Social Science Research Methods

This subject is not offered in 2015.

85 hours

Enrolment in 101AA Ph.D.- Arts or MR-ARTSTHS Master of Arts.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

This course will provide an overview of cutting edge research methods in the contemporary social sciences. It will have two main objectives. First, to ensure that all PhD students in the social sciences are familiar with the variety of research methods available to contemporary researchers in the field, and to ensure they are informed consumers of research published by others. Second, to ensure students think through the advantages and disadvantages of the research methods they adopt for their own research.

Students who completes this subject should have:

• enhanced knowledge of the topic or area of scholarship taught in the module,
• an ability to reflect upon their own research work in relation to the content of the module, and
• enhanced engagement with leading-edge research in Arts today.

• one 500-word essay proposal, due during the teaching period (20%)
• one 2,000-word essay, due at the end of the assessment period (80%)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

The subjects will contribute, through teaching and discussion with academic staff and peers, to developing the skills and capacities identified in the University-defined Graduate Attributes for the PhD, in particular:

• the capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge,
• an advanced ability to evaluate and synthesise research-based and scholarly literature,
• an advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field.