| CODE | PPG1001 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Researching Policy, Politics and Governance: Basic Skills | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Policy, Politics and Governance | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Research in politics and governance takes different forms and adopts a wide variety of methodological approaches. This study-units introduces students to research methods in the study of Politics and Governance with the aims of (a) helping students appreciate the importance of research methods and critiques, and (b) teaching students how to employ specific basic methods in their research work. The study-unit introduces both theoretical/desk-based and empirical/field approaches to research. Thus, key concepts in theoretical, qualitative and quantitative research, as well as a range of research methodologies and methods are presented. This study-unit delves into the theoretical underpinnings, epistemological stances and practical guidance needed for sound research design, for crafting research questions, and for engaging in meaningful data collection and analysis. Thematic analysis and similar foundational techniques (e.g., descriptive statistics) are taught. Study-Unit Aims: - Introduce students to diverse methodological approaches that can be adopted in the study of Politics and Governance; - Present the theoretical underpinnings & differing epistemologies in the research of Politics and Governance; - Provide practical guidance on collecting and analysing different forms of data, largely focusing on interviews, surveys and document analysis (data collection), and thematic analysis and descriptive statistics (data analysis). Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain the different epistemological stances in political research; - Explore different methodological stances; - Explain the differences between theoretical, qualitative and quantitative research; - Explain the importance of different data collection and data analysis protocols. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Examine the strengths & weaknesses of the methodology adopted in their study; - Conduct studies involving thematic analysis; - Conduct studies involving basic conceptual/theoretical work; - Appreciate descriptive statistics. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Halperin, Sandra & Oliver Heath, Political Research: Methods and Practical Skills, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 2017). - Matthews, B., & Ross, L. (2010). Research Methods: A Practical Guide For The Social Sciences, Pearson education. Supplementary Readings: - Begum, Neema & Rima Saini, "Decolonising the Curriculum," Political Studies Review vol. 17, no. 2 (2019): 196-201. - Burnham, Peter et al. Research Methods in Politics, 2nd ed (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). - Attride-Stirling, J., 2001. Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative research, 1(3), pp.385-405. - Brady, H.E., 2000. Contributions of survey research to political science. PS: Political Science & Politics, 33(1), pp.47-58. - Braun,Virginia & Victoria Clarke, Thematic Analysis: A Practical Guide (SAGE, 2021). - Brinkmann, S., 2007. Could interviews be epistemic? An alternative to qualitative opinion polling. Qualitative inquiry, 13(8), pp.1116-1138. - Brinkmann, S., 2014. Unstructured and semi-structured interviewing. The Oxford handbook of qualitative research, 2, pp.277-299. - Christoffersen, Ashlee, "Researching Intersectionality: Ethical Issues," Ethics and Social Welfare vol. 12, issue 4 (2018): 414-421. - della Porta, Donatella (ed), Methodological Practices in Social Movement Research (Oxford UP, 2014). - della Porta, Donatella & Michael Keating, Approaches and Methodologies in the Social Sciences: A Pluralist Perspective (Cambridge UP, 2008). - Fairclough, Norman, Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2010). - Field, Andy, Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics (SAGE, 2017), Fifth edition. - Flick,Uwe (ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis (SAGE, 2014). - Glynos, Jason & David Howarth, Logics of Critical Explanation in Social and Political Theory (Routledge, 2007). - Hesse-Biber, Sharlene Nagy & Patricia Lina Leavy, Feminist Research Practice: A Primer, 2nd ed. (SAGE, 2014). - Buhagiar, L.J. and Sammut, G., 2023. The Minimal Model of Argumentation: Qualitative data analysis for epistemic speech, text and policy. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. - J酶rgensen, Marianne & Louise Phillips, Discourse Analysis as Theory and Method (SAGE, 2002). - Barbour, R. and Kitzinger, J. eds., 1998. Developing focus group research: politics, theory and practice. Sage. - Kubik, J. (2009). Ethnography of politics: Foundations, applications, prospects. Political ethnography: What immersion contributes to the study of power, 25-52. - Terrell, Steven R., Writing a Proposal for Your Dissertation: Guidelines and Examples, 2nd ed. (Guilford, 2023). - Wodak, Ruth & Bernhard Forchtner (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Language and Politics (Routledge, 2018). |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Kurt Borg Luke Buhagiar |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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