Modules for Social Policy MA/MRes and Social Work MRes programmes

Advanced Qualitative Methods

  • Core module for: MRes SP, MRes SW. Option module for: MA SP.
  • Spring Term
  • 2 hour lecture + 2 hour workshop each week for 9 weeks.

Module content

The aim of this module is to further to develop students’ knowledge of the principles underlying qualitative research design, to enable them to gain an advanced level of understanding of, and expertise in the use of, the key methods of qualitative data generation and to develop skills in qualitative analysis and interpretation. In addition to a more analytical grasp of the issues in relation to these areas, student's skills will also be developed through exploring their use in the context of ongoing and completed research. At the end of this module, students should:

  • be able to distinguish between method and design, data generation, analysis and interpretation;
  • have a comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the collection and analysis of the principal forms of qualitative methods and the types of data they generate;
  • have an appreciation of the range of research domains and issues to which these methodological techniques apply, including their application to practical research;
  • be able to use the Atlas Ti software package for qualitative data analysis.

Advanced Quantitative Methods

  • Core module for: MRes SP, MRes SW. Option module for: MA SP.
  • Spring Term
  • 2 hour lecture + 2 hour workshop each week for 9 weeks.

Module content

The module aims to help students to develop quantitative analytical skills and to give them sufficient understanding of statistical theory to enable them to go on themselves to learn more specialised techniques as required in any further research work they undertake. In addition to skills in analysis, students are expected to learn how to interpret critically the results of their work and to be able to present results in a clear and easily understood form. The module includes a weekly hands-on data workshop in which students apply the techniques they learn in the lectures. Consequently, this module gives students a knowledge of both key statistical approaches and how to utilise them in practice using leading computer based packages.

Comparative Social Policy: Governance, Management and Delivery

  • Core module for: MA CISP. Option module for: MA SP.
  • Spring Term
  • 1 x 3 hour session combining lectures, workshops and seminars each week for 9 weeks.

Module content

  • This module explores the theory and practice of governance, management and delivery. How best to understand, assess and re-fashion public management delivery are key challenges for policy makers, managers, and public service professionals alike. The module has three components:

    • The range of governance models
    • How governance shapes approaches to social policy
    • The interrelations of governance, management and delivery within particular social policy spheres.

    Through this module students will examine the complex nature of this challenge, and will question models and approaches from within the public management literature. Particular reference is made to the public sector reform agendas of New Public Management and modernisation. The module does this within a range of settings and regions, including Anglo, Asian and Latin American contexts. A multi-level approach to understanding governance will be emphasised, considering the inter-relationships between institutions and organisations (locally, nationally and internationally).

    Central to the module is the use of real-world cases study materials in the workshop session. These encourage students to engage with the practicalities of public management and delivery (including performance, privatisation and decentralisation). The overall aim is to link theory and practice: to enable students to analyse and develop ways of dealing with real public management and delivery dilemmas.

    By the end of this module a student should be able to:

    • Reflect critically on public sector management change within different social policy contexts and national cultures.
    • Understand the drivers for change and responses within local and national settings.
    • Understand and identify arguments and techniques for assessing public management approaches.
    • To practically engage with real-life issues and challenges relating to public sector management and delivery.

    Comparative and International Social Policy: Research Methods

    • Core module for: MA CISP.
    • Autumn Term
    • 1 hour lecture or seminar + 2 hour workshop each week for 9 weeks.

    Module content

    This module introduces some of the key theories, methods and data sources employed in comparative and international social policy research. Using hands-on workshops and specially written exercises, it shows how researchers undertake comparative policy analyses, highlights the key resources they use and introduces the major computer packages they commonly utilise. By the end of the module students should be able to:

    • undertake their own analyses of comparative social policies using key comparative data sources;
    • utilise key computer packages used in comparative social policy analysis;
    • understand, interpret and critically analyse comparative social policy research.

    Domains of Social Work Research

    • Core module for: MRes SW.
    • Autumn Term
    • 3 hour seminar/lectures in alternate weeks.

    Module content

    The Domains of Social Work Research Module is part of the subject specific training for students who intend to conduct social work research as part of their future careers. The module aims to provide students with understanding of and ability to critically assess cutting edge research in selected domains of social work research. Subject content:

    • Young people
    • Learning disability
    • Mental health
    • Disability
    • Children and families

    Globalisation and Social Policy

    • Core module for: MA CISP. Option module for: MA SP.
    • Spring Term
    • 1 x 3 hour session combining online lectures, online discussions and face-to-face seminars each week for 9 weeks.

