LING263: Independent Study

• Terms Taught:
  • Michaelmas Term only
  • Lent / Summer Terms only
• US Credits:
  • Michaelmas Term only - 4 Semester credits
  • Lent / Summer Terms only - 4 Semester credits
• ECTS Credits:
  • Michaelmas Term only - 7.5 ECTS
  • Lent / Summer Terms only - 7.5 ECTS 
• Pre-requisites: Anyone interested in taking this module should discuss the matter with a member of staff. Please email linguistics@lancaster.ac.uk in the first instance. 

Course Description

The purpose of this module is to allow students to pursue interests which are not represented in, or central to, established courses, subject to the availability of qualified staff. Students will engage in a programme of supervised reading and produce a dissertation of between 4500 and 5000 words.

Anyone interested in taking this module should discuss the matter with a member of staff before enrolling. Email linguistics@lancaster.ac.uk in the first instance or, if you already know your preferred topic area, you may wish to approach a potential supervisor directly. Note that you cannot enrol for this module online: you must email linguistics@lancaster.ac.uk to sign up for it or speak to Lucy Cavanagh (LAEL teaching co-ordinator) in room C52 County South Building.

The deadline for submission is the Senate Deadline (Friday Week 23) of the year in which the module is taken.

Please note that in order to enrol for an Independent Study Unit you must have:

(1) decided on a topic or topic area

(2) either obtained the agreement of a member of staff to supervise you, or be in the process of doing so.

If in doubt, seek advice by writing to linguistics@lancaster.ac.uk.

Assessment Proportions

• Dissertation: 100%

PPR.290: Research Methods in Politics

• Terms Taught: Michaelmas Term Only
• US Credits: 4 Semester Credits
• ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS
• Pre-requisites: At least one entry-level class in politics or international relations.

Course Description

The module equips students with the skills they need to carry out independent research in politics. In doing so, it prepares students for their final year dissertations and significantly improves their employability by developing skills that are highly valued by employers. Students will learn how to come up with an original research question and will learn to employ one of the research methods taught on the course to answer their question. The course is designed to provide an accessible introduction to both qualitative and quantitative research methods. In the first part of the course, students will have the opportunity to use a large dataset on politics and explore the relationship between variables such as political ideology, class, voting behaviour and many more. They will learn how to analyse data and test for statistically significant relationships between variables using various regression methods. In the second part of the course, students will learn about three major approaches to qualitative research. They will learn how to conduct standard and elite interviews, how to analyse the discourse of political actors, and how to conduct case studies. At the end of the module, students will be asked to design their own piece of research and use one of the methods taught on the course to answer their research question.

Educational Aims

Educational Aims: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

This module aims to:

• Give students the skills necessary for carrying out an independent research project
• Equip students with skills that will improve their employability: working independently, analysing data, and designing independent research projects
• Introduce students to the main qualitative and quantitative research methods employed in politics and international relations

Educational Aims: General: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

This module aims to:

• Teach students how to successfully apply a research method to answer a research question
• Develop students' ability to critically evaluate empirical evidence
• Develop academic skills such as critical and independent thinking, academic writing and argumentation

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• Understand of the difference between qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Be aware of how the skills developed on this module can help them become more employable
• Demonstrate a deep understanding of at least one research method
• Be able to undertake an independent research project
• Be able to come up with an original research question
• Be able to write a comprehensive literature review
• Be able to choose a methodology that is suitable for a specific research question
• Critically evaluate qualitative or quantitative data

Learning Outcomes: General: Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

• On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
• Understand how one's ontological and epistemological position affects research design
• Be able to critically evaluate competing evidence and formulate independent arguments
• Develop a greater understanding of politics in theory and practice
• Develop key academic skills such as critical thinking, academic writing and formulating strong arguments
• Familiarize students with the use of computer software to analyse data

Outline Syllabus

Some of the key questions addressed on the module are:

• How to come up with a topic for an independent research project?
• How to choose the best method to answer your research question?
• What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative methods?
• How to make sure that your findings are trustworthy?

Topics will typically include:

Course structure:

• Introduction to the course: philosophy of science
• Introduction to quantitative methods
• Inferential statistics
• Correlation and simple linear regression
• Multivariate regression
• Logistic regression
• Interviews and research ethics
• Discourse analysis
• Comparative politics
• Pulling your project together

Assessment Proportions

• 100% coursework (1 x 3,500 independent research project)

PSYC204: Research Methods I: Experimental Methods in Psychology

• Terms Taught: Michaelmas Term only
• US Credits: 4 semester credits
• ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS
• Pre-requisites: High school mathematics; an introductory psychology course; some introduction to statistics and research methods (which may be as part of a general introductory course)

Course Description

PSYC204 is constructed to develop knowledge and skills on experimental research methods employed across the different topics in psychology; social and cognitive approaches. This will involve learning about how to plan, conduct and report research and how to evaluate research studies.

Educational Aims

General Knowledge, Understanding and skills

Students will learn to generate novel research hypotheses and gain experience of designing and conducting experimental research projects. The module will also provide students with the knowledge of data management, statistical analyses and writing of scientific research reports. There is a strong emphasis on group work in this module that will provide students with the experience of working collaboratively to complete psychology research projects.

