Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC2124: Political Analysis

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

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

  • Writing a research proposal
  • Qualitative methods
  • Quantitative methods
  • Questionnaire design
  • The logic of political surveys
  • Textual analysis
  • Feminist Methods in International Relations
  • Archival Research, Genealogy and Problematisation
  • Aesthetics, Visualisations and Visual Methods
  • Decolonizing methodologies
  • Writing a Literature Review

Learning and Teaching

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

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
291210

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

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity 27.511 x 2.5 hour weekly seminars
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity 1.53 x 30 minute supervision meetings
Guided Independent study40Preparation for seminars
Guided Independent study81Completion of coursework

Online Resources

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

  • ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages
  • Kanopy;
  • podcasts;
  • blogs and vlogs;
  • cultural productions (songs; music videos; films; performances);
  • policy briefs;
  • annual reports from selected international organizations

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.

Indicative Basic reading:

Ackerly, Brooke A., Maria Stern, and Jacqui True, eds. Feminist methodologies for international relations. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Aradau, Claudia, et al. Critical security methods: New frameworks for analysis. Routledge, 2014.

Donatella della Porta, Keating Michael, Approaches and Methodologies in Political Science, CUP, 2008.

Halperin Sandra, Heath Oliver, Political Research: Methods and Practical Skills, OUP, 2016.

Jackson, Patrick Thaddeus. The conduct of inquiry in international relations: philosophy of science and its implications for the study of world politics. Routledge, 2010.

Kellstedt Paul, The Fundamentals of Political Science Research, CUP, 2013.

King Gary, Keohane Robert, Verba Sidney, Designing Social Inquiry, PUP, 1994.

Klotz, Audie, and Deepa Prakash, eds. Qualitative methods in international relations. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.

Lamont, Christopher. Research methods in international relations. Sage, 2015.

Lebow, Richard Ned. Constructing Cause in International Relations. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Rech, Matthew F., et al. "An Introduction to Military Research Methods." The Routledge Companion to Military Research Methods (2016)

Salter, Mark and Can Mutlu (eds). Research Methods in Critical Security Studies. Routledge, 2012.

Shepherd, Laura J. (ed) Critical Approaches to Security, Routledge, 2012.

Toshkov Dimiter, Research Design in Political Science, Palgrave, 2016.