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Warwick Doctoral Training Centre

Warwick ESRC Doctoral Training Centre
The Practice of Social Research

(IM910)
ESRC DTC Core Module

Module Handbook

2015-16

Module Convenor

Professor Nicholas Gane

Sociology

E0.11 (Social Sciences)

024 765 73415

n.gane@warwick.ac.uk

Lecturers

Professor Nickie Charles

Dr John Narayan

Dr Khursheed Wadia

Introduction

This module has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to think about what it means to do a PhD in the social sciences and to discuss key facets of the practice of social research. Its key aims are:

To provide students with knowledge that will help them develop their doctoral research
To enable them to think about about what it means to do a PhD in the social sciences
To reflect on the possibility of combining different research methods and paradigms
To consider the ethics of social science research

Assessment

A 3,000 word essay. A list of titles will be provided.

Some Key Books

Becker, H. S. (1998). Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You're Doing It. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Denzin, N. K. (1978). The Research Act: A Theoretical Introduction to Sociological Methods. New York, McGraw-Hill

Dunleavy, P. (2003). Authoring a PhD: How to Plan, Draft, Write, and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.

Morgan, D. (2014). Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods: A Pragmatic Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Rueschemeyer, D. (2009). Usable Theory: Analytic Tools for Social and Political Research. Princeton, Princeton University Press.

Williams, Malcolm (2002) Making Sense of Social Research, London, Sage.

Schedule of Lectures and Seminars

Week 2	The PhD Process	Nicholas Gane and Nickie Charles
Week 3	Theories and Methods	Nicholas Gane
Week 4	Designing a Research Proposal	Nickie Charles
Week 5	Data collection and analysis	Nickie Charles
Week 6	Research Ethics	Amy Hinterberger
Week 7	The Craft of Academic Writing	Nicholas Gane
Week 8	Situating Your Contribution	Nicholas Gane
Week 9	Power, Politics and Research	Khursheed Wadia
Week 10	Your PhD Viva and Beyond	John Narayan

Week 2: The PhD Process (Nicholas Gane and Nickie Charles)

This session will provide an overview of the process of moving through the key stages of developing your PhD. At the beginning of your PhD you will have some of your ideas about what doing a PhD involves and you will also hear a number of other ideas from other sources. In this session we shall explore key aspects of the PhD process in order to outline both the key stages of the process as well as to reflect on the need to reflect on your own experience as you embark on your PhD. We shall also discuss the importance of developing your own specific record of your progress during the various stages of your studies.

Essential Reading

Dunleavy, P. (2003). Authoring a PhD: How to Plan, Draft, Write, and Finish a Doctoral Thesis or Dissertation. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, Chapters 2 and 3.

Becker, H. S. (1998). Tricks of the Trade: How to Think about Your Research While You're Doing It. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, Chapters 1 and 2.

Further Reading

Phillips, E. M. and Pugh, D. S. (2010) How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and their Supervisors, 5^th Edition, Buckingham, Open University Press.

Robson, C. (2011) Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner Researchers 3^rd Edition Oxford: Wiley.

Week 3: Theories and Methods (Nicholas Gane)

This session will examine the role of theory and method in social science research. We will start by reading a classic work in the field: C. Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination. This text offers a provocation: that it is a mistake to think of theory or method as things that are somehow prior to, or detached from, the world that we are trying to study. Mills says, instead, that we should start with empirical ‘problems’ that raise questions for research, and in the face of these develop suitable theories (and related concepts) and methods (and related research techniques) for their study. We will ask whether Mills is right to take this position. You will be encouraged to reflect on the status of theory and method in your own research, and to think about how these fit the research questions or ‘problems’ that you are seeking to address.

Essential Reading

Mills, C.W. (2000). The Sociological Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Look in particular at Chapters 2 and 3 (‘Grand Theory’ and ‘Abstracted Empiricism’).

Further Reading

Appelrouth, S. and Edles, L.D. (2011). Sociological Theory in the Contemporary Era : Text and Readings. London: Sage.

Bryman, A. (2012). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Law, J. (2004). After Method: Mess in Social Science Research. London: Routledge.

Outhwaite, W. and Turner, S. (2007). The SAGE Handbook of Social Science Methodology. London: Sage.

Directory: fac -> cross fac
fac -> Building: 300 Subjects/Programs to be Housed
fac -> Plo timeline
fac -> Personal Information Name: Maha Al-Ammari Nationality: Saudi Relationship Status
fac -> Course overview
fac -> Curriculum vitae wei chen professor
fac -> Digital image warping
fac -> Samples of Elements Exam Question III contains All Prior Exam Qs III except
cross fac -> A submission to Reinvention: An International Journal of Undergraduate Research Cover page Full name of author
cross fac -> Emma Johnson department of classics and ancient history

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