Department of Social & Policy Sciences, Unit Catalogue 2011/12 |
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 Credits:
| 30 |
| Level:
| Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7) |
| Period: |
Dissertation period |
| Assessment:
| DS 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
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| Description:
| Aims: To give students the opportunity: * to identify a feasible research question relating to international social policy; to relate it to relevant literature and empirical material and to develop a cogent and credible argument that addresses the research question, and to do this within a fixed time period. * to demonstrate a critical understanding of the national and international institutional and policy environment within which social policy is made and the role of public and private stakeholders; * to analyse the policy choices and conflicts with which these actors are presenting each other; * to undertake practical skills of policy analysis and evaluation, applied to a specific area of social policy taken from a comparative and/or international context. Learning Outcomes: An ability (a) to define and answer a research question in a chosen area of international social policy; (b) to support the argument with relevant empirical evidence and/or reference to appropriate theory, and/or linking together arguments from disparate literatures or disciplinary perspectives, (c) to do all the above in written form in a dissertation that conforms to acceptable standards of presentation and expression, and (d) to complete the assignment within an agreed deadline. Skills: * Comprehensive and scholarly written communication. * Ability to select, analyse and present numerical data. * Ability to select, summarise and synthesis written information from multiple sources. * Ability to develop rigorous arguments through precise use of concepts and models. * Ability to synthesise multidisciplinary perspectives on the same problem. * Ability to formulate a research question, then develop and present an original & coherent answer * Ability to produce work to agreed specifications and deadlines. * Ability to work independently, without close supervision or guidance. Content: Research field to be chosen by the student but it could be any area of international social policy for which an adequate level of supervision can be offered. Dissertations may be based on any combination of (a) review of published literature (b) analysis of secondary data (c) analysis of primary data collected by the student. |
| Programme availability: |
SP50165 is Compulsory on the following programmes:Department of Social & Policy Sciences
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