Postgraduate Course: Researching Digital Life (PGSP11469)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This postgraduate seminar is a core course, taught in conjunction with Concepts and Issues in Digital Society. The course explores the fundamentals of researching digital social life through a close examination of research case studies. Students are introduced to the fundamentals of asking and answering a research question, research design, methodology, and the unique research ethics that digital sociological work poses. |
| Course description |
This class will explore the fundamentals of researching digital social life through a close examination of research case studies. As such, the course will introduce students to the fundamentals of asking and answering a research question, research design, methodology, and the unique research ethics that digital sociological work poses. This course will ask to students to become familiar with digital platforms (such as Facebook and Twitter.) Tutorials on working with Twitter as a research tool, digital images, content analysis, and visualization will be offered. A stand-alone, independent tutorial on NVivo will also be offered in tandem with this course. While students will not conduct original digital research in this course, they will critically analyze and evaluate a digital research project, including a critical analysis of the research tools involved in the project. Coding and programming skills are not required for this course nor will they be taught in the class.
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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 2019/20, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 31 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
All students will be assessed through the writing of two essays, to be agreed with the Organsier.
The first essay (1,000 words) will require students to critically reflect on and propose a methodological resolution to an ethical dilemma in digital research. The second essay will be an individual research proposal essay (3,000 words), which will require to students to develop a research question.
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| Feedback |
This field should be used to describe the assessment and feedback strategies used on the course, along with their indicative pattern and schedule of feedback.
Students will received detailed feedback on their essays, as well as feedback from the dissertation supervisor.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Construct a sociologically informed research question, using appropriate evidence about digital social relations.
- Critically analyze the research strategies used in digital scholarly work.
- Demonstrate a critical sociological understanding of how to engage in research in areas such as digital labour, digital health, or digital culture.
- Critically grasp the value of mixed-methods (digital and "analogue") analysis for understanding the emerging nature of digital social life.
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Reading List
- Daniels, J., Gregory, K., and McMillan Cottom, T. 2016. Digital Sociologies. Bristol: Policy
Press.
- Orton-Johnson, K. & Prior, N. 2013. Digital Sociology: Critical Perspectives. London: Palgrave.
- Communication Research and Practiceż, Volume 2, Issue One (comprehensive volume on digital research methods)
- Lupton, D. 2014. Digital Sociology. London: Taylor and Francis.
- Hine, C. 2015. Ethnography for the Internet. London: Bloomsbury
- Markham, A. 1998. Life Online: Researching Real Experience in Virtual Space. AltaMira Press.
- Baym, N. 2013. Personal Connections in the Digital Age. London: Polity Press.
- Ed. Rambukkana, N. 2015. Hashtag Publics: The Power and Politics of Discursive Networks. New York: Peter Laing Publishing.
Research Guides:
- Dicks, B. 2011. Digital Qualitative Methods. London: Sage Publications.
- Halfpenny, P. & Proctor, R. 2015. Innovations in Digital Research Methods. London: Sage Publications.
- Hewson, C. et al. 2015. Internet Research Methods. London: Sage Publications.
- Rogers, R. 2013. Digital Methods. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Snee, H. et al. 2015. Digital Methods for Social Science. London: Palgrave Macmillan |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students will gain directly transferrable research, writing, and communication skills. They will also gain the ability to work in interdisciplinary setting and to work in groups. They will gain experience in a range of digital platforms, such as Wordpress, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc, experience that is directly transferable to employment in social media analysis, marketing, digital research, and platform design. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Karen Gregory
Tel: (0131 6)51 1334
Email: K.Gregory@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Gillian MacDonald
Tel: (0131 6) 50 7601
Email: G.Macdonald@ed.ac.uk |
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