Accessible Viewing

 University home | Catalogues for 2002/03 | for UGs | for PGs

Student and Applicant Management Information System (SAMIS) logo University of Bath logo - link to University home page
 

 

Department of Social and Policy Sciences, Unit Catalogue 2002/03

SP10001: Social Policy & the Welfare State

Credits: 6
Level: Certificate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: 1 to introduce the key concepts of social policy
2 to introduce the key works of major social policy writers
3 to critically examine the main developments in the evolution of the British welfare state.
Objectives: By the end of the course, students will have knowledge of:
* key themes and periods in the historical development of the British welfare state
* the contribution of key thinkers and the analytical concepts that they have developed
* key themes of contemporary service sectors.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
* critically evaluate and assess the contribution of key thinkers in the development of welfare theory
* communicate and discuss ideas in seminars
* in association with other students give a brief presentation
* work independently to produce an essay developing an argument.
Content:
Lectures: Concepts in social policy; Development of the British Welfare State (the Poor Law; the Liberal Reforms; the Classic Welfare State; Restructured Welfare State); contemporary policy sectors (health care; housing; education; personal social services; income maintenance) Seminars: Richard Titmuss (the social division of welfare; universality and selectivity); William Beveridge (the mixed economy of welfare); Thomas Marshall (citizenship); Richard Tawney (the strategy of equality)

SP10002: Social Policy and Social Problems

Credits: 6
Level: Certificate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims:
4 to introduce students to the framework, operation and financing of social policy
5 to apply this framework to an analysis of selected contemporary social problems
6 to introduce students to cross-national welfare state comparisons
Objectives: By the end of the course, students will have a knowledge of:
* how social problems emerge and the policy responses to these
* how to analyse social problems from a social policy perspective
* how the UK compares in broad terms with approach to the construction of welfare in other countries
* the social, economic and political context for policy By the end of the course, students should be able to:
* seek out and use appropriative data for analysing social problems * understand the distinction between normative and empirical questions and be aware of political and ideological influences on policy
* communicate and discuss ideas in writing and in discussion, including giving a brief presentation.
Content: Introduction: a framework for policy analysis; Welfare states: the UK in context; Paying for welfare; Socio-economic and demographic trends and their impact on policy; The construction of 'social problems'; specific issues/problems (this could include: poverty and social exclusion; unemployment and worklessness; homelessness; drugs; teenage preganacy;ageing; equal opportunities; immigration and asylum seekers, and other issues as appropriate)

SP10017: Groupwork

Credits: 3
Level: Certificate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aim is to provide students with a basic understanding of the theory and competencies in the practice of working with groups in human service organisations.
Objectives of the unit are that students will be able to identify indications and counter-indications for using groupwork as a method of intervention, plan and induct members into formed groups, select appropriate leadership styles and the tasks associated with them, understand the groupwork role in relation to self-led groups, solve common groupwork problems, and evaluate the process and outcomes of groupwork.
Content:
* purposes of groupwork
* group typologies
* models of group development
* planning groups
* leadership styles and tasks
* working with user-led groups
* problem-solving in groups
* recording and evaluating groups

SP10043: The sociology of industrial societies

Credits: 6
Level: Certificate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
1. To introduce students to the distinctive sociological perspective as this relates to industrial societies.
2. To establish the basic social differences between industrial and pre-industrial societies.
3. To provide an understanding of the fundamental concepts of classical sociology in relation to the problems of industrialism 4
. To help students to identify the significance of key concepts in the works of Marx, Weber and Durkheim to societies that have industrialised.
Content:
To answer the following questions:
1. How and why is industrial society distinctive?
2.Does industrial society have a logic of social differentiation, based on conflict, control or social order? Differences in work, authority and decision making, kinship and gender, culture and community.
The theories of Marx, Durkheim and Weber.

SP10044: The sociology of inequalities

Credits: 6
Level: Certificate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit will:
1. Provide students with a basic understanding of the changing nature of modern society.
2. Provide students with a basic understanding of the different ways that sociologists have sought to make sense of the changes evident in modern society.
3. Provide evidence of and theories explaining the key aspects of 'difference' and 'inequalities' within modern British society.
4. Encourage students to think critically about the key issues that arise from such evidence and theories.
5. Provide an introduction to understanding the main modes of social regulation and control within modern societies.
By the end of this unit, students will be better equipped to:
1. Distinguish between the key ways in which sociologists characterise modern societies.
2. Identify dominant forms of inequalities within modern British society.
3. Reflect critically upon explanations for inequalities and difference.
4. Recognise and critically reflect upon different forms of social regulation and control.
Content:
To answer the following questions:
1. Do industrial societies display common trends, even superseding industrialism?
2. What are the main modes of social regulation and social control in changing societies? Theories and evidence of post-industrialism, convergence, managerialism, ethnic and gender forms of social stratification in relation to social control and citizenship.

SP10059: Core skills for social scientists

Credits: 6
Level: Certificate
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: The aims of this course are to introduce students to:
* the major methodological traditions in social research
* the main principles of research design
* key study and learning skills
* key computing skills Objectives:
By the end of the course, students will:
* have a critical understanding of qualitative and quantitative methods
* be aware of the main issues in relation to research design
* be able to evaluate published research studies
* be competent in the main study & learning skills (note taking, avoiding plagiarism, using the library, gathering and using information, constructing a bibliography, referencing)
* be competent in basic Information and Computing Technology (ICT) skills (word-processing, spreadsheets, email, using the web to search for information)
* be aware of the main issues in relation to inter-personal and communication skills
* be competent in essay research, preparation and writing skills
* be competent in revision and examination skills
* be competent in time-management and administrative skills
Content:
Through examples of quantitative and qualitative research, we will discuss the difficulties with gaining access and obtaining/ generating data as well as the issues relating to analysis of data. Through practical examples, students will be introduced to basic learning and key skills. Through laboratory experience, students will acquire basic skills in word-processing, spreadsheets, email, using the web to search for information.

SP10060: Quantitative methods: Surveys & data analysis

Credits: 6
Level: Certificate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce students to the main assumptions, concepts and methods of survey methods, sampling, descriptive and inferential statistics, and to establish basic competence sufficient for investigative, exploratory data analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). By the end of the course the students will be able to:
* use techniques for conducting a small surveys
* use a number of basic statistical techniques and tests employed in descriptive and inferential statistics
* use the basic functions of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) in analysing quantitative data
* recognise the broader theoretical and methodological issues that arise from (and accompany) the use of quantitative methods in social research.
Content:
Basic principles of surveys, construction of questionnaires and sampling; Basic descriptive statistics and Graphical Representation of Quantitative Data; Measures of central tendency and variability; Introduction to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS); The normal distribution and z-scores; Tests of associations: An overview of tests for Nominal, Ordinal and Interval/ Ratio variables; Introduction to Inferential Statistics; Estimates, Hypothesis testing and Predictions; Tests for significance for Nominal variables (the chi-square test).

SP10105: Community profiling: research in action - Year 1

Credits: 3
Level: Certificate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES80RT20
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Students will gain a basic level of understanding of the importance within social welfare of good information, particularly the needs of users and potential users of social services. They will be introduced to the importance of "hearing the voice" of communities and individuals in planning service development. They will understand the range of skills necessary for successful information gathering and social research at a fundamental level. They will start the process of learning about working collaboratively, both within project teams and with others involved in service user and provider networks. They will begin to understand the importance of managing workload, the collation of data and its presentation in different forms for information purposes.
Content:
This will be achieved by teaching input on the context, purpose and value of community profiling as a responsive, user-focused and anti-discriminatory task, and the skills and knowledge base for effective practice. Students will then carry out small projects in collaborative groups, either within the University Community (e.g. exploring an issue in relation to disabled students), or for a local community organisation. Year One students will be allocated projects that will reflect the level of attainment expected of them. Close tutorial support will be available during the process of these projects, and there will be a day set aside when all teams will present their final reports. This unit shares teaching with a level 2 unit of the same title (SP20018).

