GRT-40028 - Module Specification
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

It is essential for those undertaking any form of social inquiry to consider what skills and attributes are required of professional researchers. This module helps to develop your research skills by encouraging you to analyze and understand what is involved in the development of the social science researcher.
The module follows the four domains of the Vitae Researcher Development Framework (www.vitae.ac.uk). Here, the attributes of the effective researcher are mapped in terms of (A) Knowledge and Intellectual Abilities; (B) Personal Effectiveness; (C) Research Governance and Organisation and (D) Engagement, Influence and Impact. Students will be encouraged to think about a selection of skills and attributes mentioned in these domains critically and reflectively, always keeping in mind the notion that research is a craft. It is acknowledged that self-development in social science research is often a life-long learning process.
The module is organised in a way that provides students with general overviews, practice-based knowledge sharing sessions, skills and expertise sharing, and small group work. Students develop a portfolio that includes a personal development plan and examples from evidence based practice.

The module aims to deliver a comprehensive introduction to the qualities of effective research practice in the social sciences. It offers a reflective engagement with the Vitae Research Development Framework. It focuses on the notion of research as a craft and aims to provide tools with which students can develop their researcher skills in a reflective way. The module also links with the social and institutional qualities on which social science research is embedded. All four domains of the Vitae Researcher Development Framework find a presence in the delivery of the module.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Identify current research and scholarship on self-development and personal reflexivity, and evaluate this to an advanced level: 1
Appraise their own abilities and working style reflexively, identify areas for personal development, and engage in practice-based learning in order to enhance their personal effectiveness as a social researcher: 1
Identify relevant technologies and software used by social science researchers, and to learn to work with some of these effectively: 1
Communicate appropriately through use of higher level writing skills and verbal communication skills, and to use appropriate academic referencing and summary tables in order to present written work effectively: 1
Critically engage with the relationships between knowledge, politics and power in the world and how this impacts on social research practices: 1

Study hours

Active:
15 hours of scheduled lectures, workshop and small group work;
15 hours of structured asynchronous online activity (to include portfolio preparation/reflection; quiz activity; external research tasks; group discussion; engagement with online resources);
15 hours supervised scholarship skills work-ins/consultation.
Independent:
40 hours class preparation time
45 hours assessment preparation time
20 hours independent reading

School Rules

Students attending this module can not also attend the module GRT-40015 Research Skills and Research Development

Description of Module Assessment