    Module content

    This module is delivered via a blended mode of learning, using online lectures and online discussions plus face-to-face seminars. The aim of the module is to provide students with an introduction to: debates over the nature of globalisation and its consequences for social policy, social well-being and social divisions; emerging global social policy issues, such as poverty alleviation, pensions, health and labour rights; how these issues are debated and addressed by international organizations; how these international organizations are – or are not – being reformed to deal more effectively with the issues; the role of trans-national social actors in the new social policy agenda; how social policy is effected by globalisation in four regions, viz. Western and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia; and the politics of social policy in a number of national contexts. By the end of the module students should be able to:

    • understand the terms of the debate on globalisation and social policy;
    • access and analyse critically the social policy agenda of major international organizations;
    • examine critically the international politics of key social policy issues in areas such as poverty alleviation, pensions, health and labour standards; and
    • examine critically the influence of globalisation on the making of social policy in different regional and national contexts.

    Graduate Dissertation Workshop

    • Core module for every postgraduate programme.
    • Summer Term
    • 1 x 3 hour session each week for 9 weeks. Initial lectures/workshops followed by student workshops and presentations on dissertations.

    Module content

    This module is tailored each year to student interests and the work to be undertaken for the dissertation. We identify topics concerning which students feel they need particular support and provide these in terms of staff lectures or facilitated workshops. Students also work intensively in groups on projects related to shared dissertation interests, producing a group report, which is not assessed but a procedural requirement only, by the middle of term. Following this, students present detailed proposals, including timetables, regarding their dissertation to the rest of the group, facilitated by a member of staff, for constructive comment, support and guidance. The aim of the module is to provide students with: the opportunity to design, undertake and successfully manage a piece of research of their own (guided) choosing, appropriate to the programme; the experience of group and team work; an understanding of what it means to offer and accept supportive criticism; an understanding of ethical debates and standards in relation to research. By the end of the module students should:

    • be able to identify and design a manageable research topic;
    • be able to manage and schedule the appropriate stages in the research process;
    • be able to communicate the nature of their dissertation proposals to others;
    • be able identify and address ethical issues in relation to research.

    Introduction to Social Research Methods

    • Core module for MA SP, MRes SP and MRes SW.
    • Autumn Term
    • 2 hour lecture + 2 hour workshop each week for 9 weeks.

    Module content

    This module introduces some of the basic principles of social research. The module considers broad philosophical debates about knowledge alongside more focused issues concerning how quantitative and qualitative research can be undertaken in practice. It enables students to:

    • understand the principles of social research and related philosophical debates;
    • acquire skills in the use of both quantitative and qualitative techniques of research;
    • judge what methods and techniques are appropriate to particular research problems, and,
    • develop their critical abilities to appraise published research findings in their own substantive areas of study.

    Social Policy Analysis

    • Core module for: MA SP, MA CISP, MRes SP.
    • Autumn Term
    • 2 x 1 hour lectures + 2 hour seminar each week for 9 weeks.

    Module content

    This module introduces some of the key concepts, techniques and theories employed in policy analysis, applies this knowledge to specific social policy issues and explores some of the key dilemmas and challenges facing the welfare state. By the end of the module students should be able to:

    • understand the role of demographic, economic, political, social and international factors in shaping social policy;
    • identify the complex issues surrounding the formation, implementation and evaluation of social policies; and,
    • appreciate the institutional and organizational contexts which shape the processes by which social policies are made.

    Social Work Research: Evidence, Understanding and Justice

    • Core module for: MRes SW.
    • Spring Term
    • 3 hour seminar/lectures in alternate weeks.

    Module content

    The aim of this module is to enable students to identify, understand and shape their own research in the light of current debates regarding the scope and nature of social work research. The ‘Evidence, Understanding and Justices’ module is part of the subject specific training for students who intend to conduct social work research as part of their future careers. The module will consider the increasingly important role of the evaluation of policies, programmes, practices and interventions, in social work and socOctober 8, 2010itically, acknowledging the influence of social and political contexts on research practice. This will include the development of emancipatory perspectives, research governance and ethics, and the dissemination and uses of research. Subject content:

    • Evidence for practice
    • Understanding and reflection in social work research
    • Justice-based research
    • Ethics and governance
    • Uses and misuses of social work research

    MA/MRes Social Policy, MRes Social Work

    Key: C = Compulsory. O = Option choice.

       MA SP MA CISP  MRes SP  MRes SW 
    Advanced Qualitative Methods  O    C  C 
     Advanced Quantitative Methods O    C  C 
    Comparative and International Social Policy: Research Methods   C     
    Comparative Social Policy: Governance, Management and Delivery O C
    Domains of Social Work Research C
     Globalisation and Social Policy O C
     Graduate Dissertation Workshops C  C  C  C
     Introduction to Social Research Methods C    C  C
     Social Policy Analysis C  C  C   
     Social Work Research: Evidence, Understanding and Justice       C