SP10106: Sociology of social work - Year 1

Credits: 6
Level: Certificate
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aims of the unit are to explore
1) how social work as a topic illuminates sociological theory
2) to use sociological frameworks to explore contemporary issues in the organisation and practice of social work.
Objectives of the unit are to introduce students to a range of sociological perspectives which have value in analysing social work, and to develop the analytical skills to apply sociological understanding to substantive controversies in social work and the personal social services.
Content:
* relationships between sociological theory and social work
* the social construction of child abuse
* professionalisation and social work
* discourse and social work
* social models of disability
* power and social work
* gender and social work
* 'race' and social work
* technology, post-Fordism and social services This unit shares teaching with a level 2 unit of the same title (SP20026).

SP20003: 'Race' & racism

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop an understanding of issues of 'race' and ethnicity. To examine the dimensions of discrimination and disadvantage in Britain. To analyse key policy areas to highlight the prevalence and effects of racism. To evaluate attempts to eradicate racism, discrimination and disadvantage.
Content:
Concepts of 'Race' and Ethnicity; Racial Inequality in Britain; Racism; Colonialism; Racial Harassment; Immigration; Race Relations Law; Multi-Culturalism, Anti-Racism and Education; Urban Unrest; 'Race', Racism and Policing; 'Race' and Citizenship.

SP20004: Family matters: sociological & social policy approaches to family & friendship in contempory society

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES50EX50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims:
1. to critically examine the nature and extent of changing patterns of family formation and dissolution in modern societies, and the policy responses to these;
2. to explore the ways in which the nature, structure and functions of the family have been explained and interpreted in contempory sociological theory;
3. to place the study of the family in the wider context of the sociology of intimate relationships, in particular friendship.
Objectives: By the end of the course , students will have:
* studied key texts relating to various aspects of the family in modern society, from sociology, politics, economics and social policy;
* examined the ways in which governments seek to regulate family behaviour, comparing the UK with other countries;
* exploring the way in which family (kin) relationships have been theorised to differ from other personal relationships;
* assessed the implications of family change for gender roles.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
* access a range of sources relating to family structure and family trends;
* apply different theories and approaches to the study of family and friendship;
* critically analyse the values and assumptions underlying state policy and the family.
Content:
Definition of the family; family trends; the family in contemporary sociological and feminist theory; the politics of the family; the distribution of money and resources within the family; the regulation of sexual behaviour, marriage & divorce; lone parenthood; concepts of family policy and state support for families; family obligations in law and practice; 'families of choice' & post-divorce parenting; the sociology of friendship and social networks.

SP20005: Politics and the policy process

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit introduces students to key concepts for analysing the policy-making process. By the end of the unit students should have a basic understanding of problems and issues in the making and implementation of social policy in Britain.
Content:
Each lecture covers one conceptual topic, including: Introduction to Policy Analysis; Theories of the State; Power; Models of Decision-making and Policy Formulation; Implementation; Street-Level Decision-Making; Organisational Constraints; Interest Groups and Policy Communities. The seminars apply these to topical issues in social policy.

SP20006: Political values & social policy

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit introduces students to a range of values and principles used to justify the role of the state in social policy. By the end of the module students should be familiar with the broad range of principles and should be able to apply some of them to current debates.
Content:
Each lecture will cover one core principle, including: Need, Freedom, Equality, Justice, Citizenship, Community. The seminars will apply each to one issue or problem in contemporary social policy; for example, training schemes and equality of opportunity; citizenship and rights to a basic income.

SP20010: Social policy evaluation

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10002

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aim of this course is to develop an understanding of the principal approaches to social policy evaluation, and to develop the capacity to apply appropriately these approaches to policy examples. As a result of this course, students should
* understand the strategic and political dimensions of social policy evaluation
* be able to compare and contrast the strengths of the different approaches and their uses in different settings
* be able to design an evaluation project
* be able to write a project report
Content:
1. What is evaluation and why evaluate?
2. Evaluation methodology
3. Effectiveness, efficiency and economy
4. Performance indicators, outcomes and quality assessment
5. Illuminative evaluation
6. The evaluation of innovation
7. The politics and organisation of evaluation
8. Learning through experience

SP20016: Communication skills

Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
The course aims to extend and develop the communication skills of students for use in social work practice.
Content:
Various styles of communication are addressed with the main focus on interviewing, report writing and non verbal communication. Telephone skills, assertiveness, working with interpreters and use of Makaton signing are considered and students are provided with information about extra-curricular specialist training available locally. There is an introductory session on observation. Students are encouraged to apply their communication skills to future interactions with service users, colleagues and other professionals and to consider issues of power and status. The importance of developing anti-discriminatory practice is emphasised at all levels of communication but particularly in face to face interactions with service users. Effective non-oppressive ways of communicating with disadvantaged groups such as minority ethnic groups, older people, disabled people, people with mental health problems or learning difficulties and children are explored. The course asks students to think, to plan and to reflect before they take action. They are required to examine themselves closely to develop awareness of what they communicate about themselves and what they carry with them into interactions. They will consider their abilities to empathise, to respect and to understand the positions of others. Small groups, role plays and other exercises are used to practice listening and interviewing skills.

SP20018: Community profiling: research in action

Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES80RT20
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Students will achieve a level of understanding of the importance within social welfare of good information, particularly the needs of users and potential users of social services. They will explore the importance of "hearing the voice" of communities and individuals in planning service development. They will build upon prior knowledge to develop an understanding of the range of skills necessary for successful information gathering and social research in a real social research project. They will learn skills in working collaboratively, both within project teams and with others involved in service user and provider networks. They will build upon year one experience of managing workloads, collecting and collating data and presenting it in different forms for information purposes.
Content:
This will be achieved by teaching input on the context, purpose and value of community profiling as a responsive, user-focused and anti-discriminatory task, and the skills and knowledge base for effective practice. Students will then carry out small projects in collaborative groups, either within the University Community (e.g. exploring an issue in relation to disabled students), or for a local community organisation. Non-SWASS students will be allocated more complex projects that will reflect the level of attainment expected of their status as second year students. Tutorial support will be available during the process of these projects, and there will be a presentation day when all teams will present their final reports. This unit shares teaching with a level 1 unit of the same title (SP10105).

SP20019: Developing professional competence 1

Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit introduces the style of learning, embraced by the Social Work course, to facilitate the transition from university student to qualified practitioner - the development of professional competence.
Content:
Models of adult learning; observation techniques for social work practice; exploration of the links between theory and practice in social work; values in practice; methods of obtaining user feedback; core knowledge on welfare rights; the legal framework of social work; statutory, voluntary and private sectors; conflicts and dilemmas in transferring social work values to practice; use of supervision.

SP20020: Discrimination & empowerment in social work

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
To build on prior understanding of how some groups in society are marginalised and discriminated against; to understand the way in which social work practice and social work organisations impact on these groups; raising awareness of discrimination to form the development of strategies for practice individually and collectively, personally and professionally, which will reduce service users' experience of discrimination and enable them to take greater control of their lives; to learn how to evaluate practice using skills learnt elsewhere, eg personal reflection, service user feedback, supervision, group discussion, use of theory and recorded experience.
Content:
Group rules for discussing challenging issues in a group setting; reflections on childhood and the experience of marginalisation; developing personal action plans; raising personal awareness and developing strategies in relation to racism, sexism and discrimination against children, mental health service users, disabled people, older people, people with learning difficulties and people diagnosed as HIV positive; the social model of disability and the way it informs social work practice; ageism and social work with older people; gay men and lesbians.

SP20021: Social work placement 1

Credits: 18
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
To enable students to develop and then to demonstrate that they have acquired, integrated and applied the knowledge, skills and values for social work practice.
Content:
Development to a foundation level of the six core competencies: communicate and engage; promote and enable; assess and plan; intervene and provide services; work in organisations; develop professional competence. Also demonstration that the value requirements have been met; ie that they identify and question their own values and prejudices and their implications for practice; respect and value uniqueness and diversity and recognise and build on strengths; promote people's rights to choice, privacy confidentiality and protection whilst recognising and addressing the complexities of competing rights and demands; assist people to increase control of and improve the quality of their lives, while recognising that control of behaviour will be required at times in order to protect children and adults from harm; identify, analyse and take action to counter discrimination, racism, disadvantage, inequality and injustice, using strategies appropriate to role and function; and practise in a manner that does not stigmatise or disadvantage either individuals, groups or communities.

