Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POL3040: Dissertation

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

Module Aims

This module aims to equip you with necessary knowledge and skills to conduct research on the research question of your choice resulting in a dissertation within one of the areas of politics, including political science, or political theory, or political philosophy, or International Relations. It is taught by using a series of dissertation skills sessions that introduce you how to design, research for and write up your dissertation; by drawing upon one-to-one supervision meetings working with one of the members of staff, and most importantly, based on your independent research.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills	1. develop your own research project, the terms of which must be approved by a member of academic staff.
Discipline-Specific Skills	2. analyse a subject in the field of politics in great detail; 3. engage in primary and/or secondary data analysis using appropriate research design, and robust and ethical approach to data collection and analysis to address chosen research question(s). Engage in primary research of political material; 4. demonstrate detailed knowledge of the appropriate literatures and ability to place your own research within the field; 5. demonstrate a high standard of academic writing, presentation and structuring a substantive research project.
Personal and Key Skills	6. organise your own time over the two terms; 7. manage and plan work time over a lengthy period.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Dissertation skills sessions are delivered by the module coordinator, in collaboration with other members of academic staff where necessary – supported by the content of the ELE module page. These sessions will cover basics of research design and methodology, key aspects of ethical review and tips on dissertation writing.

You can also expect to meet with your supervisor four times (30 mins each) throughout the year (not during University recess). In addition to general advice and guidance on dissertation research and writing, your supervisor will provide you with feedback on up to 2,000 words of draft sections (i.e. ¼ of the dissertation) only if you submit them before the Easter non-teaching period.

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
8	292	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 activity	2	Supervisor meetings (4x30 minute meetings)
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	6	Dissertation skills sessions
Guided independent study	292	Researching your topic and writing it

Online Resources

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

ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=1532
Project Planner – http://methods.sagepub.com/project-planner
Methods Map – http://methods.sagepub.com/methods-map