Methods of Social Research B (U02103)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : SPS-3-SYMETRESB

This course is to say to meet the needs of students who wish to access and analyse extensive secondary data, or to create and analyse survey-type material large enough to make it sensible to use SPSS. It will be available as a stand-alone course as well as acting as the second of two compulsory courses within the junior honours year in Sociology, and in its combined honours degrees (except that with Psychology).

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Candidates must normally have obtained a pass in Social Enquiry 2.

? Prohibited combinations : Candidates may not take more than one other 20-credit research methods course.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Sociology, (School of Social and Political Studies, Schedule J)

Other subject areas

Social Policy, (School of Social and Political Studies, Schedule J)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 3rd year

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 10 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
07/01/2008	14:00	14:50	Lecture Theatre 4, Appleton Tower	Central	There will be computer lab sessions which will also run on Thursdays 1400-1550

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	14:00	15:50	Central
Lecture	Thursday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course candidates will have:
- a basic knowledge of research design as it relates to the selection of documentary sources, evaluation of existing data-sets, and survey research
- an understanding of and ability to use basic descriptive and inferential statistics, and the use of SPSS for bivariate and multivariate analysis.
- a basic understanding of the issues involved in drawing inferences and generalisations from samples to larger populations.
- some familiarity with the use of software packages for analysing qualitative data.