Research Skills and Methods in Political Science (M1045)

15 credits, Level 4

Spring teaching

On this module, you’ll explore the fundamental issues scholars face when analysing the political world. You’ll examine how different approaches influence the conclusions scholars reach and learn to identify and measure important relationships between political phenomena.

Key areas of focus include:

• an introduction to political science and its key concepts, such as epistemology, behaviouralism, and quantitative methods
• building knowledge and evidence through quantitative methods, including surveys and data analysis, while assessing their strengths and limitations
• interpretive approaches, such as interviews and focus groups, and how they compare with quantitative methods

By the end of the module, you’ll understand how political scholars conduct research and critically evaluate claims and data in political debates. Practical exercises in seminars and workshops will help you apply the concepts and methods discussed in lectures.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2024/25. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.