Department of Politics & International Relations

Research Methods for International Studies

Module Syllabus Tutors: Dr Alex Danilovich Dr Nigel Greaves Dr Usman Tar

Module code: POL 404 Module Title: Research Methods for International Studies Credit Rating: 15 Module Tutor: Dr Usman Tar, Dr Alex Danilovich, Dr Nigel Greaves

Module Aims:
This course aims to examine the principles and practice of methodologies commonly used in the social sciences. It will examine the theoretical/philosophical foundations of a range of methods. What are the paradigms shaping these methods? To what extent do those paradigms influence and/or are influenced by practical considerations? The course aims to lay emphasis on Research Methodology for International Studies; reinforcing students existing knowledge and skills acquired at the undergraduate levels; and introducing new concepts, methods and tools of enquiry appropriate for advance research.

The main emphasis of the course is placed on developing practical skills needed for planning, carrying out research, and interpreting results.

The course aims to build the capacity of students to appreciate the role and importance of carrying out academic and policy-relevant research in a transparent and productive manner. The

Learning Outcomes
General: At the end of the course, students will be able to 1. Demonstrate advanced-level knowledge and skills to be able to conduct research in International Studies. 2. Design, plan and execute advanced-level research in the social sciences. 3. Develop, present and defend proposals and research output to diverse audiences.

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Subject-specific: at the end of the course, students will be able to: 1. Demonstrate an advanced level understanding of the concepts, theories and paradigms shaping research methodology. 2. Demonstrate an advanced level understanding of the epistemology and ontology of research 3. Discover the discipline-specific ethical principles governing research in Politics and International Relations. Student will understand the norms governing such issues as confidentiality, informed consent, intellectual property, and referencing among others. 4. Demonstrate the ability to select topical and researchable theme for investigation. 5. Show appropriate skills for designing, planning and executing their research such as problem formulation, literature review and hypothesis building. 6. Demonstrate the advanced skills of variable measurement and hypothesis testing 7. Demonstrate practical skills of using various methods of data collection/generation, such as survey, experiments, filed research, unobtrusive research, and evaluation research. 8. Demonstrate ability to align data collection strategies with hypothesis testing, and advanced skills of data quantification and analysis 9. Demonstrate practical skills of reporting research results 10. Demonstrate advanced practical skills of grant/research proposal writing.

Learning Strategies and Output

Lectures: At the beginning of each lecture session, the tutor introduces students to the topic, and outlines the themes to be discussed. Each session sets the agenda for an interactive discussion driven and facilitated by the course lecturer. Seminars: Sessions will be student-driven. Lectures will be followed by seminars in which the students will be divided into smaller groups to discuss/debate on set questions/issues. The set question for each week will shadow the Lecture for that week. Small group: some seminars may be organized into small groups. Each small group to discuss specific issues, and/or respond to specific questions. Presentations: each student is expected to present his/her individual research proposal to a departmental audience Weekly essays: Students will be asked to submit thinkpiece essays in selected weeks.

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Final paper (Research Proposal): Students are expected to write an elaborate research proposal (ideally used in thesis writing).

Assessment
Mode of Assessment Mid-term examination covering Week 1-6 Short essays covering Weeks 7-13 Presentation of Research Proposal Written proposal Marks 20% 20% 20% 40%

Participation and Attendance

Attendance at all class sessions is highly encouraged. In case of illness or any other emergency, the course Lecturer should be notified as soon as possible. Throughout the semester, we will be discussing the readings on specific seminar themes. It is essential that students familiarise themselves with assigned reading(s) well in advance of respective classroom sessions. The Lecturer will regularly ask students to write brief answers to discussion questions or a reaction to the readings.

Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the theft of intellectual property. The Academic Board of the University of Kurdistan defines plagiarism as 'presenting another person's ideas, findings or work as one's own by copying or reproducing the work without due acknowledgment of the source'. The most common form of plagiarism is presenting written work that contains sentences, paragraphs or longer sections from published work without acknowledgment. In other cases, students reproduce portions of the work of another student and present it as their own. Using the structure of another's argument is a form of plagiarism, even if the wording is changed. The Universitys first responsibility is educative, and where plagiarism seems to arise from poor referencing practices or lack of confidence, it will alert students to the problem and suggest strategies for improvement. Regardless of the reasons for it, plagiarised work is never acceptable, and may lead to failure because it does not meet the requirements of academic merit. Where dishonest intent is apparent, the University may enforce disciplinary measures. In the most serious cases, university procedures relating to student misconduct may be invoked and can lead to expulsion. 4|Page

Module Outline
Introduction Advanced Research Methods in Politics & IR (Dr Usman Tar) Themes the importance of research methodology in Politics and IR

Week 1

Seminar: The class will be broken into smaller groups to consider the following question: Why is a functional knowledge and skill of research methods sine qua non for all aspects of human life and social sciences in particular? Essential Reading: Scanlon, M. (2000) Issues in research in Wilkinson, David (Ed.) The Researchers Toolkit: the Complete Guide to Practitioner Research New York: Routledge.

Approaches to Advanced Research International Studies (Dr Usman Tar) Themes: positivism; objectivism; interpretivism; constructivism; subjectivism.

Week 2

Seminar: The class will be broken into smaller groups to consider the following question: Is it possible to maintain objectivity in Social Science? Is it possible to objectify the subjective? Reading: Grix, Jonathan (2004) The Foundation of Research New York: Palgrave Macmillan (Chapter 5, pp. 76-99: Introducing the key paradigms).

Research ethics in International Studies (Dr Usman Tar) Themes: ethical principles in Interantional Studies (privacy; confidentiality; harm; deception; plagiarism, intellectual property and referencing); the ethical principles of the American Political Science Associations and British Political Studies Association. Seminar: The class will be divided into small groups to consider the following question: As a student of International Relations, what are the possible ethical challenges of carrying out research? Essential Reading: Kek, P. and Moule, P. (2006) Making Sense of Research London: Sage (Chapter 10, pp. 111-9: Ethical issues). 5|Page

Week 3

The Source of Knowledge: Rationalism, Empiricism (Dr Nigel Greaves) Themes: The Source of Knowledge: Rationalism, Empiricism Seminar topic: Which takes priority, the observer of the observed? Is knowledge acquired by the inner reasoning processes of the mind, or is it acquired through the senses? Or is it somehow a mixture of both? What is the difference between apriori and aposteriori knowledge? Examine two significant scientific discoveries that illustrate the use of the different methods. Reading: Chalmers, AF. (1999) What is This Thing Called Science?, Maidenhead: Open University, pp.1-26.

Week 4

Structuring Perception: Realism, Materialism, Idealism (Dr Nigel Greaves) Themes: Structuring Perception: Realism, Materialism, Idealism

Week 5

Seminar topic: What is reality? What sort of reality is it? What is the nature of the dispute between Hume and Decartes on the reliability of the senses? Reading: Atherton, M. et al (2008) Philosophy, Cheltenham: Nelson Thomas, pp. 30-60.

History and Philosophy of Science (Dr Nigel Greaves) Themes: Induction, Deduction, Positivism, Falsificationism, Paradigms, and Postmodernism

Week 6

Seminar topic: Is the science community in broad agreement on methodological procedure? What criticisms and changes has science undergone? In what ways has the social science community raised new forms of scepticism toward the assumptions of the natural sciences? Reading: OHear, A. (1989) Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford: Clarendon, pp. 12-81.

Week 7

The Nature of Causation and the Language of Variables (Dr Alex Danilovich) Themes: We will see how the notions of cause and effect relate to

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explanatory social science. We will focus mainly on the technical, not philosophical aspects of the issue Essay: The Interplay of Variables Presentation: Independent and Dependant Variables in the sample article and in your research project. Readings: Lecture notes, Earl Babbie, pp. 69 83

Measurement of Variables: Conceptualization and Operationalization (Dr. Alex Danilovich) Themes: We will discover that most of the words used in everyday language communicate vague, unspecified meanings. In science, however, its essential to specify exactly what we mean (and dont mean) by the terms we use.

Week 8

Essay: The operationalization of the variables in the article & in your project Presentation: How social science concepts are specified in the sample article and how you would specify main concepts in your research project Readings: Lecture notes, Earl Babbie, pp. 116-136 & pp. 139 163

The Logic of Sampling (Dr Alex Danilovich) Themes: We will see how its possible for social scientists to select a few people for study and discover things that apply to hundreds of millions of people not studied.