Specific Knowledge, Understanding and skills

The PSYC204 Research Methods I module is designed to expand the knowledge and skills on research methods acquired in Part I. The course is delivered in Term 1 and is assessed by a range of assessments. Research Methods I does not have a final exam in the Summer Term. The course outline is structured such that you undertake blocks of exercises in designing, evaluating, and assessing psychological research. The course will develop the ability to be clear, accurate, complete and concise in writing up research. Learning Outcomes: General Knowledge, Understanding and skills

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• Retrieve, evaluate and synthesise information from a range of primary and secondary sources
• Appreciate the relationship between psychological theories, concepts and methods
• Solve problems through the development and evaluation of alternative strategies and solutions
• Plan and conduct data collection
• Manage and analyse data using both quantitative and qualitative methods
• Communicate effectively both orally and in writing
• Work collaboratively as a member of a team

Learning Outcomes: Specific Knowledge, Understanding and skills

On successful completion of this module students will be able to: Generate and explore hypotheses and research questions

• Carry out empirical studies drawing on a variety of psychological methods
• Plan, conduct and report empirical research including: defining a research problem, formulating testable predictions, choosing appropriate methods, planning and conducting data gathering, demonstrate evaluation of data and producing a professional report
• Employ evidence-based reasoning when presenting, interpreting and evaluating psychological research - Use some psychological tools such as experimental software
• Use standard computer packages including at least one statistical package

Outline Syllabus

The syllabus is constructed to develop knowledge and skills on experimental research methods employed across the different topics in psychology. This will involve learning about how to plan, conduct and report research and how to evaluate research studies. An illustrative course outline for Term 1 (Michaelmas) could be as follows:

• Weeks 1-5: Experimental Research Design
• Weeks 6-10: Using Response Time to Study Human Behaviour

Assessment Proportions

• Coursework: 100%

PSYC224: Research Methods II: Asking questions, analysing responses

• Terms Taught: Lent / Summer Terms only
• US Credits: 4 semester credits
• ECTS Credits: 7.5 ECTS
• Pre-requisites: High school mathematics; an introductory psychology course; some introduction to statistics and research methods (which may be as part of a general introductory course)

Course Description

PSYC224 is designed to expand on the knowledge of and skills in research methods and to provide an appreciation and understanding of a wider range of research methods than covered in PSYC204.

Educational Aims

General Knowledge, Understanding and skills

Students will learn to generate research questions and gain experience of designing and conducting non-experimental research projects in psychology. The module will also provide students with an understanding of how various forms of data may be generated, analysed (qualitatively and quantitatively) and written up as scientific research reports. There is a strong emphasis on group work in this module, which will provide students with experience of working collaboratively to complete research projects.

Educational Aims: Specific Knowledge, Understanding and skills

The PSYC224 Research Methods II module will expand on the knowledge of and skills in research methods acquired in Part I. Further, this module is designed to provide an appreciation and understanding of a wider range of research methods than covered in PSYC204 Research Methods I. The course is delivered in Term 2 and is assessed by a combination of research reports and in-class testing. Research Methods II does not have a final exam in the Summer Term. The course outline is structured such that students undertake blocks of exercises in which they design, report and evaluate different forms of research. A range of topics are covered through two different methods commonly employed in research; questionnaires and surveys as well as interviewing and qualitative analysis. Students work in small groups to design and implement research projects on a given topic, followed by independent analyses and interpretation of the results, which are then written up in the research reports. Students on the module will also engage with the various ethical issues affecting psychological research on human participants and the strategies for addressing those issues. The course will support further development of the ability to be clear, accurate, complete and concise in writing up research.

Learning Outcomes: General Knowledge, Understanding and skills

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:

• Retrieve, evaluate and synthesise information from a range of primary and secondary sources
• Appreciate the relationship between psychological theories, concepts and methods
• Solve problems through the development and evaluation of alternative strategies
• Conduct data collection, manage and analyse data using both quantitative and qualitative methods
• Communicate effectively
• Work collaboratively as a member of a team

Learning Outcomes: Specific Knowledge, Understanding and skills

• On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
• Design questionnaires in order to measure phenomena of psychological interest
• Collect different types of information using a range of question types
• Evaluate questionnaire designs in terms of their validity and reliability
• Plan and conduct a research interview
• Evaluate the findings of qualitative analysis
• Identify the ethical issues affecting psychological research and determine the necessary strategies for addressing those issues
• Use appropriate software and online resources in the generation and analysis of data
• Apply quantitative and qualitative methods in the analysis of data generated from questionnaires and interviews.

Outline Syllabus

The module is intended to provide students with an introduction to non-experimental methods in conducting research, data collection and analysis. Over the course of the module the students will learn how to plan research projects, to collect and analyse quantitative (questionnaire-based) and qualitative data (interview) using available software packages where appropriate. Students will also learn how to evaluate the quality of those data and draw relevant psychological interpretations and inferences from them. Further, students will learn about the ethical issues affecting a wide range of psychological research methods and the strategies by which those issues can be appropriately managed.

The illustrative outline syllabus for Term 2 (Lent Term) is as follows:

• Weeks 11-14: Survey and questionnaire design and development. Assessed by research report.
• Weeks 15-16: Ethical issues in psychological research. Assessed by class test in week 16.
• Weeks 17-20: Conducting and analysing a research interview. Assessed by research report.

Assessment Proportions

• Coursework: 100%