DRAFT. This version of the catalogue is a draft version and subject to change.
Unless you have been specifically directed here, you probably want to use the main catalogue.
Last modified: 22 May 2026 11:46
This course provides you with an understanding of the research process, research design, and a variety of popular research methods to enable you to systematically conduct scientific research on the phenomena concerning Politics and/or International Relations (PIR). You will gain practical skills to apply these methods independently, especially looking forward to your final undergraduate dissertation.
| Study Type | Undergraduate | Level | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | First Term | Credit Points | 30 credits (15 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
|
||
This course provides you with an understanding of the research process, research design, and a variety of popular research methods to enable you to systematically conduct scientific research on the phenomenon concerning Politics and/or International Relations (PIR). You will learn a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including data collection and data analysis, and understand how they differ in their approaches (e.g., positivism vs. interpretivism) and their philosophical underpinnings (ontology and epistemology). The team also makes sure you gain hands-on experience in the application of methods in tutorials and ability to reflect on their strengths and limitations in explaining a PIR related problem, such as global inequality and sustainability. The course provides you with valuable, transferable research skills, such as historical/textual analysis and data literacy. The final product is an individual research proposal that you may want to consider using as a starting point for your undergraduate dissertation.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 14 | Feedback Weeks | 17 | |
| Feedback |
Research report. Formulate a research question, discuss its relevance, and write a literature review to address the existing state of the art related to your research problem. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Students learn to understand why and how we apply different research methods to analyse politics and international relations, including research ethics. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students learn to critically read and write about research, starting from critically reading previous research, organising arguments/thoughts and writing structured literature reviews. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 19 | Feedback Weeks | 25 | |
| Feedback |
Design your research, restate your research question, add a revised literature review, select case(s), and explain the plan for data collection and analysis to address your research problem. |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Students learn to understand why and how we apply different research methods to analyse politics and international relations, including research ethics. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students learn to critically read and write about research, starting from critically reading previous research, organising arguments/thoughts and writing structured literature reviews. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Apply qualitative and quantitative research methods appropriately to investigate research problems. |
| Reflection | Create | Students produce a research proposal in which they apply and critically reflect on research methods in relation to their own research questions learning to plan and pursue a research project. |
There are no assessments for this course.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 50,51 | Feedback Weeks | 52 | |
| Feedback |
Research proposal 2,500 words (excluding bibliography). |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 40 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 50,51 | Feedback Weeks | 52 | |
| Feedback |
Research report (Research question and literature review) 1,500 words (excluding bibliography). |
|||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
|
|
||
| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Evaluate | Students learn to critically read and write about research, starting from critically reading previous research, organising arguments/thoughts and writing structured literature reviews. |
| Reflection | Evaluate | Apply qualitative and quantitative research methods appropriately to investigate research problems. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Students learn to understand why and how we apply different research methods to analyse politics and international relations, including research ethics. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Apply qualitative and quantitative research methods appropriately to investigate research problems. |
| Reflection | Create | Students produce a research proposal in which they apply and critically reflect on research methods in relation to their own research questions learning to plan and pursue a research project. |
We have detected that you are have compatibility mode enabled or are using an old version of Internet Explorer. You either need to switch off compatibility mode for this site or upgrade your browser.
