Module manager: Dr Emma-Louise Anderson
Email: E.L.Anderson@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
PIED 2720 Approaches to Political Science
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This module introduces students to the epistemological and ontological approaches to research and associated methodologies. The lectures showcase the latest exciting research in POLIS to provide a grounding in the key principles of designing and implementing a research project and the key methods commonly used in the fields of politics, international development and international relations. Throughout the workshop activities students will develop their abilities to design their own research project and gain practical experience of gathering evidence. The Research Proposal and the workshop activities practise crucial transferable skills that add to students’ employability.
Objectives
- Provide grounding in basic epistemological positions that underpin approaches to research
- Introduce students to dominant methodological/theoretical frameworks that shape approaches to research
- Introduce students to the dominant methods used in research, including methods that they may later use in a level three dissertation project
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Appreciate and critically evaluate the appropriateness of different methodological approaches used to understand the processes and dynamics of politics and international studies
2. Critically appraise a range of research techniques used within politics and international studies to produce and assess data and information.
3. Recognise the link between ontologies (world views) and epistemologies (approaches to knowledge) and research methods
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
4. Retrieve, organise, and produce complex summaries of information and research methods relating to politics and international studies
5. Select appropriate research methods to answer research questions
6. Design a research project in politics and international studies
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | 10 | 1 | 10 |
| Lecture | 9 | 1 | 9 |
| Private study hours | 181 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 19 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
A formal formative assessment opportunity will be provided for each summative assessment task, which is specifically pedagogically aligned to that task. As part of this, each student will receive feedback designed to support the development of knowledge and skills that will be later assessed in the summative task.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | . | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 05/03/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team