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Social Research Methods - SPY00012I

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  • Department: Social Policy and Social Work
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Lisa O'Malley
  • Credit value: 30 credits
  • Credit level: I
  • Academic year of delivery: 2019-20

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching cycle
A Autumn Term 2019-20 to Summer Term 2019-20

Module aims

  • To understand the principles of social research and related philosophical debates,
  • To appreciate the range of methods used for social research,
  • To acquire skills in the use of both quantitative and qualitative techniques of research,
  • To judge what methods and techniques are appropriate to particular research problems, and
  • To develop their critical abilities to appraise published research findings.

Module learning outcomes

  • To understand the basic principles of social research
  • To appreciate the scope and range of qualitative methods and quantitative survey strategies
  • To gain an understanding of the use and relevance of social research for social policy
  • To be aware of the ethics and politics of carrying out social research
  • To develop quantitative and qualitative research skills
  • To gain some hands on experience of qualitative methods
  • To acquire some skills in quantitative data analysis
  • To use a standard statistical software package (SPSS)
  • To acquire some skills in qualitative data analysis
  • To manage a simple, clean, medium-sized dataset and write up results clearly

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Learning Log		 N/A 33.33
Essay/coursework
Research Design		 N/A 33.34
Essay/coursework
Workshop Tasks		 N/A 33.33

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Learning Log		 N/A 33.33
Essay/coursework
Research Design		 N/A 33.34
Essay/coursework
Workshop Tasks		 N/A 33.33

Module feedback

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