Undergraduate Module Descriptor

SSIM904: Research Design Methods and Skills for AQM

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

Module Aims

This is an advanced level research design and methods course intended to equip you with a broad range of relevant skills and knowledge, allowing you to formulate research questions and carry out your own research projects. The primary aims of the unit are to:

Introduce the epistemological and methodological traditions in social science research and map the social science research space, particularly highlighting the range of quantitative methods used;
Introduce key skills for designing and organizing a research project, conducting critical reviews of published research; and disseminating and communicating 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 understanding of the principles of research design and appreciate multiple alternative approaches to developing and addressing research questions; 2. Develop critical understanding of the scientific method; 3. Understand the relationship between empirical research and theory generation and testing (theory-evidence links);? 4. Define a researchable problem and formulate research questions and hypotheses that are amenable to empirical investigation;
Discipline-Specific Skills	5. Show comprehensive understanding of issues posed by social research in relation to ethics, confidentiality and legality. 6. Demonstrate in-depth understanding of the principles behind causal inference; 7. Develop understanding of the theoretical and data structure assumptions underlying a range of advanced quantitative methods;
Personal and Key Skills	8. Demonstrate an advanced ability to study independently and effectively; 9. Develop the ability to present, summarize and report complex empirical results and methodological approaches for a non-academic (or non-quantitative) audience in order to engage the broader social science community, funding bodies and policy-makers in your research. 10. Become acquainted with relevant software tools and IT applications for the retrieval, analysis and the presentation of quantitative information.

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
3 class presentations of the case selection, methodological choices and preliminary findings associated to each of the 3 research project that constitute the summative assessments.	15-minute presentations (each)	1-9	Oral

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
3 x 1500 (33.33% each) word projects One project based on the component taught at each of the three institutions.	100	4500 words	1-10	Written Feedback
	0
	0
	0
	0
	0

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
3 x 1500 word projects (each one based on the components taught at the three institutions)	3 x 1500 practical assignments based on the word projects seen at each of the three institutions	1-10	August/September reassessment period