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SP60292: Policy specialism: international development

[Page last updated: 01 August 2022]

Academic Year: 2022/23
Owning Department/School: Department of Social & Policy Sciences
Credits: 18 [equivalent to 36 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 360
Level: Doctoral (FHEQ level 8)
Period:
Academic Year
Assessment Summary: CW100
Further information on unit assessment Assessment Detail:
  • Assessment detail for this unit will be available shortly.
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites: Before taking this module you must take SP60290 AND take SP60291
Learning Outcomes: Learning outcomes for this unit are:
1. An in-depth knowledge and critical understanding of contemporary debates over policy-making and research in International Development;
2. A critical understanding of methodologies used in policy research in International Development and contemporary debates over their strengths and limitation;
3. An in-depth knowledge of the range of actors and agencies involved in policy-making in International Development in a range of international contexts.
4. To understand how comparative analysis can enhance understanding of policy making.

Aims: The aim of this unit is to provide students on the Professional Doctorate in Policy Research and Practice with a critical and in-depth knowledge and understanding of policy research and practice in International Development.

Skills: Students who successfully complete this unit should develop the following skills:
1. The ability to critical appraise policy-making processes and outcomes in the context of International Development
2. Enhanced ability to formulate coherent and practical questions for policy research and to design and justify an appropriate research strategy to answer those questions within the field of International Development
3. To use comparative analysis techniques to illuminate policy questions.

Content:
1. Policy and policy-making in International Development
2. Actors, agencies, and power in International Development
3. The modalities of policy in international development I: International agencies
4. The modalities of policy in international development II: NGOs and INGOs
5. The modalities of policy in international development III: Government and governance
6. Contemporary debates I: Aid, conditionality, and selectivity
7. Contemporary debates II: Power, participation, and ownership
8. Policy research in international development I: The World Bank
9. Policy research in international development II: Oxfam
10. The nexus of power and research in International Development
11. A comparative understanding of different development trajectories.

Programme availability:

SP60292 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Social & Policy Sciences
  • RHSP-APD04 : Professional Doctorate in Policy Research and Practice

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2022/23 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2023/24 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2022/23.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.