Course unit details:
Research Strategy and Project Management
| Unit code | SOCY60412 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 15 |
| Unit level | FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
| Lecture | Workshop |
|---|---|
| The structure and organisation of a dissertation, and the ethical review application | Evaluating what makes a ‘good’ dissertation |
| Doing a Literature Review | Doing and evaluating a Literature Review |
| Survey Design and Evaluating Quantitative Research | Evaluating Crime Survey Data |
| Doing Qualitative Interviews | Designing and conducting a qualitative interview |
| Analysing Qualitative Interviews | Practice of analysis of a qualitative interview |
| Personal networks and qualitative research | How to collect personal network data |
| Generalising with qualitative data | Analyzing a published qualitative study |
| Project Managing your Dissertation - challenges, pitfalls, contingencies and problem-solving | Peer-reviewing literature reviews |
| Writing the Methodology Chapter | Using examples of research projects to build your own methodology section |
| Presenting Your Findings: Analyses and findings chapters | Using examples of published research to build your own analysis section |
Aims
- To develop students' ability to design and implement their dissertation research project.
- To provide students with the opportunity to develop their research projects through group-based learning and discussion and in so doing, to complement the work undertaken through individual supervision meetings under the dissertation programme.
- To give students awareness of the role of the literature review in research design and how to plan, organise, and write a literature review in relation to their specific research aims.
- To provide a practical learning forum for students to consolidate and further develop their academic knowledge about research methods and associated methodological debates that they have studied in other specialist modules.
- To provide students with opportunities to develop their practical skills in conducting social research such as designing methods, data analysis etc. to assist them with their dissertation projects.
- To provide students with the opportunity to develop their generic skills in written presentation and in group work.
Learning outcomes
Building on from Research Design 1, by the end of the course students should have:
- Applied and developed their knowledge of methods and methodology through a focus on preparing their critical literature review for their dissertation and through discussion of their peers' research design.
- Produced a critical literature review as a basis for the empirical work for their dissertation.
- Presented and discussed their research design with a small peer group.
- Developed their skills and experience in the oral presentation of their work (as well as in written presentation for the assessment).
- Developed their evaluation skills through the discussion of their peers' research designs.
- Developed practical skills in research design and delivery in preparation for their dissertation projects.
Teaching and learning methods
Each week contains a mix lectures and workshops
Assessment methods
Provide a critical literature review based upon your chosen dissertation topic 100% (3000 words +/- 10%)
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Alice Bloch | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes