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

Project duration	Title	Lecturers
SOSE 2025 - WS 2025/26	Religion and integration	Dr. Nico Sonntag, Dr. Tim Sawert
SOSE 2024 - WS 2024/25	Remuneration mechanisms in care professions	Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic, Dr. Nico Sonntag
SOSE 2022 - WS 2022/23	Natural experiments	Nico Sonntag, Dave Balzer
SOSE 2021 - WS 2021/22	Conditions and preferences of student housing in a discrete choice experiment	Dr. Jürgen Schiener, Dave Balzer
SOSE 2020 - WS 2020/21	Secondary analyses with the SOEP	Lecturer: Dr. Jürgen Schiener

Project duration	Title	supported by	Project management	Scientific collaboration
2019-2022	DFG project "The tension between demand and acceptance - The demand for household-related and family support services in Germany and in international comparison"	German Research Foundation (DFG)	Prof. Dr. Natascha Nisic	Dr. Miriam Trübner Friederike Molitor, M.A.
11/2017-09/2021	"Tricky questions and social desirability - theories and methods"	German Research Foundation (DFG)	Dr. Felix Wolter	Justus Junkermann, M.A.

The BA or MA thesis is a central component of your program of study, with which you complete the respective study phase. In it, you should bring together the knowledge you have acquired during your program of study and show that you can independently develop a scientific question and implement it in a targeted manner. In the "Sociology and quantitative methods" research unit, we prefer to supervise quantitative-empirical work. In doing so, we expressly want to encourage and support you in seeing yourself as an independent sociological researcher who contributes to scientific knowledge. The scope and content are adapted so that the work corresponds to the respective requirement level (BA, MA) and the time frame. As a rule, these are secondary analyses; at Master's level, smaller primary surveys are also possible. Qualitative-empirical theses can also be written here if they fall within the research units [im Rahmen der Forschungsinitiative 2008-11] and a quantitative approach does not seem appropriate. Literature studies are only possible in exceptional cases. However, we also welcome, for example, "research concepts" and employees who deal theoretically with specific quantitative procedures or general methodological questions of analytical-empirical Sociology.

Final theses at the research unit are linked to participation in the "Bachelor's and Master's thesis colloquium (AB Nisic)".

Registration for this module is compulsory and is possible throughout the semester.
To ensure that registration for the colloquium is properly coordinated, it is necessary to register for the colloquium at the beginning of the supervision, but no later than the beginning of the lecture period of the semester in which the examination is to be taken.

Please note:
Diese Anmeldung dient der Durchführung des Examenskolloquiums und erfolgt unabhängig von der Anmeldung Ihrer Abschlussarbeit im Prüfungsamt des Fachbereichs 02. Melden Sie sich für das Examenskolloquium bitte auch an, wenn die Anmeldung der Abschlussarbeit im Prüfungsamt erst noch bevorsteht

The registration periods for Bachelor's and Master's theses in the winter and summer semesters can be found in the table below. The formal registration of the thesis should take place during these periods. Please take this into account when preparing your supervision request. Ideally, an initial meeting with your first supervisor should take place about 4-6 weeks before you register your thesis to find a topic and narrow down the research question

Studiengang	Participation in the colloquium	Registration phases for theses
Bachelor	Summer semester Winter semester	Mid-April to mid-May Mid-October to mid-November
Master	Summer semester Winter semester	January and February August and September

The aim of these registration phases is to enable presentations in the colloquium to take place in approximately the fourth month of work on Master's theses and in the fifth to seventh week of work on Bachelor's theses.

At the research unit, bachelor's theses should be between 75,000 and 100,000 characters (including spaces, excluding appendices). This corresponds to about 30-40 pages. The length of master's theses should be between 125,000 and 150,000 characters (incl. spaces, without appendices). This corresponds to about 50-60 pages. Exceeding or falling short of these limits by more than 10% can lead to devaluation.

Until further notice, it is sufficient to submit the thesis as a pdf file with a scanned declaration of independence to the examination office e-mail address (pruefungsamtfb02(at)uni-mainz.de). From there it will be forwarded to the supervising academic staff. Printed versions do not have to be submitted. Further rules on the formal design of theses can be found in the latest version of the Institute of Sociology's instructions for the preparation of theses and must be applied accordingly.

In addition, the general examination regulations and the web pages of the examination office must be complied with. In particular, a declaration (with the examination office's template) must be attached to the thesis stating that it was written independently and that no sources or aids other than those specified were used.