Undergraduate Course: Research Design in Politics and International Relations (PLIT10106)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Research Design in Politics and International Relations will equip students with the skills necessary to understand, critically assess and undertake the research design process relevant to their PIR degree. Students will gain a good grasp of the behavioural assumptions in social science research, knowledge of a range of data collection methods (and how to assess the appropriateness of each), as well as the steps within a successful research project design. More specifically students will learn how to choose a topic, formulate a research question and hypotheses, select cases, navigate measurement issues, and undertake a range of data collection methods. |
| Course description |
The course will include methodological and methods issues for those addressing both empirical and more normative topics around Politics and International Relations
The course builds on courses offered in second year - Introduction to Political Data Analysis (IPDA) and Comparative Politics - , both of concentrate on methods of analysing evidence. This course focuses on how to collect your own evidence in response to your own research question. Beyond that it covers a range of issues which will be of use to political researchers: writing literature reviews, evaluating methodological choices, and ethical issues around political research.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 150 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
25 %,
Coursework
75 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
10% tutorial assignment
25% literature review
40% research project
25% exam
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| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback on the short tutorial assignment which will strengthen their understanding of what makes a good research question/hypotheses, and improve their own ability to generate them. This will take the form of a brief paragraph of comments on the questions which they hand in at the end of tutorials in week 3.
Students will also receive feedback on their Literature Review, due week 6, in the form of the generic PIR essay feedback sheet.
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Research Design in Politics and International Relations | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand, critically assess and undertake research design relevant to the study of Politics and International Relations
- Acquire knowledge of a range of data collection methods (and how to assess the appropriateness of these for different research questions)
- Identify and be able to critically reflect on the key steps within successful research design
- Understand how to how to select cases and navigate measurement and ethical issues in order to answer and assess research questions and hypotheses
- Understand how to undertake ¿ and acquire practice in undertaking ¿ data collection and learn how to describe the results in an academic context
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Skills and abilities in research and enquiry
Skills and abilities in personal autonomy
Skills and abilities in communication
Technical and practical skills
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| Keywords | Research design,methods,methodologies |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sara Dorman
Tel: (0131 6)50 4239
Email: sara.dorman@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Daniel Jackson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3932
Email: Daniel.Jackson@ed.ac.uk |
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