SP20022: Organisation & management of personal social services

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10001 and take SP10002
The pre-requisites for this unit are for NON Social Work students.
Aims & Learning Objectives:
Students will build upon direct or indirect knowledge of Personal Social Services organisations to understand the connections between policy, organisation, practice and service delivery. They will learn what effect organisation has on the development of social work practice and service delivery, with additional focus on other roles within the Personal Social Services - e.g. the role of management, and inter-disciplinary practice.
Content:
Values in the Personal Social Services. Supervision: contrasting and comparing styles experienced in practice. Functions of supervision and the effect in learning in organisations. Priority setting and planning in PSS. Exploring how and why social workers ration services. Is it possible for rationing to improve service delivery? Workload and time-management. Recording: relating recording to purpose, evaluating records - power, open recording and access to records in the Law. Teams in the PSS - what is their purpose and value? Issues and problems of decision-making in multi-disciplinary meetings. Understanding the agency as an organisation. What are organisational aims and objectives and how are competing aims resolved? A critical view of the role and function of management in the PSS. Implications for the Personal Social Services of the concept of the learning organisation.

SP20024: Legislation for social work practice 1

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aim of the unit is to provide an introduction to the framework of child care legislation applicable to personal social services agencies and to practitioners. Learning objectives include first, the development of a basic comprehension of the principles and key facts in child care law and youth justice; secondly, to prepare students who intend to become practitioners with the knowledge base required to help them to safeguard children and promote their welfare and thirdly, to equip students with the skills to apply the law to practice.
Content:
Each week focuses on one area of legislation. Topics include: private law; Social Services support to families; child protection; Care and Supervision Orders; family placements; residential placements; regulation and monitoring, youth justice and family court welfare.

SP20025: Theories & methods in social work

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
This course aims to introduce students to the main social work methods within their theoretical frameworks. Learning objectives include: providing knowledge of a wide range of social work methods within their theoretical contexts; developing critical, analytical and reflective skills; equipping students to engage in self-assessment and evaluation of learning and practice; clarifying the links between theory and practice and enabling students to apply theories and methods to social work practice.
Content:
The relationship between theory and practice is examined critically and the question 'what works in social work?' is posed. An overview of theories which impact upon social work is given and distinctions drawn between the broad theoretical perspectives which underpin practice and those theories of social work methods which more closely prescribe action. To meet the learning needs of future practitioners, theories and methods which have most relevance to present day social work are selected as the knowledge base most likely to inform future practice. They include counselling; family therapy; task-centred work; crisis intervention; behavioural and cognitive approaches. Various styles of adult learning are used and students are expected to participate in small groups, role plays and other exercises. Placement experiences provide illustrations of theories and methods in practice and also case examples for analysis.

SP20026: Sociology of social work

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aims of the unit are to deepen students existing understanding of sociological theory through its application to the topic of social work, and to consider social work as a substantive focus of sociological inquiry. Objectives of the unit are that students should be able to draw on and apply a range of sociological perspectives in the analysis of social work and social services, and that they should develop a critical understanding of a range of contemporary controversies in social work and the personal social services.
Content:
* relationships between sociological theory and social work
* the social construction of child abuse
* professionalisation and social work
* discourse and social work
* social models of disability
* power and social work
* gender and social work
* 'race' and social work
* technology, post-Fordism and social services
This unit shares teaching with a level 1 unit of the same title (SP10106).

SP20047: Sociology of work & industry

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This course examines sociological approaches to the changing forms of work and work organisations. Key issues include rationalisation and bureaucratisation; the introduction and impact of new technologies; managerial and worker strategies in the control of work; conflict and accommodation at the workplace; corporate structure - ownership, control and managerialism, implications for theories of class and gender relationships. The course investigates these issues in three broad contexts: the period of early industrialisation, the development of mass production and 'Fordism' and the growth and consolidation of modern industrial structures.

SP20048: Understanding industrial behaviour

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aim of the course is to give students a Sociological understanding of industrial behaviour, showing the competing paradigms and theories that describe industrial relationships, institutions and social structures.
Content:
The course takes students through the main debates in management and work organisation theory, looking at Taylorism and Fordism. The Hawthorne Studies and the early Human Relations School. This is followed by an analysis of the Socio-Technical School and its prescriptions. Contingency Theory and Labour Process Theory bring the debates up to the 1990s. During the course a number of case study examples are used to illustrate the key points of the differing schools.

SP20049: The sociology of crime & deviance

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50CW50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Introduction to the main sociological theories of crime and deviance. The course also provides invaluable preparation for the Sociology of Criminal Justice Policy and the necessary undergraduate training for all those who intend to do postgraduate work in the areas of crime and/or social control.
Content:
Divided into two parts the lectures and seminars cover, in the first part, the history of the sociology of crime from the late 19th century to the present day; in the second, they deal with THREE major crime-related sociological issues: class and crime, racism and crime; and gender and crime.

SP20050: Sociology of criminal justice policy

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP20049

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Current research and policy issues in the criminal justice and penal systems. It will examine trends in criminal policy; the politics of policing and police accountability; the development of penal sanctions and the related issues of alternatives to custodial measures; the efficacy and equity, or lack of them, of the legal processes of the criminal courts; the role of new technologies; the management of prisons including the issues of privatisation and other issues concerning the social context of penal policy.

SP20061: Quantitative methods: Advanced techniques for social & policy research

Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: While taking this unit take SP20085 and before taking this unit take SP10060

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To consolidate the statistical knowledge that was obtained during SP10060 and introduce advanced quantitative methods and techniques for the analysis of social and policy issues. By the end of the course the students will be able to:
* use a variety of statistical techniques and tests in analysing complex social and policy issues
* use a variety of SPSS procedures in analysing quantitative data
* understand the broader theoretical and methodological issues that arise when using quantitative methods in social research.
Content:
Introduction (revision of basic principles) and tests of significance - overview of test for nominal and ordinal variables (revision of the Chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis H-test, Mann-Whitney U-test), Tests of significance for Interval/ Ratio variables [Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)], Introduction to the basic principles of Multivariate Analysis, multiple linear regression and path analysis, event history analysis.

SP20062: Qualitative social research methods

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10059

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The overall aim of the unit is to give students an overview of qualitative research methods and a chance to use one qualitative method: in-depth interviewing. By the end of the unit, students should be able to:
* Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different qualitative methods
* Design and complete an in-depth interview project
* Reflect on their experience of doing research and make suggestions for how their research skills might be improved.
Content:
The unit will cover: conceptual frameworks, research questions, research aims, ethics, sampling and fieldwork methods; reflective methods; interviewing techniques and practicalities; analysis and writing-up.

SP20067: Placement

Credits: 60
Level: Intermediate
Academic Year
Assessment: OT100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The main aim of this unit is for students to be placed with organisations, either in the UK or overseas, which offer an opportunity for them to apply their knowledge, most typically in some sort of human resource management, policy, research or evaluation setting. The learning objectives of the placement go beyond work experience: They are:
* to provide practical experience which can be related to knowledge gained at the University;
* to allow students to develop personal and transferable skills (in communication, planning, time management, decision making, problem solving);
* to enhance the critical appreciation of material presented in taught courses, and
* to provide a basis for the final year dissertation.
Content:
The content of placements is very varied. Most students who do placements in this department are doing a degree in Sociology with Human Resource management and these students typically find placements in HR departments of large organisations. Other students find research and/ or policy placements with organisations such as the Metropolitan Police, the Daycare Trust, The Audit Commission, social services departments and so on.

SP20069: The philosophy of the social sciences

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aims of this unit are to demonstrate the significance of different theories of scientific methodology for the social sciences and the distinctive contribution of the interpretivist perspective to sociological and related social sciences. Students should learn the problematic relevance of natural science models for social science and the substantive and methodological claims and value of interpretivist social theory.
Content:
Positivist models of scientific method and the interpretivist tradition in sociology: Popper, Kuhn, Winch and Weber. 'Actor-based' approaches: Goffman and ethnomethodology.

