Course unit details:
Sociology Postgraduate Research Workshop
| Unit code | SOCY60510 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 0 |
| Unit level | FHEQ level 8 – doctoral degree |
| Teaching period(s) | Full year |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Aims
To enhance PhD candidates' competencies associated with the conduct of research and the writing of Sociology and cognate disciplines and to generate awareness of issues related to career development. The aim is to create a supportive, co-operative environment in which students can participate, discuss and share their research experiences and engage in constructive debate. The course includes sessions on specific development skills, and sessions based on student presentations in a fashion that seeks to introduce students to the skills of conference presentation, responding to questions, chairing, and constructive critical debate.
Learning outcomes
The purpose of this seminar is to cover methodological issues and concerns that are generic to doing postgraduate research in Sociology and cognate disciplines, whatever your topic, theoretical framework or methodological approach, and to discuss issues related to career development. This includes discussion of a range of practical matters, such as data collection and management, getting access and other fieldwork experiences, ethical issues, the alignment of data with conceptual or methodological choices, the craft skills involved in doing academic work such as drafting and writing up papers, achieving conceptual coherence and consistency, writing research proposals, and dissemination skills such as oral presentation and debate, identifying conferences and targeting abstracts, and publishing research.
Teaching and learning methods
Workshop-based seminars
Assessment methods
Students will receive informal feedback on presentations and chairing.
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Simin Fadaee | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
Information
All Sociology PhD students are required to attend this research workshop. ESRC funded 1+3 sociology students doing the MSc year, and CCSR and ISC PhD students are invited to attend.
PDP
As the course component of the student PDP, each year of the PhD has two exclusive sessions devoted to a particular aspect of the research process (see the asterisked sessions below). These sessions are cumulative, taking the students through key developmental skills in the process of framing, carrying out, and writing research as appropriate to the particular year.