SGIA1201: RESEARCHING POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

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• To introduce students to a range of strategies used to produce knowledge in politics and international relations.
• To help students develop a critical appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of a range of research methods.
• To enable students to gain some practical experience of carrying out selected parts of the process of doing research in politics and international relations.
• To introduce students to ethical issues embedded in research.
• To encourage students to consider the relationship between evidence and theory.

• The first block of lectures and seminars, delivered in the first term, will introduce students to some of the basic issues involved in doing research in politics and international relations.
• We will consider the relevance of 'scientific method' to social research, and consider questions of how research can show what it claims to show.
• We will also examine several qualitative methods for collecting and analysing data about politics and international relations.
• The second block of lectures, seminars and labs, delivered in term two, will focus on quantitative research methods in politics and international relations.
• We will examine how concepts can be operationalised and how issues of measurement can be addressed.
• We will practice carrying out some basic statistical analyses of quantitative data.
• We will consider how to understand and interpret results commonly encountered in published politics and international relations research.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Having completed this module, students will:
• have an understanding of the concept of evidence in social science, and of the relationship between evidence and theory.
• have an awareness of the different approaches to the empirical study of politics and international relations.
• have an awareness of the issues involved in the collection and interpretation of different types of evidence, specific to research in politics and international relations.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Having completed this module, students will:
• be able to identify appropriate strategies for the generation of specific kinds of knowledge.
• be able to review and evaluate qualitative evidence in politics and international relations;
• be able to review and evaluate quantitative evidence in politics and international relations;
• be able to produce reasoned social scientific arguments on the basis of evidence.

Key Skills:

• By the end of this module, students will be able to demonstrate:
• an ability to find information relevant to the course and understand key information sources to support learning;
• an ability to frame research issues and problems;
• an ability to interpret and evaluate qualitative empirical evidence;
• an ability to undertake and interpret basic statistical analyses;
• an ability to construct reasoned arguments;
• basic written communication skills;
• basic learning and study skills;
• an ability to plan and manage time effectively.

• The lectures for this module will:
• outline the character of research in politics and international relations, and the link between evidence and theory
• outline different methods for qualitative research in politics and international relations
• outline basic tools for quantitative data analysis in politics and international relations
• present competing views on knowledge-production and evidence assessment;
• highlight the importance of, and the means toward, evaluating evidence;
• The seminars will incorporate practical exercises which will enable students to develop skills in carrying out selected parts of the research process, and in interpreting and evaluating evidence;
• equip students with the means to be able to identify appropriate research strategies;
• enable the development of verbal communication skills through small group and class discussion;
• foster a number of key skills, including information-gathering and retrieval, critical reading and evaluation, making reasoned arguments, based on available evidence.
• The labs for this module will:
• teach students a range of quantitative techniques using statistical software;
• encourage students to critically engage with a variety of politics and/or international relations data.
• The formative assessment requires students to demonstrate both specific skills in knowing and understanding the themes of the module and broader skills in written communication;
• require skills in gathering information, assessing evidence and critical reading;
• require students to demonstrate specific skills in qualitative and quantitative methods
• will be returned to students with feedback designed to help students to reflect on their knowledge and understanding, and to improve their performance where appropriate.
• The summative assesments will:
• test students on their ability to find basic information relating to the course through a multiple choice quiz. It will test their knowledge of the module and program structure, announcements and emails sent relating to the course and ability to navigate library resources.
• the summative project will test students knowledge of qualitative methods of research and examine their ability to critically analyse and apply skills through an individual research project.
• the Data Analysis Exercise requires students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of quantitative research methods, and to apply their practical skills in basic data analysis by carrying out analysis of quantitative data, reporting and interpreting the results.

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