SP20085: Social Research: sources, presentation and communication

Credits: 3
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW20RT80
Requisites: While taking this unit take SP20061

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims:
1. To introduce students to the range of official and other descriptive statistics produced in the UK (and EU), and the advantages and disadvantages of these as tools for social research.
2. To introduce students to skills in the analysis, interpretation and presentation of material from secondary sources.
3. To prepare students to make use of such material in other courses, placements and in the final year dissertation.
Objectives: By the end of this course, students will have:
* critically assessed the main sources of official statistics
* applied research skills to analyse secondary data relevant to a specific research problem
* presented the research and its findings in the format of a group presentation
* completed a report based on re-analysis of descriptive statistical data. By the end of this course, students should be able to :
* identify a research problem and question
* identify and use existing data sources appropriately to the research question
* make effective presentations of complex information using appropriate visual materials
* work in a team
* write clear reports in an appropriate format
Content:
Official statistics, production and use; main sources of UK data (the Census, the General Household Survey, the Family Expenditure Survey) analysing specific topics (e.g., unemployment, family trends, crime, gender, poverty); statistics on the Internet; the ESRC Data Archive; Report writing, literature reviews and bibliographic sources. Use of PowerPoint.

SP20090: BSc Social Sciences Placement

Credits: 60
Level: Intermediate
Academic Year
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
*Within the context of a local community, to apply the knowledge and skills acquired in University study;
*To acquire generic skills in such areas as communication, planning, problem-solving, group working and decision-making.
Content:
The placements which are offered for the degree in Social Sciences are concentrated in Swindon and Wiltshire. This degree has been developed as part of the partnership between the University of Bath and the employers and educational institutions of Swindon and Wiltshire: the placement offers students the opportunity to take advantage of this partnership, by conducting a research and work experience project in the Swindon and Wiltshire community, with local as well as University support

SP20097: Sociology of health and illness

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES50EX50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This option is intended to introduce students to the way in which sociologists have thought about health and illness. By the end of the course students should:
a) be familiar with sociological issues around health and illness.
b) question the role of medicine in the modern world and problematise the concepts of 'health' and 'illness'.
c) be aware of inequalities in health, particularly in relation to social class, gender, age and ethnicity.
Content:
A central theme of the course is the issue of how socially constructed 'knowledges' about health and illness manifest themselves in particular systems of health care provision and why one system rather than another may be favoured at any one time. Specific topics will include: definitions of health and illness; the medicalisation of everyday life; social inequalities in health and illness; 'alternative' medicine; institutionalisation and deinstitutionalisation; gender and health; the body; ageing; dying and death.

SP20099: Childhood: sociological perspectives & policy issues

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To introduce sociological theories of childhood and then to examine a range of social policies which impact upon children in the UK. By the end of the course, students should be familiar with a range of sociological theories of childhood and be able to analyse and reflect upon current social policy issues relating to children.
Content:
Definitions and models of childhood(s). Children's rights; children and the law. Children and social policy: poverty; health; education & child care; housing; children and the personal social services; vulnerable children (disabled children, traveller children, asylum seekers and refugees, child exploitation, children and the criminal justice system).

SP20112: Theoretical issues I: structure & agency

Credits: 6
Level: Intermediate
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES50EX50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims
1. Provide students with a good grounding in the key current debates in social theory about structure and agency.
2. To draw out the distinguishing features of the role of structure and agency in contemporary society.
3. Encourage students to reflect critically on the key issues and the interrelationships within the two main approaches.
4. Give students an understanding of how these themes emerge from classical sociology.
Objectives: As a result of this unit students will be better able to:
1. Distinguish the key approaches that inform the structure/agency debates in recent sociology.
2. Identify how structure and agency inform methodological debates in current sociology
3. Recognise the pitfalls and possibilities of using either approach to situate their own analysis.
4. In the construction of their own research procedures, be aware of the possibilities that structure and agency approaches offer.
Content:
The course will consider:
* Structural functionalism
* Dramaturgical Model
* Symbolic interactionism
* Social constructivism
* Structuration theory
* Reflexive sociology
* Critical social theory

SP30008: Social policy dissertation 1

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: OT100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To design and conduct a research project on an approved social policy topic. To gain experience of undertaking primary research in social policy. To develop a critical awareness of methodological issues in applied social research.
Content:
Students will choose a specific research topic and design a research project. Students will undertake fieldwork research on their chosen topic.

SP30009: Social policy dissertation 2

Credits: 12
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: DS100
Requisites: While taking this unit take SP30008

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To complete fieldwork research undertaken in Semester 1. To analyse fieldwork data. To prepare a research dissertation on the student's chosen topic.
Content:
Students will complete their fieldwork research (started in Semester 1) and analyse data collected. Students will write up their research projects in the form of a 10,000 word dissertation.

SP30011: Health policies & politics

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10002 and take (SP20005 or EC20080)

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This course aims to develop an understanding of how health policy integrates with wider social policy issues, as well as a detailed understanding of the content and dynamism of health policy processes. As a result , students should
* understand the impact of different welfare models on health care systems in Europe and America
* understand the political forces behind health care reform in the British NHS
* understand the pressures exerted on health care systems and the range of responses that have arisen
* be able to compare and contrast the strengths of the different approaches and their uses in different settings
Content:
1. Health, health care and health policy
2. Comparing health systems: the UK
3. Comparing health systems: the USA and Europe
4. Pressures on health care systems (1) Demographic and economic changes
5. Pressures on health care systems (2) Science and technology
6. Politics of reform: 50 years of the NHS
7. Rationing and priority setting
8. Medicine and the media: the effect on policy
9. Paying for care and the mixed economy
10. Evaluating health care and health policy
11. Informing health policy: the politics of data gathering
12. The New Public Health

SP30012: European social policy: a comparative approach

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10002 and take (SP20005 or EC20080)

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit introduces students to the social policies of several European countries. By the end of the module students should have a basic knowledge of the patterns and development of welfare policies in these countries and be able to situate them in relation to models of different welfare state regimes.
Content:
The course adopts two approaches to the material. In the first part, it examines in depth the development of social policies in specific countries which represent different 'welfare regimes': Germany, Sweden, Italy and Russia/ Central Europe. Second, it then compares specific policy areas across these countries, such as pensions and health services. The module concludes by considering the impact of the EU and the prospects for converging social policies in Europe.

SP30013: Social security policy and welfare reform

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10002

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims:
1. to compare different ways of meeting financial need, and in particular recent 'welfare reforms' in the UK, the USA and Australia
2. to critically examine the assumptions and values that structure social security provision Objectives: By the end of the course, students will have:
* studied key texts relating to the goals and welfare reform in the UK, Australia and the USA (including government papers, Select Committee reports, independent reports)
* analysed the role of political institutions and critical actors in the reform processes in these countries;
* explored the methods and criteria for the evaluation of the outcomes of social security policy;
* in respect of the UK, examined in detail whether and how the needs of different 'client' groups are met.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
* identify and apply appropriate criteria for the analysis of policy goals and outcomes in respect of social security policy
Content:
The scope of structure of social security policy; Models of social security policy; Reviews and reforms; Australia, UK, and the USA; Social Security expenditure trends; Benefit take-up and adequacy; Fraud and Abuse. Reform in relation to specific policy areas: Unemployment and work incentives; Families and lone parents, Child Support; Housing; Pensions; Disability; tax credits.

SP30023: Child care research & practice

Credits: 3
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aims of this course are: to develop students' skills in child observation; to build their understanding of the links between child care research and practice; to consider the implications of legislation for practice; to build their knowledge of recent child care research findings and to develop their ability to critically evaluate and use this research to inform their practice; and to ensure all students have a grounding in the principles and practice of child protection work.
Content:
Topics covered include: the skills of observation for child assessment; Research, policy and practice links. Historical overview of child care developments. Backdrop to the 1989 Children Act; key concepts of the Act and their implications for practice. Child care research of the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Children in need, family support and direct work. Children looked after. Child protection: key points of the 1989 Children Act; definitions of child abuse; child abuse in a social context; personal, professional and theoretical perspectives on child abuse; indicators, signs and symptoms of abuse; multi-agency work in child protection; child protection procedures; issues of ethnicity and culture; assessment in child protection; research and its relevance for practice.

