GV5X1
Research Design in the Social Sciences
This information is for the 2018/19 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Laura Valentini, Dr Steffen Hertog and Dr Daniel Berliner
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MRes/PhD in Political Science. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
Course content
The aim of this course is to help PhD students develop a research design. Students will learn how to find their research questions, choose a feasible data collection or modelling strategy, and match data collection and analytic methods to the aims of the PhD project. We also consider the relation of political theory and political science and explore research methodologies in normative theory. This course is therefore designed to be a primer in asking the right questions, exploring the options available to us and understanding the consequences of the design decisions that we make. Accordingly, this course is ultimately about turning good research questions into systematic projects that deliver interesting and worthwhile results. We also debate issues in research ethics and provide advice on publication strategies
Teaching
20 hours of seminars in the MT. 20 hours of seminars in the LT. 7 hours of workshops in the ST.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of both MT and LT.
Formative coursework
This is a PhD level Research Design course – we do not intend to have additional essays. Students will give presentations and receive extensive feedback on their work in progress. These are part of formative rather than summative assessment and are an important part of professional development. The main learning outcomes are to help the PhD students develop professional research designs.
Indicative reading
King, G., R. Keohane & S. Verba (1994) Designing Social Inquiry. Princeton UP.
Box-Steffensmeier, J., H. Brady & D. Collier (eds) (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology. OUP.
Dunning, T. (2012) Natural Experiments in the Social Sciences: A Design-Based Approach. CUP.
Dryzek, J., B. Honig & A. Phillips (eds.) (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory. OUP.
Assessment
Essay (20%, 2500 words) in the MT.
Essay (20%, 2500 words) in the LT.
Research project (60%) in the ST.
Key facts
Department: Government
Total students 2017/18: 12
Average class size 2017/18: 12
Value: One Unit
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Problem solving
- Communication
Course survey results
(2014/15 - 2016/17 combined)
1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" scoreThe scores below are average responses.
Response rate: 100%
Question |
Average | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reading list (Q2.1) |
1.8 | ||||||
Materials (Q2.3) |
1.9 | ||||||
Course satisfied (Q2.4) |
2 | ||||||
Integration (Q2.6) |
1.7 | ||||||
Contact (Q2.7) |
1.8 | ||||||
Feedback (Q2.8) |
1.6 | ||||||
Recommend (Q2.9) |
|