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% |
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.