Prospectus

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Social Science Research in Practice

Course
2019-2020

Please note: this course description is not fully up-to-date for the academic year 2019-2020. A new version with marginal changes will be presented on this page shortly.

Admission requirements

This course is open to the following categories of students:

  • Bachelor’s CA-DS,

  • Bachelor Heritage and Society (Archeology),

  • Pre-Master’s CA-DS admitted for this specific course during their application procedure,

  • Contract students registered in accordance with the procedure set out on this page of the faculty website. It is not advisable for Contract Students to follow this course before at least one introductory anthropological course has been completed.

Language of Instruction

Lectures are taught in English.
Tutorials: First years bachelor students of CA-DS have chosen the preferred language of instruction for tutorials during their application. Pre-master students follow the tutorials in English. Contract students may indicate the preferred language of instruction for tutorials during their application.
Exams are in the same language as tutorials.

Description

This course focuses on acquiring practical knowledge of data collection procedures in social science research and on contextualising scientific research within certain knowledge paradigms. Students will learn how to formulate questions, collect data, apply specific methods and techniques of research and to look critically at the relationship between data and knowledge..

Learning goals

Specific objectives:
1. Preparing and executing basic knowledge about research
2. Applying generally accepted methods and techniques within social sciences
3. Defining and operationalizing concepts
4. Understand, apply and critically view relationships among questions, methods, analysis and knowledge.
5. Learn to apply scientific-philosophical critiques

Schedule

See our website

Mode of instruction

Total: 10 ECTS = 280 study tax hours (sbu)
All lectures, practicals and work groups are mandatory.

  • Lectures: twice a week (15 x 2 hours)

  • tutorials: once a week (7 x 2 hours)

  • exercises

  • literature: approximately 700 pages

Assessment method

  • compulsory participation in all lectures, practicals and tutorials. Absence is permissible only with the explicit permission of the lecturer.

  • written examination on lecture material and literature, with closed and open questions

  • assignments to the working groups and practicals
    Only the final mark is registered in Usis. Re-sits are possible if inadequate grades are achieved (Grade 5 or lower).

Registering for exams

First-year CA-OS and Archeology students and Pre-Master students are not required to register.
Other students are required to register in uSis for every examination and may do so up to 11 calendar days before the examination. Read more

Registration in uSis

  • First-year CA-OS and Archeology students and Pre-Master students: registration for lectures, tutorials, exams is NOT necessary as students will be registered by the Student Services Centre (SSC).

  • Second-year CA-OS students and Contract students must register for lectures and examinations (see above), but not for tutorials.

  • Division and registration of students in tutorials will be done by the student administration and announced via Usis in the first week of lectures.

Registration periods and further information about procedure is given on the website on course registration.

Brightspace

Brightspace will be the digital learning environment of Leiden University as of the 2020/2021 academic year. This means Brightspace will replace the current system Blackboard.

Students attending the first year of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology or resitting courses, will be the first working with Brightspace as their learning management system as of the academic year 2019-2020. Through Brightspace you can access news messages, retrieve study material and hand in assignments. You will need to visit Brightspace on a regular basis to be sure to have the latest information. Lecturers will assume that all students read the information provided in Brightspace.

How to login: https://universiteitleiden.screenstepslive.com/m/86876/l/1075263-how-do-i-log-into-brightspace
The homepage for Brightspace is: http://brightspace.universiteitleiden.nl
Please log in with your ULCN-account and personal password. On the left you will see an overview of My Courses.

To get access to your courses in Brightspace you need to be registered in uSis for these courses.

Leiden University app
In this app, you can find most of your personal study information in one place. The Blackboard app will be replaced by the Brightspace app over time. Until then you have to use them both.

Study material

o Bryman, A., Social Research Methods, 4th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press (2012)
o Cramer, K., The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker (2016)
o Articles accessible through Blackboard.

Contact

Lecturers / examiners: Jasmijn Rana Andrew Littlejohn