| CODE | SOC5012 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Principles of Research Design | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Sociology | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit will introduce students to higher-level research design in the social sciences. For pedagogical purposes, the content will be structured in three parts. Part I will explore the themes of research-question production, sampling logic and technique, and research ethics. Part II will focus on qualitative techniques such as interviews, ethnography, and focus groups. Part III will focus on quantitative techniques such as experimental design, descriptive statistics and interpretation, and survey questionnaires. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims to achieve two related aims. First, to impart the theoretical, methodological, and technical knowledge necessary for students to be able to conduct independent research. Second, and given the applied nature of the programme within which it is offered, to enable students to achieve the practical competence necessary to apply the knowledge bases to actual on-the-ground research. Throughout, the emphasis will be on applications in the field of medical sociology (for example, researching issues related to the body, health service regimes, the impact of new technologies, beliefs related to health, and so on). Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (1) understand and apply the principles and rationale of research design in the social sciences; (2) use scientifically sound methods to define populations and work systematically towards final achieved samples; (3) demonstrate critical understanding of the logic and applications of key qualitative methods; (4) demonstrate critical understanding of the logic and applications of key quantitative methods; (5) discuss the essential issues related to the location of social-scientific research within a framework of best ethical practice according to the latest standards. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: (1) generate relevant and productive research questions; (2) think critically about the process of research design and develop a detailed research proposal for an empirical research project; (3) apply the skills imparted by the study-unit content to real-life situations, particularly in the field of medical sociology; (4) assess and appraise the value and potential applications of scholarly research produced by third parties; (5) think critically about the role of research as a contribution to state-of-the-art health regimes. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: MAIN TEXTS - SEALE, C., (Ed.) 2012. Researching society and culture. UK: Sage. - NEUMAN, W. L., 2010. Social Research Methods: quantitative and qualitative approaches . Upper Saddle River United States: Pearson Education. SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS - BRYMAN, A., 2015. Social research methods. Oxford university press. - DENZIN, N.K. and LINCOLN, Y.S., 2011. The Sage handbook of qualitative research. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage. - SILVERMAN, D. 2010, Doing Qualitative Research: a practical handbook. UK: SAGE. - DAVIES, M.B. and HUGHES, N., 2014. Doing a successful research project: Using qualitative or quantitative methods. Palgrave Macmillan. A reading packet will also be made available to students. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study, Seminar and Tutorial | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Kay Polidano |
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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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