and remuneration in the personal services sector. One current DFG-funded project examines the demand for household and family support services within varying cultural, socioeconomic, and welfare-state contexts. Other research explores educational processes in higher education, transitions from training to employment, the role of continuing education and lifelong learning for labor market success, occupational closure processes, sustainable food consumption, and the role of religion in economic development.

Accordingly, the other course offerings of the research unit include theoretical approaches of analytical Sociology as well as subject-related courses in the range of topics of the research of the research unit.

• Lecture: Introduction to Economic Sociology
  Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic
  Format: online

• Seminar: Computer-aided data analysis
  Lecturer: Dr. Jürgen Schiener; Dr. Miriam Trübner
• Seminar: Introduction to regression analysis
  Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic
• Seminar: Wages for love? Remuneration mechanisms in care work.
  Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic

• Seminar: Introduction to Statistics I
  Lecturer: Dr. Jürgen Schiener

• AG: Questions of Applied Statistics
  Lecturer: Dr. Jürgen Schiener
• Research colloquium “Methods and Social Structure”
  Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic; Univ-Prof. Dr. Gunnar Otte
• Colloquium: The Spectrum of Sociologies in Mainz
  Lecturer: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Marina Hennig; Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Hirschauer; Prof. Dr. Petra Ahrweiler; Jun.-Prof. Dr. Tobias Boll; Univ.-Prof. Dr. Sascha Dickel; Univ.-Prof. Dr. Herbert Kalthoff; Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic; Univ-Prof. Dr. Gunnar Otte
• Colloquium: Examination colloquium for Bachelor’s and Master’s theses (AB Nisic)
  Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic

• Tutorial: Introduction to Statistics
  Lecturer: Dr. Jürgen Schiener
• Tutorial: Religion and Integration (Part 2)
  Lecturer: Dr. Tim Sawert; Dr. Nico Sonntag

• Project seminar: Research internship
  Lecturer: Dave Balzer; Emre Bilgin; Dr. Jürgen Schiener; Svenja Wassenberg
• Project Seminar: Religion and Integration (Part 2)
  Lecturer: Dr. Tim Sawert; Dr. Nico Sonntag

• SoWi?So! Fit for Statistics
  Lecturer: Dr. Nico Sonntag