This course in quantitative and qualitative research methods is core for students in the areas of politics and government. It prepares students for demanding investigation of the content and process of political behaviour in a wide variety of settings. Students will be taught advanced research skills to interpret and explain political processes, drawing on debates over the choice of appropriate research methodologies for many different political and social settings.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:- Explain the complexity of contemporary politics from the perspective of solid research design and empirical analysis;
- Apply a range of basic descriptive and inferential quantitative techniques to analyse political phenomena;
- Generate, explain and visualize descriptive and basic inferential statistics for political phenomena using the Stata statistical software package; and
- Apply relevant concepts and techniques to complete a research project and presentation suitable for delivery at a graduate-level political science conference.
Indicative Assessment
In class participation (quizzes/short in-class presentations) 10%, LO 1,25 short assessments (500 words each + code, output and visualisations) 40%, LO 2,3
Research Project:
Paper (5000 words + code, output and visualizations) (40%), LO 1,2,3,4
Presentation, in class (15 mins) (10%), LO 1,2,3,4
Students may choose to undertake the project and presentation in an individual or paired capacity.
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
260 hours of total student learning time made up from:a) 48 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 36 hours of lectures, and 12 hours of tutorials; and
b) 212 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
P H Pollock, Essentials of Political Analysis. 4th ed, 2011; An SPSS Companion to Political Analysis, 2011.Craig Parsons, How to Map Arguments in Political Science, Oxford University Press 2007.
Preliminary Reading
L R Jaisingh, Statistics for the Utterly Confused. 2nd ed, 2005
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 1
- Unit value:
- 12 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 12.00 | 0.25000 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $7320 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $10320 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
First Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4831 | 19 Feb 2018 | 27 Feb 2018 | 31 Mar 2018 | 25 May 2018 | In Person | N/A |
