Last modified: 31 Jul 2023 11:19
Research methods are fundamental to the scientific study of Politics and International Relations. They are also increasingly desired by non-academic employers. This course introduces students to the scientific toolkit and some of the most popular methods of qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. It is skills based and provides a hands-on experience. The gained skills will be essential for students at honour’s level and especially crucial for their undergraduate dissertations. The course also constitutes a significant part of their graduate attributes.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Offshore | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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Course Aims
Research methods are the toolkit of every researcher. Without methods it is impossible to systematically conduct research about the phenomena research in Politics and International Relations (PIR) are concerned with. This course provides you with an understanding of the research process, research design, and a variety of popular research methods to enable you to conduct sound empirical research in PIR. You will learn about different research philosophies and be provided with the necessary research toolkit to understand, critically evaluate, design and conduct empirical research, including how to set up research questions, hypotheses, and structured literature reviews. Furthermore, you will learn about popular qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis and study which ones are appropriate to answer your specific research question. While you will learn to critically evaluate the quality of prior research based on different methods, you also gain practical skills to apply these methods independently, prospective of your final undergraduate dissertation. You will gain hands-on experience in the application of methods in the tutorial sessions. The course provides you with valuable, transferable research skills such as teamwork in a collaborative project as well as (quantitative) data literacy and analysis skills. The final product is an individual research proposal that you may want to use as a starting point for your undergraduate dissertation.
Main Learning Outcomes
Course Content
Each of the methods detailed below will be examined in turn.
Scientific toolkit
Qualitative methods
Quantitative methods
Mixed methods
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 50 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 20 | Feedback Weeks | 23 | |
| Feedback |
Short paragraph of written feedback. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Create | In preparation for the dissertations, students produce a research proposal in which they apply and critically reflect on research methods in relation to their own research questions. |
| Factual | Understand | Students gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the academic toolkit, from theory to practice. They learn to understand why and how we apply different research methods to analyse. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students learn to apply a variety of research methods, including the collection of (qualitative and quantitative) empirical data and (qualitative and quantitative) data analysis. |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Students learn to critically read and write about research, starting from critically reading previous research, organising arguments/thoughts and writing structured literature reviews. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 17 | Feedback Weeks | 20 | |
| Feedback |
Short paragraph of written feedback. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Create | In preparation for the dissertations, students produce a research proposal in which they apply and critically reflect on research methods in relation to their own research questions. |
| Factual | Understand | Students gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the academic toolkit, from theory to practice. They learn to understand why and how we apply different research methods to analyse. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students learn to apply a variety of research methods, including the collection of (qualitative and quantitative) empirical data and (qualitative and quantitative) data analysis. |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Students learn to critically read and write about research, starting from critically reading previous research, organising arguments/thoughts and writing structured literature reviews. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 12 | Feedback Weeks | 15 | |
| Feedback |
Short paragraph of written feedback. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Create | In preparation for the dissertations, students produce a research proposal in which they apply and critically reflect on research methods in relation to their own research questions. |
| Factual | Understand | Students gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the academic toolkit, from theory to practice. They learn to understand why and how we apply different research methods to analyse. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students learn to apply a variety of research methods, including the collection of (qualitative and quantitative) empirical data and (qualitative and quantitative) data analysis. |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Students learn to critically read and write about research, starting from critically reading previous research, organising arguments/thoughts and writing structured literature reviews. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 45 | Feedback Weeks | 49 | |
| Feedback | ||||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Factual | Understand | Students gain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the academic toolkit, from theory to practice. They learn to understand why and how we apply different research methods to analyse. |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Students learn to critically read and write about research, starting from critically reading previous research, organising arguments/thoughts and writing structured literature reviews. |
| Procedural | Apply | Students learn to apply a variety of research methods, including the collection of (qualitative and quantitative) empirical data and (qualitative and quantitative) data analysis. |
| Conceptual | Create | In preparation for the dissertations, students produce a research proposal in which they apply and critically reflect on research methods in relation to their own research questions. |
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