Week 9

Essay: Describe the steps involved in selecting a multistage cluster sample of students taking first-year English in the nations colleges and universities Presentation: Describe the sampling techniques used in the article. Describe your sampling technique, if any Readings: Lecture notes, Earl Babbie, pp. 192 227

Week 10

Modes of Observation: Experiments and Surveys (Dr Alex Danilovich) Themes: This week we will learn about methods of observation:

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how to do mail, interview and telephone surveys. You will need to recall the earlier discussions of sampling and question wording. Essay: Locate a survey being conducted on the Web. Briefly describe the survey and discuss its strengths and weaknesses. Readings: Lecture notes, Earl Babbie, pp. 255 - 276 & pp. 232 252

Modes of Observation: Field Research Themes: We will improve our ability to observe social life in its natural habitat: going where the action is and watching. We will learn how to prepare for the field, how to observe, how to take notes, and how to analyze what you observe. Readings: Lecture notes, Earl Babbie, pp. 280 30

Week 11

Modes of Observation: Unobtrusive research (Dr Alex Danilovich)

Themes: This week we will overview three unobtrusive research

methods: content analysis, the analysis of existing statistics and historical/comparative analysis. Each of these methods allows researchers to study social life from afar, without influencing it in the process. Essay: Outline a content analysis design to determine which party is more supportive of democracy in Iraq/Kurdistan. Be sure to specify units of analysis, sampling methods and the relevant measurements. Readings: Lecture notes, Earl Babbie, pp. 308 330.

Week 12

Modes of Observation: Evaluation research (Dr Alex Danilovich)

Themes: We will be introduced to one of the most rapidly growing

uses of social research: the evaluation of social interventions. You will come away from this week sessions able to judge whether social programs have succeeded or failed. Essay: Describe the many ways your society has changed during your own lifetime. Specify those changes as social indicators that could be used in monitoring the quality of life in your society. Presentation: Mode of observation used in the article. 8|Page

Week 13

Readings: Lecture notes, Earl Babbie, pp. 334 - 354 Research Proposal presentation (Dr Usman Tar; Dr Nigel Greaves; Dr Alex Danilovich and other Dept staff/students as guests)

Week 14

Week 15

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Required Readings
Atherton, M. et al (2008) Philosophy, Cheltenham: Nelson Thomas Babie, E. (2004) The Practice of Social Research London: Wadsworth Press Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bentz, V. M. And Shapiro, J. J. (1998) Mindful Inquiry in Social Research Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Chalmers, AF. (1999) What is This Thing Called Science?, Maidenhead: Open University OHear, A. (1989) Introduction to the Philosophy of Science, Oxford: Clarendon

Recommended Readings
Alasuutari, P., Bickman, L. and Brannen, J. (2008) (Eds.) The Sage Handbook of Social Research, London: Sage Baker, T. L. (1988) Doing Social Research New York: McGraw-Hill. Bryman, A. (2008) Social Research Methods Oxford: Oxford University Press. Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (2008) Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials 3rd Edition Thousand Oaks CA: Sage. Flick, U. (2008, March) Designing Qualitative Research Thousand Oaks: Sage. Fowler, F. J. (2008) Survey Research Methods 4th Edition Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Gilbert, N. (2008) Researching Social Life 3rd Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Singh, K. (2007) Quantitative Social Research Methods Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Kek, P. and Moule, P. (2006) Making Sense of Research London: Sage. Kumar, R. (2005) Research Methodology: a step by step guide for beginners Thousand Oak: Sage. Seale, C. (2004) (ed.) Researching Society and Culture London: Sage 9|Page

Scanlon, M. (2000) Issues in research in Wilkinson, David (Ed.) The Researchers Toolkit: the Complete Guide to Practitioner Research New York: Routledge. Thomas, A., Chattaway, J. And Wuyts, M. (1998) (Eds.) Finding Out Fast: Investigative Skills for Policy and Development London: Sage & Open University Tarling, R. (2005) Managing Social Research: A Practical Guide London: Routledge. Wilkinson, David (2000) (Ed.) The Researchers Toolkit: the Complete Guide to Practitioner Research New York: Routledge.

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