SP30027: Social work dissertation 1

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to study and discuss one topic of relevance to social work in depth. Through preparation of the dissertation they develop their capacity for critical analysis, evaluation, application of theory and integration of values in practice
Content:
Preparation of an outline of the dissertation plus selected bibliography.

SP30028: Social work dissertation 2

Credits: 12
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: DS100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to study and discuss one topic of relevance to social work in depth. Through preparation of the dissertation they develop their capacity for critical analysis, evaluation, application of theory and integration of values in practice
Content:
Knowledge and understanding of related concepts and theories from the social sciences must be evident in the analysis, which should also include an evaluation of research and published accounts of practice in the specific area of study. Topics might include a particular social work task, a form of social work intervention, a particular issue of relevance to social work etc. Students will be expected to undertake and to present a review of relevant literature.

SP30029: Legislation for social work practice 2

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
This unit complements the child care law module in the previous summer term. The aim is to help future practitioners to develop sufficient understanding of the legal framework and the law specific to social work to appreciate the implications for practice.
Content:
The course is taught by specialist practitioners and academics with practice experience to maintain the focus upon social work values and the tensions between them and legal constraints. The unit explains how the law may be used as an effective social work tool as well as how to work within its parameters. Students are directed towards sources rather than offered exhaustive accounts of the detailed law government each area. They are expected to supplement course materials with further reading and research. Specific topics include: social work practice in the Courts,
- law and mental health,
- law and disability,
- law and race,
- law and older people,
- law and homelessness,
- law and sex discrimination.

SP30030: Developing professional competence 3: principles of practice

Credits: 3
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
To respond to ethical issues in social work practice raised for students in their prior learning; to develop thinking in identifying and clarifying values and principles for social work generally and students individually; to explore some of the ethical dilemmas and confusions raised in everyday social work practice.
Content:
General consideration of ethics and their place in social work; identification of ethical issues and dilemmas from students' experience - eg values and conflicts of interest; authority and accountability in social work; cultural relativism and values; values and the maintenance of purpose and morale.

SP30031: Community care

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
To focus prior knowledge, skills and understanding of values into the broad area of Community Care; to develop this prior understanding to prepare students for practice in their preferred area for final placement(SWASS students only); to understand the development of Community Care both as a range of concepts and as a way of organising and delivering social services to service users; to develop specific understanding of the role and practice of care managers in assessment for, delivery and development of services; to respond to the interests and learning needs of individual students in this broad subject area (eg in relation to service user groups or type of service provision); to provide a service user focus on the delivery of service.
Content:
Flexible to accommodate students' own learning aims but will include: the development of Community Care; service user involvement in both care management and service development; care management skills, including user empowerment; community work skills (assessment of community needs, service development, networking, collaboration with formal and informal community groups); multi-disciplinary work; diversity of Community Care provision (the "mixed economy of care"); informal carers; gender, culture and the concept of caring.

SP30032: Mental health

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims:
* To prepare students for mental health social work practice in a rapidly changing inter-professional and organisational context
* To critically examine the role of mental health social work in specialist and non-specialist settings
Objectives: By the end of the unit students will be able to:
* Identify the main dimensions of the social model of mental disorder
* Locate social work within the organisational context of mental health services (statutory and voluntary)
* Consider the relevance to practice of alternative models of mental health social work assessment, including risk assessment
* Understand the relevance of care management and the care planning approach to mental health social work
* Draw on an evidence-base for intervention in relation to mental health problems for children and young people
* Draw on an evidence-base for intervention in relation to mental health problems for adults and older people
* Understand the social work role in relation to mental health legislation
* Identify the implications of anti-discriminatory practice for mental health social work
Content:
Social and medical models of mental health and disorder; the organisational context of mental health social work practice; the role of social work in multidisciplinary services; models of mental health social work assessment, including risk assessment; care management and the care planning approach; social work intervention with children and young people experiencing mental health problems; social work intervention with adults and older people with mental health problems; statutory contexts of mental health social work.

SP30033: Children & families

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
This unit is for SWASS and ASS students only
Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aims of the course are: to develop students' understanding of the interrelationships between the statutory and independent sectors and the importance of developing skills for working at the interface of these sectors; to enable students to develop their knowledge and skills in relation to work with children and families.
Content:
This course begins with a focus on the knowledge and skills required to undertaken networking, multi-disciplinary work and inter-agency work. It draws on students' placement experience. It then relates these to work with children and families, focusing on such topics as: child observation; life-cycles; parent child relationships; family support work; direct work with adults and with children; attachment and loss; children and mental health; children with special needs; child abuse; its impact and long-term effects; assessment of risk; treatment methods; planning work; contracts and written agreements; reviews and evaluations; children and young people looked after; theories of residential care; impact of the child care system. Adoption and fostering; the role of the Guardian ad Litem; working with families post-divorce/separation; working with stepfamilies; youth justice and young offenders. Throughout the sessions we ensure the voices of service users are heard; that is, the views of parents and of children and young people who have been in receipt of social work support and/or intervention in their lives.

SP30034: Working with offenders

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP20049 or take SP20050
Pre-requisite - SP20050 for non-SWASS students.
Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aim is to examine and evaluate methods of working with convicted offenders within the criminal justice system. The context is practice and legislation. The unit is preparation for those who are considering working with offenders in a wide range of agencies and organisations, not just probation and social work. As well as having vocational relevance, this unit is suitable for those with academic and research interests. For non social work students the unit builds upon earlier learning, either from the Sociology of Crime and Deviance unit and the Sociology of Criminal Justice Policy unit, by adding perspectives from practice and the detail of legislation.
Content:
The core knowledge base comprises: community sentences;prison work; post-release supervision; National Standards for the supervision of offenders; PSRs; the value base of work with offenders; methods - theory and practice [with emphasis upon cognitive-behavioural programmes]; effectiveness and the "What works?" debate; risk assessment; working with addictions, homelessness and educational needs. Categories of offenders include: children and young offenders; women; mentally disordered offenders; sex offenders; lifers and other serious offenders.

SP30035: Social work placement 2

Credits: 12
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
Only available to Social Work Students
Aims & Learning Objectives:
To enable students to develop and then to demonstrate that they have acquired, integrated and applied the knowledge, skills and values for social work practice.
Content:
Development of the six core competencies: communicate and engage; promote and enable; assess and plan; intervene and provide services; work in organisations; develop professional competence. Also demonstration that the value requirements have been met; ie that they identify and question their own values and prejudices and their implications for practice; respect and value uniqueness and diversity and recognise and build on strengths; promote people's rights to choice, privacy confidentiality and protection whilst recognising and addressing the complexities of competing rights and demands; assist people to increase control of and improve the quality of their lives, while recognising that control of behaviour will be required at times in order to protect children and adults from harm; identify, analyse and take action to counter discrimination, racism, disadvantage, inequality and injustice, using strategies appropriate to role and function; and practise in a manner that does not stigmatise or disadvantage either individuals, groups or communities.

SP30054: Power & commitment in organisations

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aim of the course is to explore the themes of ideology, power and legitimacy in the context of organisations. To look at different methodological and empirical attempts to study these issues in enterprise and organisational contexts. By the end of the course the student will have familiarity with a number of ways of qualitatively apprehending the operation and construction of legitimate forms of management.
Content:
The course begins with the theoretical problem of conceptualising power. Students are introduced to the Marxist and Weberian approaches and to Lukes' philosophical attempt to distinguish three different dimensions. The course then looks at specific themes starting with Decision-making in enterprises and boardroom activity. Other themes are Collective bargaining, the creation of rules and industrial legality. Worker participation and consultation. Managerial strategies to gain commitment, the growth of corporate cultures, Japanisation and Human Resource Management practices.

SP30055: Comparative industrial relations

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX50ES40CW10
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
This course examines the changing role of trade unions in industrial societies - their relationship to the state and political parties, the significance of ideology and different national traditions; the economic and social causes and consequences of industrial conflict. Comparative cross-national studies will focus on the post-war period, conflict and maturation approaches and union responses to economic, social and political adversity.

