GV914-7-SU-CO:
Research Design
2024/25
Government
Colchester Campus
Summer
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Tuesday 22 April 2025
Friday 27 June 2025
15
22 April 2024
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
GV915
MA L201JS Politics,
MPP L430JS The Essex MPP,
MPHDL20KJS Government,
PHD L20KJS Government
This module familiarises students with the scientific method in the social sciences. It introduces students to different ways to model social phenomenon, the assumptions that political scientists make when analysing politics, and different topics that contemporary political science addresses. Students will learn how to pose meaningful research questions, define concepts and formulate hypothesis. They will also learn how to empirically measure concepts and select the appropriate research approaches and environments.
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce students to the principles of the scientific method in the social sciences
- To provide students with an overview of specific research designs and their applications in the study of politics
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Read, understand, and evaluate empirical analyses and scholarly work published in the leading journals;
- Understand evaluation methods for particular research questions, research designs, and variables;
- Articulate research questions and apply a coherent research strategy to answer them.
Key Skills:
- Learn to read core political science texts quickly and extract key information from them.
- Learn to concisely summarize and write about key concepts in political science.
- Learn to develop questions of interest to modern political science.
- Matching appropriate designs to research questions.
- Develop a coherent research project in Political Science.
No additional information available.
This module will be delivered with a weekly two-hour interactive seminar. Each session will consist of a blend of lecturing, Q&A, group and whole-class discussion – the precise blend to depend in part on student numbers.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Coursework |
Moodle Test |
|
30% |
Coursework |
Literature Review Draft |
|
30% |
Coursework |
Final Research Proposal |
|
40% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Jimena Vazquez Garcia, email: j.vazquezgarcia@essex.ac.uk.
Jimena Vazquez Garcia
Please contact govpgquery@essex.ac.uk
No
No
Yes
No external examiner information available for this module.
Available via Moodle
No lecture recording information available for this module.
Government
* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.
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