Module Identifier IPM2120  
Module Title POLITICAL RESEARCH: PHILOSOPHY, METHODS AND APPLICATION  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Dr Colin Wight  
Semester Semester 2  
Assessment Course work   Research Design Project   35%  
  Course work   Web exercises   15%  
  Course work   SPSS Computer exercises   15%  
  Exam   2 Hours   35%  

Brief description


The aim of the module is to provide a specialist introduction into the conceptual debates, methodological issues and practical techniques that are central to the design and conduct of political research. By supplying a specialist programme that examines the approaches, forms and methods of political enquiry, the course intends to provide a vehicle of progression from teh generic research training programme to the substantive elements of each of the Internaitonal Politics Masters degree schemes.


By examining the philosophical, epistemological and ontological disputes in the geenration of political knowledge, the course will raise the critical awareness of students in respect to the challenges involved in designing research questions and forms and techniques of data collection and analysis will alert students to the need for informed care in the selection and management of research agendas, in the acquisition and weighing of evidence, and in the processes of cumulative argumentation. By acquainting students with key literatures, the course will enable new researchers to identify and resolve problems; to match methods to questions; and to apply techniques rigorously and coherently.


In the process, the course is intended both to ensure high standards in the formulation of research proposals and to preserve the integrity of subsequent research by producing high quality levels of agenda building and managed investigation.