SP30056: Environmental policy & the countryside

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop a clear understanding of the politics of the policy process as it applies to the countryside and the environment
Content:
Concern for the environment has become a radical and innovative element in European politics. By focusing on developments between the passage of the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act and the publication of the 1995 Rural White Paper the Unit explains the factors which have transformed the agenda of rural policy making. Corporatist politics and competitive pluralist politics are contrasted and special attention is given to the changing balance of private and public rights and responsibilities in the countryside.

SP30057: Sociology dissertation 1

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Application of sociological principles and methodology to piece of empirical research. Dissertation modules I & 2 are linked units. These will be jointly assessed at the end of the year by a final mark based on the assessment of the completed dissertation of not more than 10,000 words. By the end of Semester I students will be required to submit a progress report and synopsis in order to progress to Dissertation 2. All students will also by required to make a presentation of their work to the workshops.

SP30058: Sociology dissertation 2

Credits: 12
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: DS100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP30057

Aims & Learning Objectives:
See Sociology dissertation I (SP30057).

SP30070: Social issues in contemporary Europe

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: PR100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To develop student understanding of the major social themes affecting Europe today. This unit will adopt a comparative perspective that looks at the changing boundaries social agendas in place in major European countries. The course will attempt to display elements of convergence and divergence within those different and developing social agendas.
Content:
The idea of Europe as a social entity; EU developments promoting common social policies; comparative demographics regarding family, gender, employment, labour market, education, welfare and social policies. Comparative analysis of social institutions and modes of approach to common problems.

SP30071: Sociology of punishment

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: EX50ES50
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044 and take (SP20049 or take SP20050 or take SP20069)

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Sociological analysis of the changing social, cultural and political meanings of formal and informal modes of penality and custodial social regulation.
Content:
Justifications for punishment, history of imprisonment, theories of imprisonment, prison populations, current issues in imprisonment, non-custodial sentences, capital punishment, studying prisons.

SP30072: Corporate power & the social challenge

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP10043 and take SP10044

Aims & Learning Objectives:
1. To identify important changes in the boundaries and interactions between business and society.
2. To relate these changes to the evolution and impact of socio-political attempts at greater social accountability.
3. To identify key social foundations on which business activity depends.
Students taking this unit should gain an understanding of:
1. The main types of social challenge to business autonomy.
2. Current debates about business accountability.
3. Key examples of the inter-dependence of business and social institutions.
Content:
Changes in social and political challenges to capitalist enterprise. Philosophical, historical and social structural sources of these challenges. Socialist, corporatist and environmentalist and communitarian challenges. The social foundations of business commerce and trade: trust, association, community, values and citizenship.

SP30102: Applied social studies dissertation preparation

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: While taking this unit take SP30103

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to study and discuss one topic of relevance to the fields covered by applied social studies. The aim of the dissertation is to equip students to research, organise and produce an extended piece of work in a relevant area. The objectives of the unit are that students should be able to define a topic or research question, systematically search the literature, develop a project plan for completing the dissertation, and show that they organise the intellectual content of a longer study.
Content:
Definition of a topic or research question. Systematic search and preliminary review of the literature. Development of a strategy or project plan for completing the dissertation. Production of a summary and chapter outline of the dissertation.

SP30103: Applied social studies dissertation

Credits: 12
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: DS100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to study and discuss one topic of relevance to the fields covered by applied social studies. The aim of the dissertation is to equip students to research, organise and produce an extended piece of work in a relevant area. The objectives of the unit are that students should be able to bring to completion the dissertation prepared in the previous semester. This will include being able to show how concepts and theories from the social sciences can be applied, critically review the relevant research and practitioner literature, conduct an empirical or literature-based research study, and to write this up in the form of a dissertation.
Content:
Students will take forward the study prepared in semester 1, complete any necessary fieldwork or literature-based research, analyse the findings and write this up in the form of a 10,000 word dissertation.

SP30117: Labour in the new world (dis)order

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES70CW30
Requisites: Before taking this unit you must take SP20047 or take SP20048

Aims & Learning Objectives:
The aims of the unit are to:
i. provide students with a critical understanding of key contemporary research and debates about the changing character of work and employment in the global economy,
ii. highlight the political and historical nature of the aforementioned changes and the theories to conceptualise them. Students are not only instructed in how changes have been conceptualised but also about the historical and political context within which these changes are contested,
iii. encourage students to reflect critically on the theories and explanations as well as the debates addressed during the course,
iv. promote participation and the involvement of students in a deeper awareness of their own approaches to and feelings about the issues addressed during the course, in order to see themselves as a part of the intellectual and institutional developments they are studying and not simply observers of processes that do not directly affect them.
By the end of the course the students should be able to:
i. identify the major transformations in labour and employment relations in the context of major changes in the political economy of western capitalist societies with particular reference to the British case,
ii. develop a comparative perspective
iii. critically assess the major approaches and debates which aimed to grasp the transformation of labour and labour relations in their historical context of production,
iv. identify the political significance of theoretical ideas in shaping the comprehension of the transformation of labour and employment relations.
Content:
The course explores some of the key contemporary research and debates about the changing character of work & employment in the era of globalisation. The main topics to be addressed are: the decline of corporatism and the rise of neoliberalism; models of regulation of labour and society (Post-Fordism; the end of work; risk society and the crisis of the Law of Insurance; Empire); globalisation (from Government to Governance and the new forms of regulation of financial markets; the expansion of TNCs) and the changes in work and employment (in Britain); the theory and reality of mass unemployment and social exclusion; different regimes of production and regulation of work (Human Resources Management techniques; the politics of flexibilisation of labour; insecurity and casualisation); the challenge for trade unions; the repoliticisation of society; new forms of protest around employment (e.g. Euromarch)

SP30118: Theoretical issues II: subjectivities & identities

Credits: 6
Level: Honours
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES50EX50
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims:
1. Provide students with a critical understanding of they key contemporary theoretical debates in sociology.
2. Highlight the relevance and significance of the debates to 21st Century societies.
3. Encourage students to reflect critically on key issues within these debates.
4. Subject particular processes and problems to further critical analysis, for instance fragmentation of society, subjectivities and identities.
Objectives: As a result of this unit students will be better able to:
1. Understand the main lines of contemporary debate in theoretical sociology
2. Articulate the processes by which globalisation, postmodernity, feminist theory and risk society have emerged
3. Analyse, write and critique the important theoretical debates within contemporary sociology.
4. Employ frameworks and ideas learned in this unit more widely and particularly in their final year dissertation.
Content:
The course will consider:
* Feminist theory
* Theories of subjectivity
* Postmodernity
* Critical social theory
* The emergence of risk society.

SP50075: Comparative social policy

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
By the end of the module students will be expected to know:
* how economic, social and cultural factors which affect social policy historically and at the present time vary from one country to another and how these conditions can be described, measured and compared;
* what the dynamics of social policy development are, and how they vary from one country to another with different roles being played by different actors and different emphases on causative factors;
* how social policy objectives and social policy outcomes can be defined and described, and, again, how they vary between policy areas, programmes and countries;
* to what extent the social policy systems, or models of "welfare state", that exist in different countries have developed along similar or different historical pathways and the value of different theories of their development over time and of categorisations of their differences.
Content:
Why study comparative social policy? Paradigms of comparative public policy: institutionalism, public choice, etc Theories of social policy development: industrialisation, power resources, state theories, regime theories Case studies of social policy development in selected nations Cross-national comparisons of selected social policies Comparative studies of retrenchment Policy convergence and policy learning Multi-tiered systems of governance and national public policy.

SP50076: European integration & social policy decision making

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
* to identify the actors and institutions invloved in the making of EU policy;
* to interpret the behaviour of these actors in policy formulation, adoption and implementation, on the basis of theoretical contributions made by inter-govermentalists, neo-institutionalists and neo-functionlists.
* to apply these perspectives in particular to EU social and labour market policy.
Content:
The development of the European Union - background. The institutions and policy processes of the EU. Theories of internationalisation and globalisation. Theories of supra-national organisations and regional integration. Perspectives on European integration. The social dimension of the EU and social policy making. Supra-national constraints on domestic policy-making environment. Subsidiarity and social policy. The future of the European social model.

