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SP12010: Becoming a social scientist 2

[Page last updated: 09 August 2024]

Academic Year: 2024/25
Owning Department/School: Department of Social & Policy Sciences
Credits: 10 [equivalent to 20 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 200
Level: Certificate (FHEQ level 4)
Period:
Semester 2
Assessment Summary: CWPF 60%, CWRI 40%
Assessment Detail:
  • Portfolio (CWPF 60%)
  • Report Individual (CWRI 40% - Qualifying Mark: 40)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites:
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this unit, students will be able to: 1 Appreciate the historical origins and political economy of statistics as well as the epistemological and ontological premises of quantitative social research 2. Apply key processes (conceptualization, operationalization) of quantitative social research 3. Identify a research aim that can be explored by means of quantitative social research 4. Identify, critically assess and use existing data sources appropriate to the aim of the research from sources of official statistics nationally and internationally. 5. Perform basic quantitative analysis of sets of bivariate relationships.


Synopsis: Explore many aspects of quantitative social research methods: brief history of statistics; epistemological and ontological assumptions; principles of research design; techniques in generating primary quantitative data and locating secondary quantitative data; summarizing variables, graphically presenting them and doing basic analysis of bivariate relationships using dedicated statistical software; the social production of official statistics as well as 'big data' and their political economy.

Content: Explore many aspects of quantitative social research methods: a brief history of statistics; epistemological and ontological assumptions; principles of research design; techniques in generating primary quantitative data and locating secondary quantitative data; and the social production of different statistical data.

Course availability:

SP12010 is Compulsory on the following courses:

Department of Social & Policy Sciences
  • UHSP-AFB30 : BSc(Hons) Criminology (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AKB30 : BSc(Hons) Criminology with professional placement (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AFB31 : BSc(Hons) International Development with Economics (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AKB31 : BSc(Hons) International Development with Economics with professional placement (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AFB32 : BSc(Hons) Social Policy (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AKB32 : BSc(Hons) Social Policy with professional placement (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AFB37 : BSc(Hons) Social Sciences (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AKB37 : BSc(Hons) Social Sciences with professional placement (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AFB35 : BSc(Hons) Sociology (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AFB36 : BSc(Hons) Sociology and Social Policy (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AKB36 : BSc(Hons) Sociology and Social Policy with professional placement (Year 1)
  • UHSP-AKB35 : BSc(Hons) Sociology with professional placement (Year 1)

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2024/25 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2025/26 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2024/25.
  • Courses and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.