EQUL40380 Researching and Challenging Social Injustice

Academic Year 2019/2020

Research perspectives and principles within feminist, participative and egalitarian theory and practice will be the focus of this course. An opportunity to explore debates concerning different research methodologies and perspectives will be provided. Early sessions will focus on the principles of egalitarian and feminist research. Debates on epistemological perspectives and methodologies within social, historical and cultural approaches to research will be explored. The principles of research design will be explained, and the students will have the opportunities to practice their research skills from early stages of the module. Students will learn the role of theory and analytical framework in the research process, how to align theory (and epistemology) with methodology and how to formulate a meaningful research question.
The uses of quantitative methods in egalitarian and feminist social research will be examined through looking at selected examples from contemporary Irish and international research. Other sessions will explore important developments in qualitative methodologies, including various approaches to qualitative research design or the methods and techniques of data collection. Issues of ethics and access to data in the research process will be examined and the relationship between the researcher and the researched will be discussed. Students will have the opportunity to study the role of discourse analysis, historical and archival research, comparative social science research, while the module will also offer some insight in how to utilize the research for working for Equality and Social Justice.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of key debates within feminist and egalitarian theory concerning research methodology and epistemology;
2. Show an understanding of the principles that inform research practices within egalitarian, participative and feminist research;
3. Demonstrate a capacity to identify appropriate methodologies and practices for different research contexts;
4. Delineate and refine a clearly defined and feasible research questions;
5. Understand the principles of research design and demonstrate a capacity to develop a detailed research proposal;
6. Carry out a critical review of literature on a specified topic of inquiry;
7. Communicate findings from research and analysis, and the knowledge and rationale underpinning these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguously.


Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24

Specified Learning Activities

36

Autonomous Student Learning

40

Total

100

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The approach to teaching will be dialogical with a strong emphasis on student participation, discussion, and engagement. Students will be required to read selected book chapters, journal articles etc before each lecture. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Research Proposal Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

100


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Written/annotated individual qualitative feedback and provisional grade will be provided to students post-assessment by email or through the VLE

Name Role
Dr Dorota Szelewa Lecturer / Co-Lecturer