Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies programme.
The number of participants is limited to 24.
Some topics may have more than one group to choose from.
Description
Why do we conduct research and what are the possibilities and limitations of research in international studies? What does a good research question look like and how can I make sure I am designing and conducting a research project properly and ethically? These are common questions that students have and this course is designed with these questions in mind.
Understanding and conducting research are key components of the BA International Studies programme and this course introduces students to research methods within a specific theme. Building on skills gained in courses such as Academic Reading and Writing, the aim of this course is threefold: to provide a basic understanding of the philosophical assumptions and ethical principles of academic research; to equip students with key practical strategies and techniques for different types and processes of data collection, analysis, and interpretation; and to merge theory and practice by having students design, conduct, and write-up a small research project.
The course utilises a combination of knowledge clips and seminars. The knowledge clips are watched by all students and are broadly applicable to research in the humanities and social sciences. They are meant to provide an overview of academic research, the logic and limitations of qualitative and quantitative methods, and a brief introduction to the philosophy of science and research ethics. The seminars provide a focused engagement based upon the research expertise of the seminar leader. The seminar meetings are meant to assist students in designing a small research project and writing up the tentative results in a research report. While each seminar is unique, all students will be introduced to field specific research design issues, multiple data collection and analysis methods, operationalising research questions, and how to structure and write a research report.
Theme of Seminar
Counsel, Criticism, Caricature: Dialogues with Power in the History of Political Thought
The political sphere, it is assumed, is a participatory one. Yet this was not the case for vast swathes of human history, and continues to not to be the case for considerable numbers of peoples across the globe marginalised or simply excluded from political decision-making and conversations. Establishing a politics that encompasses all is not without contestation and conflict, and the history of political thought is testament to how getting a foot in the door, holding rulers and regimes to account, or even persuading those who held political power simply to listen, were all hard-won. So how did people talk to, with, and back at power? What is ‘the history of political thought’, and how can the methods of this subdiscipline better illuminate the formation of political ideologies, and languages of political debate? How did people communicate political ideas, and what counts as a ‘source’ of political thinking?
This seminar introduces students to research methods in the history of political thought via the prism of the history of political criticism. These methods are qualitative, and encompass various techniques that elsewhere might be bundled under the umbrella of ‘discourse analysis’: contextualisation, close reading, formal analysis, genre criticism. We pair key methodological and conceptual writings with a different genre of source—philosophical, oral, visual, and literary—so students acquire a grasp of how to combine the theoretical and the applied in their own efforts at research design and source analysis.
Course objectives
The purpose of this course is to prepare students to understand, design, and conduct academic research. After successfully completing the course students will:
Understand the importance of academic research in acquiring knowledge and how this relates to the philosophy of science and the position of the researcher.
Be able to explain the logic and limitations of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research.
Possess the practical skills necessary for designing research, conducting research, and writing up a research report.
Understand how to formulate and operationalise research questions, address issues in research ethics, collect different types of data, and learn how to analyse and interpret collected data.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Lectures
The Knowledge Clips will be viewed by students during weeks 36 and 37.
Seminars
There are seven seminar sessions in this course (typically weeks 38, 39, 40, 41, 45, 46, and 50). Attending all seminar sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform your tutor in advance. Being absent at more than two of the seminar sessions will result in a lowering of your Research Report grade (75% of the end grade) with 0,5 point for each session missed after the first two sessions.
Assessment method
Assessment & Weighing
| Partial Grade | Weighing |
|---|---|
| Research Design | 25% |
| Research Report | 75% |
End Grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
The End Grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of the Research Design and Research Report.
Please note that if the Research Report is lower than 5.5, you will not pass the course, regardless of the Research Design grade.
Resit
If the End Grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), or the Research Report is lower than 5.5, there is a possibility of retaking the 75% of the Research Report. No resit for the Research Design is possible.
Please note that if the Resit Report grade is lower than 5.5, you will not pass the course, regardless of the Research Design grade.
Students who score an overall insufficient grade for the course, are allowed resubmit a reworked version of the Research Report. The deadline for resubmission is 10 working days after receiving the grade for the report and subsequent feedback. In case of resubmission of the report, the final grade for the report will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion.
Students who fail to hand in their Research Report on or before the original deadline, but still within 5 working days of that deadline, will receive a grade and feedback on their report. This will be considered a first submission of the report, however, the grade will be lowered as a consequence of the longer process of completion.
Students who fail to hand in their Research Report on or before the original deadline, and also fail to hand in their report within 5 working days of that deadline, get 10 working days, counting from the original deadline, to hand in the first version of their report. However, this first version counts as a resubmitted report with consequential lowering of the grade, and there will be no option of handing in a reworked version based on feedback from the lecturer.
Retaking a passing grade
Retaking a passing grade is not possible for this course.
Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2024 – 2025.
Exam review and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.
Reading list
- Readings will be listed in the course syllabus. They are available via the Leiden University Library catalogue.
Registration
Registration occurs via survey only. Registration opens 15 July 2024:
1) On 15 July 2024 you will receive a message with a link to the survey.
2) Indicate there which are your 5 preferred Research Methods courses, in order of preference.
3) Based on preferences indicated by 29 July 2024 the Coordinator will assign you to one specific Research Methods course by 19 August 2024.
4) Students will then be enrolled for the specific groups by the Administration Office.
5) All students are required to enrol for their group in Brightspace to access all course information.
Students cannot register in uSis for the Research Methods courses, or be allowed into a Research Methods course in any other way.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Student Affairs Office for BA International Studies
Remarks
The deadline for submission of the Research Report is Friday, 3 January 2025.