SP50079: European social regulation & employment

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
To explain the theory and processes of social regulation in the European Union with particular reference to employment, so that students gain an understanding of the philosophies and culture of EU social regulation.
Content:
Social partnership, participation, dialogue; in relation to key policies such as working-time, equal opportunities, working conditions, training, and employment promotion; and processes of 'Europeanisation' and convergence in employment systems.

SP50080: Globalisation & international standards

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Students will learn:
* to undertake collaborative transatlantic research
* to work as a team under the supervision of a member of staff
* to produce and present research outputs as members of a team
Content:
The module involves an apprenticeship in collaborative research in comparative/supranational social policy, and providing appropriate contextual teaching.

SP50111: European social policy analysis & evaluation

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW50EX50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives: Students will:
* be familiarised with the literature on policy analysis and evaluation;
* develop skills in these areas which they can apply to practical policies and programmes, notably those operating in a European context.

SP50113: Dissertation planning I (Business & Community)

Credits: 3
Level: Masters
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: To understand the principles of business and social science analysis with reference to the basic principles of research strategy and to appreciate alternative approaches to research. To support students, within an active research community, in identifying their own original research questions.
Learning Objectives:
1. To provide an understanding of the methods of preparing, organising and writing up a dissertation for a Masters programme, so that the students learn:
2. the ground rules for setting about a research dissertation,
3. how to synthesise information from a variety of perspectives and sources
4. Develop skills to reflect on the suitability of diverse approaches for investigting and analysing problems.
Content:
Through discussion and evaluation of topics and methods, students will review relevant literature, define hypotheses and outline a programme and methods of investigation for a selected topic.

SP50114: Dissertation planning II (Business & Community)

Credits: 3
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: To understand the principles of business and social science analysis with reference to the basic principles of research strategy and to appreciate alternative approaches to research. To support students, within an active research community, in identifying their own original research questions. To understand particularly the methods of preparing, organising and writing up a dissertation for a Masters programme, so that students learn the ground rules for setting about a research dissertation.
Learning Objectives:
1. To provide an understanding of the methods of preparing, organising and writing up a dissertation for a Masters programme, so that the students learn:
2. the ground rules for beginning and progressing a research dissertation,
3. how to synthesise information from a variety of perspectives and sources, and
4. develop skills to reflect on the suitability of diverse approaches for investigating and analysing problems.
Content:
Through discussion and evaluation of topics and methods, students will review relevant literature, define hypotheses and outline a programme and methods of investigation for a selected topic.

SP50115: Business & community dissertation planning I

Credits: 3
Level: Masters
Dissertation period
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
This unit is equivalent to SP50113, but specifically for students taking the part time programme in Business & Community.
Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide an understanding of the methods of preparing, organising and writing up a dissertation for a Masters programme, so that students learn the ground rules for setting about a research dissertation.
Content:
Students will review relevant literature, define hypotheses and outline a programme and methods of investigation for a selected topic.

SP50116: Business & community dissertation planning II

Credits: 3
Level: Masters
Dissertation period
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
This unit is equivalent to SP50114, but specifically for students taking the part time programme in Business & Community.
Aims & Learning Objectives:
To provide an understanding of the methods of preparing, organising and writing up a dissertation for a Masters programme, so that students learn the ground rules for setting about a research dissertation.
Content:
Students will review relevant literature, define hypotheses and outline a programme and methods of investigation for a selected topic.

SP50119: Logic of social enquiry

Credits: 2
Level: Masters
Semester: 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: The unit aims to introduce and critically discuss the epistemological and methodological traditions in social science research and the basic principles of social research design. It also aims to critically discuss the ethical and policy issues surrounding the practice of social research and provide a number of guiding principles regarding the writing up, costing, funding and publishing of social research.
Objectives: Knowledge and Understanding: at the end of this course postgraduate students will
1. understand the significance and rationales of alternative epistemological paradigms and modes of social scientific enquiry
2. understand the principles of alternative research designs and corresponding techniques of social analysis
3. understand the social, political and ethical context of the social research process
Intellectual Skills
through this course postgraduate students will
1. develop their skills in problem solving, conceptualising the dimensions of a problem and operationalising its key parameters
2. appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of data from primary and secondary sources
Professional Practical Skills: at the end of this course postgraduate students will be able to
1. understand issues posed by social research in relation to ethics, confidentiality and legality (including IPR), and acquire the skills needed in order to respect, consider and attend to the rights of other researchers and research participants
Transferable/Key Skills: at the end of this course postgraduate students will be able to
1. develop their skills in critical oral argumentation, particularly in terms of the application of complex general principles to particular practical situations.
Content:
1. The Epistemology of Social Research
* Social research and social theory
* science, objectivity and reflexivity
* Paradigms of Enquiry
* positivism; hermeneutics and phenomenology; post-empirical perspectives
* Modes of enquiry
* inductive and hypothetico-deductive approaches
2. The Methodology of Social Research
* principles of research designs
* Principles and methods of quantitative research design (conceptualisation and operationalisation, variables, surveys and sampling; data analysis; using primary and secondary data)
* Principles and methods of qualitative research design (conceptual frameworks, observation, interviewing, case studies; documentary research, discourse and content analysis)
* Combining methods and generating data
3. The Logistics of Social Research
* Writing, social research
* Publishing social research
* Funding social research
4. Social Research as a social process:
* Ethical issues in social research
* Social enquiry and policy making
* the politics of social research
* Theory and reality of social research

SP50120: Secondary data analysis

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: This course will introduce students to quantitative data sources and will give them the skills to evaluate critically and apply them to answer a particular research problem. They will identify and investigate their own original research question and be equipped with the appropriate skills to carry out secondary analysis of data.
Objectives: By the end of this unit, students will:
Knowledge and understanding:
* Understand the basic principles of secondary analysis
Intellectual skills:
* Be able to identify a research problem and question
* Be able to identify and use existing data sources
* appreciate the strengths and weaknesses of data from primary and secondary sources;
* acquire skills in specific data analysis methods and tools, including appropriate computer packages;
* be proficient in using data from large scale surveys.
Professional Practical skills:
* Acquire computing skills:
* Understand the role of data from large scale surveys in public and commercial life.
Transferable/key skills:
* Be able to make effective presentations of complex information using appropriate visual materials
* Be able to work in a team
* Be able to write clear reports in an appropriate format.
Content:
Data will include official statistics, the Census, the General Household Survey, statistics on the internet. Students will use SPSS to analyse some statistics. There will also be discussion on particular topics such as statistics on unemployment, family trends, crime, gender and poverty. Students will work in team to present data from official statistics. They will also produce their own independent report.

SP50121: Key social policy concepts & themes: student-led seminars

Credits: 3
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: Students will attend a seminar series in which they will present papers on a range of key social policy concepts and themes. They will review systematically and evaluate critically, alternative approaches, methodologies and paradigms of research in social enquiry. They will also review systematically and evaluate critically the application of these approaches. They will also identify and investigate their own original research questions.
Objectives: By the end of the unit students will:
Knowledge and understanding:
* Understand the key concepts and theories of welfare, the state and policy-making/implementation
* Be able to apply some of the established theories and concepts of social policy to analyse social needs and particular policy problems and issues
Intellectual skills
* Be able to distinguish between the technical, normative, moral and political differences that affect policies and their consequencesProfessional practical skills
* acquire bibliographic skills, enabling them to identify and use library and other bibliographic resources and maintain a personal research bibliography;
* be able to evaluate and present research;
Transferable/key skills:
* Develop writing and presentation skills.
Content:
The content of this course will include the key concepts and theories of welfare, the state and policy-making implementation. For example it will include discussion of concepts such as community, dependency, discretion, inequality, need, regulation, rights, citizenship, living standards, social exclusion and so on.

