Dr Joachim Wehner

This course is compulsory on the BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

This course is exclusively for fourth year BSc PPE students.

The Capstone requires groups of students to carry out research and analysis in order to address a practical policy issue or problem relevant to a client organisation. This allows students to extend their capabilities and apply disciplinary and methodological knowledge and skills they learned in the PPE core courses to address real-life policy needs. Capstone clients may include public sector bodies, private companies, international organisations, think tanks and NGOs. The initial weeks of the course will introduce students to the requirements of Capstone projects, key research strategies and essential questions. At the same time, from week 1 students will begin to research in allocated teams. Students are also expected to work steadily throughout the term with members of their team and with their advisors. The completed research has to be presented by week 11 MT, both in the form of a team presentation and a research report.

Further details: There will be a two-hour workshop in week 0 of MT to introduce the projects available and students will then be able to list their preferences, which will be taken into account in deciding allocations. This session will also explain key issues and demands on the students. The workshops in weeks 1 and 2 of MT will discuss key research and project skills. The workshop in week 5 of MT will be a “course correction” session for teams to get guidance on the planned final shape of their reports. In addition, students can access regular help sessions throughout the term. Capstone teams will present their project findings by week 11 of MT.

8 hours of workshops in the MT.

These workshops are supplemented with regular help sessions.

This year, some or all of this teaching may be delivered through a combination of online and on-campus workshops and help sessions. This course includes a reading week in week 6 of MT.

Capstone groups must produce 1 team presentation for the “course correction” session, usually in week 5 of MT. They must also produce a poster or presentation from their final (assessed) presentation for a final showcase workshop, which is usually held in week 1 of ST.

• Charles E. Lindblom and David K. Cohen. Useable Knowledge: Social Science and Social Problem Solving (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979).
• Eugene Bardach and Eric M. Patashnik. A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis (Sage, 2016).
• Brian A. Griffith and Ethan B. Dunham. Working in Teams: Moving from High Potential to High Performance (Sage, 2015).
• Ray Pawson. The Science of Evaluation: A Realist Manifesto (Sage, 2013).

Project (80%, 8000 words) and presentation (20%) in the MT.

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.