| CODE | CRM3011 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Dissertation | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 12 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Criminology | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | For the majority of courses, a dissertation forms part of the coursework for a degree. This study-unit will provide students with an opportunity to undertake a piece of individual research work and analytically examine an aspect within criminology that they would like to study closely. Therefore, this study-unit is the first attempt at conducting a serious ‘research’, following research methods taught to them in previous study-units (CRM2010 - Qualitative Research Methods and CRM2011 - Quantitative Research Methods). The topic of the dissertation is agreed between the student and dissertation supervisor and should encompass the application of relevant criminological theory. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims to: • Provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate synthesis across the range of learning undertaken in the BA(Hons) in Criminology course programme; • Familiarize students with the research process (purpose (introduction),review of the literature, methodology, systematic presentation of the data, discussion, analysis and interpretation of the data, summary and conclusions); • Examine the various ways of how research is conducted to be valuable. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Identify and critically review literature related to a specific topic or issue relevant to the Criminology programme, and to present a critical overview of that literature; • Formulate specific research questions, hypotheses or objectives and/or identify specific problems arising from the literature review; • Present the findings from the research and draw appropriate conclusions that relate to the research questions or problems identified. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: • Communicate an argument effectively in writing; • Think through, develop and execute a coherent research; • Execute and deliver a complex task to deadline (thus, developing time management skills); • Critically evaluate material when dealing with secondary data; • Critically assess, design and apply a range of research and analytical techniques and tools to gather and analyse data relevant to the research; • Build awareness of ethical issues surrounding the appropriateness of various primary data collection and data analysis methods. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Bachman, R. Paternoster, R. And Wilson, T.H. (2021).Statistics for Criminology and Criminal Justice (5th Edition). London: Sage Publications. - Jupp, V., Davies, P. and Francis, P. (2000). Doing criminological research. London: Sage Publications. - Rennison, C.M. and Hart, T.C. (2022) Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology (2nd Edition). London: SAGE Publications. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Dissertation | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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