SP50122: Comparative research methods

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: This unit aims:
* to review systematically, and to evaluate critically, alternative approaches, methodologies and paradigms of comparative social research;
* to review systematically, and to evaluate critically, the application of these approaches in the specific areas of social policy;
* to equip students with the skills to contribute to comparative research projects using a variety of methodologies.
Objectives: By the end of the module, students should:
* be critically aware of some of the major established studies and the alternative methodologies for comparative research which they offer;
* be aware of, and be able to access, the major international data sources for comparative social policy research;
* be able to select an appropriate methodology for analysing their chosen problem and data;
* to carry out this analysis and to write a report.
Content:
This unit deals with the rationale for comparative social policy research, the data sources available and problems of comparability. It provides students with the relevant techniques, it enables them to apply these techniques to empirical data and it reviews the use of these techniques in major established studies.

SP50123: Business sovereignty & social challenges

Credits: 6
Level: Masters
Semester: 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims:
1. To review systematically, and to evaluate critically, the application of alternative approaches and paradigms in the areas of business-society interactions in which students are specialising; in particular:
2. to clarify the interface of business and society in the areas of socio-political demands for business accountability and social support for business activity; so that:
3. students know the major forms of these interfaces and the theories which inform them.
Learning Outcomes:
* awareness of inter-disciplinary considerations in researching contemporary business;
* relevant knowledge of contemporary economic, social and political developments and their relevance for social science research in given business areas.
* some knowledge of contemporary social problems relating to business and how they emerge
* understanding of the origins, development, activities and organisation of typical business practices
* a comparative understanding of historical and cross-national differences in business policy and contexts.
Content:
The rise of the managerial-shareholder corporation. Social challenges to corporate power from collectivism to environmentalism; The role of social capital: social foundations of business enterprise from interpersonal to societal institutions, The Anglo-Saxon corporate model in comparative perspective, e.g. Italian, Japanese, and German models. Corporate social responsibility movements.

SP50124: Social research (dissertation) project 1

Credits: 33
Level: Masters
Semester: 1
Assessment: DS100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: A process of supervised research study for postgraduates aimed at developing understanding of:
* how to define a research question
* make methodological choices
* design a research inquiry
* operationalise at least one quantitative or qualitative method
* analyse data
* write a project report. Students will become familiar with the practicalities of undertaking these activities within limited time and other resource constraints. Learning Objectives: By the end of the course the students should have:
Knowledge and understanding of
* the kinds of constraints under which research is carried out
* the connectedness of different stages of the research process
* the importance of selecting methods of data collection and analysis that are appropriate to a topic and the practical constraints of the investigation
* organising findings and other materials in a systematic and readable form
Intellectual skills
* Ability to recognise and select research strategies in a relevant branch of the social sciences
* Ability to recognise and take account of relevant philosophical and methodological issues associated with particular methods
* Ability to identify how aspects of methods contribute to validation of results
* Ability to identify features of methods that might weaken validity of results
* Familiarity with the arguments, state of research and key concepts in the topic area of their research
* Ability to interpret the significance of findings from relevant sources of quantitative or qualitative evidence
Professional practice skills
* Understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods and the need to report these
* Awareness of the types of skills needed to access different sources of data and the activities necessary to access these.
* Ability to produce written reports to optimal standards of clarity, economy, and comprehensability
* Understanding of relationships between nature of methods and the kinds of results and discourse arising.
Content:
Any social research area for which adequate levels of supervision can be offered.

SP50125: Social research (dissertation) project 2

Credits: 45
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: DS100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: By using a contrasting method to that employed in Social Research Project 1 (i.e. either quantitative or qualitative), a process of supervised research study will be used aimed at refining and further developing understanding of:
* how to define a research question
* make methodological choices
* design a research inquiry
* operationalise at least one quantitative or qualitative method
* analyse data
* write a project report.
Students will become familiar with the practicalities of undertaking these activities within limited time and other resource constraints.
Learning Objectives: By the end of the course the students should have further advanced:
Knowledge and understanding of
* the kinds of constraints under which research is carried out
* the connectedness of different stages of the research process
* the importance of selecting methods of data collection and analysis that are appropriate to a topic and the practical constraints of the investigation
* organising findings and other materials in a systematic and readable form.
Intellectual skills
* Ability to recognise and select research strategies in a relevant branch of the social sciences
* Ability to recognise and take account of relevant philosophical and methodological issues associated with particular methods
* Ability to identify how aspects of methods contribute to validation of results
* Ability to identify features of methods that might weaken validity of results
* Familiarity with the arguments, state of research and key concepts in the topic area of their research
* Ability to interpret the significance of findings from relevant sources of quantitative or qualitative evidence.
Professional practice skills
* Understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of different methods and the need to report these
* Awareness of the types of skills needed to access different sources of data and the activities necessary to access these.
* Ability to produce written reports to optimal standards of clarity, economy, and comprehensability
* Understanding of relationships between nature of methods and the kinds of results and discourse arising.
Content:
Any social research area for which adequate levels of supervision can be offered.

SP50126: Making a research presentation

Credits: 3
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: OR100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: Preparation and execution of an oral presentation for postgraduates aimed at developing understanding of how to:
* prepare information on various stages of the execution of a social science research project to an audience of peers and academic supervisors
* communicate effectively and succinctly theories, evidence and arguments through oral presentation and use of audio-visual aids
* respond effectively to potentially critical questions from an audience of fellow academics
* select and use appropriate technological aids for presentations. Learning Objectives: By the completion of the presentation and the receipt of an assessment by supervisors the students should have:
Knowledge and understanding of
* the constraints of time and materials under which presentations are made
* the organisation and delivery of an oral presentation
* the importance of selecting methods of presenting data and other information that are appropriate to the cases researched and the level of understanding of the audience
* the structuring of an oral presentation and the balances between spoken communication and use of audio-visual
* dealing with oral questions in a clear and concise fashion.
Intellectual skills
* Ability to recognise, select and prepare the key points of a research project or findings for communication to an audience
* Ability to summarise complex written information into an understandable oral form
* Ability to respond to questions in an informative fashion.
Professional practice skills
* Skills for recognising and selecting material suitable for audio or visual communication using appropriate technologies such as OHP transparancies or Powerpoint.
* General skills for communicating specialised and abstract information to an unknowedgeable audience
* Awareness of the practical tasks needed to deliver information orally within the limits of time and the scope of the media of presentation.
Content:
Competencies in summary and explanation of research process and findings; principles of effective presentation; use of presentational aids.

SP50127: Preparing a research proposal

Credits: 3
Level: Masters
Semester: 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:

Aims & Learning Objectives:
Aims: By means of supervised preparations, this unit aims to prepare students for the production of a research proposal to a notional funding body; in order to acquire skills and understanding of how to translate research ideas into a logically coherent proposal meeting basic logistic and budgetary criteria for a fundable project. Learning Objectives: By the completion of their proposals students should have:
Knowledge and understanding of
* how to prepare the discursive elements of a proposal
* the project management expectations of funding bodies
* relevant budgetary information and costing practices involved
* the order of priorities in formulating a case for funding.
Intellectual skills
* Be able to recognise and summarise the key elements of a project proposal: aims, objectives, literature context, and methods of investigation etc
* Use an appropriate discursive style in which to write the application
* Envisage and plan the conduct of a project
* Anticipate and meet the expectations and potential criticisms of funding bodies and their referees in the formulation of the case for funding
* Simplify and communicate the essentials of complex theoretical or evidential materials for consideration by an unknown assessor(s).
Professional practice skills
* Proficiency in condensing information in an effective manner within pre-specified categories
* Knowing and applying logistic principles for project management, such as timetabling, Gant charts etc
* Knowing and applying financial conventions for budgetary estimates, such as salary and travel costings.
* Demonstrating the adequacy and suitability of chosen research methods over other possible approaches
* Identifying feasible outcomes of research in terms of significance of findings for: different constituencies and suitable media for disseminating findings.
Content:
Constructing and arguing a case for funded research, principles of research management, constructing a research budget.

 

University home | Catalogues for 2002/03 | for UGs | for PGs

Student Records & Examinations Office, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY
Tel: +44 (0) 1225 384352 Fax: +44 (0) 1225 386366
E-mail: samis-support@bath.ac.uk
This page maintained by R.Ackland@bath.ac.uk. Last update: 25 October, 2002