Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM140: Qualitative Methods in Social Research

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

Introduction
Ethics
Case selection and the comparative method
Process tracing
Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)
Historicism and Interpretivism
Discourse and content analysis
Interviews
Focus groups
Participatory research
Ethnography

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	278	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	22	11x 2 hour seminars (lectures and student presentations)
Guided independent study	100	Directed readings
Guided independent study	42	Preparation of presentation
Guided independent study	136	Coursework completion - conducting research, analysing data, writing the finished product

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

http://www.compasss.org/about.htm

http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs

https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/moynihan/cqrm/APSA_s_Qualitative_and_Multi-Method_Research_Section/

http://methods.sagepub.com/cases?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=SAGE%20Research%20Methods%20Cases&ut%20m_campaign=7LA066B&utm_term

More links:

http://www.compasss.org/links.htm

Other Learning Resources

Politics Essay Writing Guide:

http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=168656/

You can find lots of advice relating to essay writing at:

http://www.services.ex.ac.uk/cas/employability/askills/essay/index.htm

You can also find other useful advice related to general study skills at: http://www.services.ex.ac.uk/edu/student-learning-skills/resources.shtml

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Key readings

Lijphart, A. (1971) 'Comparative politics and the comparative method', American Political Science Review 65(3): 682-693.

Blatter, J. and Blume, T. (2008) 'In Search of Co-variance, Causal Mechanisms or Congruence? Towards a Plural Understanding of Case Studies', Swiss Political Science Review 14(2): 315-356.

Berg-Schlosser, D., De Meur, G., Rihoux, B. und C. C. Ragin (2009). „Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) as an Approach“. In: Rihoux, B. und C.C. Ragin (Hrsg.). Configurational Comparative Methods.

Bevir, M. (1999) The Logic of the History of Ideas. Cambridge University Press, pp. 127-142.

Van Dijk T. (1993) Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse & Society 4(2): 249-283.