• Offered by Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research
  • ANU College ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
  • Classification Research
  • Course subject Social Research
  • Areas of interest Anthropology, Population Studies, Social Research, Sociology, Demography
  • Academic career PGRD
  • Course convener
    • Prof Bruce Smyth
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in Second Semester 2019
    See Future Offerings

Close links exist between policy, practice and research. Yet data is often not available to help inform policy and/or practice. The ability to conduct high quality research in applied settings constitutes a set of skills that continue to be highly sought by government and non-government agencies, industry, and academia more generally.

This course aims to provide students with a solid understanding of each phase in the life of a research project­ (conception, scoping, planning, doing, and finalisation)­ and the way in which the components within each phase fit together. The course is applied in nature, and seeks to complement research methodology courses. It aims to provide the conceptual framework to help students develop and manage their own research projects (for post-graduate research or for use in the workplace) or to be able to commission or manage research by others.

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:
  1. explain the life cycle of a research project;
  2. frame research questions or testable hypotheses, and define and operationalise key concepts in their research;
  3. propose research designs that are appropriate for their research question(s) or hypotheses;
  4. balance the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis;
  5. identify key ethical principles in the research process;
  6. communicate and present research in a clear, factual manner; and
  7. evaluate the quality of research (including their own).

Indicative Assessment

Class participation (5%) LO 1 - 7.
Assignment 1 ­ Ethics protocol (2,000 words, 30%)  LO 5.
Assignment 2 ­ Research proposal (3,000 words, 40%)  2, 3, 4, 6, 7.
In-class test (2 hours, 25%)  LO 1 - 7.
 

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

130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 18 hours of lectures and 18 hours of workshop or workshop-like activities; and
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.

Requisite and Incompatibility

You are not able to enrol in this course if you have previously completed DEMO8082.

Prescribed Texts

W Lawrence Neuman (2006), Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (sixth edition)

Preliminary Reading

de Vaus, D.A. (2002), Surveys in Social Research (5th edition), Allen and Unwin, Sydney

Robson, C. (2002), Real world research (2nd edition), Blackwell, London

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:
6 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
6.00 0.12500
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2019 $3360
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2019 $5160
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

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.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.

Second Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
9432 22 Jul 2019 29 Jul 2019 31 Aug 2019 25 Oct 2019 In Person View

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