Undergraduate - UnitAZA4450 - Researching for social sciences and humanities

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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12 points, SCA Band 1, 0.250 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Arts
Offered	South Africa Second semester 2014 (Day) South Africa Summer semester B 2014 (Day) South Africa Winter semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Tara Harris

Synopsis

The goal of this interdisciplinary research methodology unit is to provide students with a broad introduction to research in the Social Sciences and Humanities. Students will develop the skills required to conduct an independent research project and present their findings in the required form. Topics to be covered include research planning, design and execution, theoretical framework, argumentation, research methods, research ethics, data collection and analysis, and discourse and textual analysis. Discipline specific aspects of research will be covered in 3 weeks (out of the 12 weeks/semester).

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

Understand the meaning of research and research methodology in the Social Sciences and Humanities;
Understand the dynamic relationships between their chosen research topic, the questions they ask and the methods they use;
Understand the practical, theoretical and ethical issues surrounding research in the Social Sciences and Humanities;
Appreciate different research methodologies and select those relevant or appropriate for their research topic questions;
Understand the place of different research methodologies in multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary contexts;
Develop the skills to write a thorough and well-structured research proposal in their area of research interest.