Studying at York
Research Design - SPY00159M
- Department: Social Policy and Social Work
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: M
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
- See module specification for other years: 2023-24
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
Module aims
This module has been developed in line with the ESRC's Postgraduate Training and Development guidelines. The purpose of the module is to introduce students to the core principles of research design. The module considers the connection between research questions or hypotheses and the tools required to address them, and provides students with practical experience of applying some of those tools.
Module learning outcomes
In line with the ESRC Postgraduate Training and Development guidelines by the end of the module students will be able to:
· define and formulate research problems and questions, and, where appropriate, formulate hypotheses that can be tested;
· understand the rationale for using particular qualitative or quantitative research methods;
· understand the relationship between empirical research and theory generation and testing (theory-evidence links);
· understand different forms of sampling, sampling error, and case selection, and potential implications for the interpretation of research findings;
· understand and apply the concepts of generalisability, validity, reliability, and replicability (recognising that there are different perspectives on how these may be defined); and
· understand the integrated or complementary nature of the relationship between methods in mixed methods research designs.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Feedback will be given in accordance with the University Policy on feedback in the Guide to Assessment as well as in line with the School policy.
Indicative reading
There are a huge number of textbooks in the area of social research most of which are of a high quality. There is, however, no single text which covers all aspects. If you want to buy a general book though the following are certainly worth purchasing:
Becker, S., Bryman, A. and Ferguson, H. (2012) Understanding Research for Social Policy and Social Work (Policy Press);
Gilbert, N. (ed). (2008) Researching Social Life (Sage);
Bryman, A. (2012) Social Research Methods (Oxford).
If you want to buy a single text on qualitative methods amongst the best is
D. Silverman (2010) Doing Qualitative Research (Sage) and also his (2011) edited collection Qualitative Research: Issues of Theory Method and Practice (Sage).