Quantitative Social Sciences BSc

Core modules

Data Visualisation

This module consists of three key elements. The first is principles of good graphic design, combined with how figures can be used to lie and mislead. The second is learning how to make a wide range of graphs, maps, and figures, for a wide range of different audiences, using the latest and most powerful software. The third is interpreting visual representations of data, whether from other sources or by students on he module themselves, and using them to answer substantive research questions. Fundamentally, this is a hands-on module that allows students to make and understand data visualisations.

10 credits

Introductory Quantitative Data Analysis for Social Scientists

This unit provides students with training in, and hands-on experience of, introductory quantitative data analysis techniques for social scientists. Students are introduced to descriptive statistics, data distributions, commonly encountered mathematical functions, principles of hypothesis testing, principles of statistical inference, and methods for testing bivariate relationships. The course includes hands-on experience of some commonly used statistical methods.

20 credits

Introductory research project in quantitative social science

This unit introduces students to the skills required for the effective design, execution and communication of a social science research project utilising quantitative methods. Students will construct their own research project aimed at answering a particular problem in social science, will identify, obtain and analyse the data necessary to answer that question, and will present their findings both on a written project report and in a poster paper to be presented at a student conference.

20 credits

Survey Design and Data Collection

Survey method is commonly used by government, business and other organisations to understand changes in the society. Yet, not always it leads to producing meaningful analysis as a result of bad survey design choices. This module will improve your understanding of the art of asking survey questions and the science underpinning survey data collection. Specifically, you will learn how to design an effective questionnaire, whom to include in the survey sample, how to organised your fieldwork and finally, how to process raw data and manage the final dataset. You will use online survey software to practice your skills.

10 credits

You will take 50 credits from Management below:

Introduction to Behaviour at Work

This module is an introduction to psychological and behavioural approaches to the study of work and organisations. The major aim is to introduce students to some of the basic analytical tools and concepts from work psychology that encourage an understanding of the behaviour of individuals and groups in the workplace. The syllabus contains the following: Introduction to Organisational Behaviour, Individual Differences, Perception, Learning, Human Motivation, Job Satisfaction and Work Attitudes, Conformity and Obedience, Leadership, Groups at Work, the formal and informal organisation.

10 credits

Business Management in Context

This module introduces students to the impact that society has on business and vice versa. It seeks to develop students' awareness of the importance of considering and understanding the social context within which businesses and managers operate. Through a critical exploration of contemporary issues, it highlights the importance of socially responsible work practices and challenges participants to reconsider their preconceived notions of how business should operate.

20 credits

Management Themes and Perspectives

The module introduces students to some of the key themes and perspectives within a number of different subject disciplines within management. Through a series of 4 two-week `packages' the module will introduce students to key issues within marketing, sustainable development, operations management and strategic management. The module is designed to help students to start to identify the interconnections between the different disciplines within management and to see how differing perspectives tackle key contemporary challenges. The module will be delivered through a series of 2-week subject `packages' by experts in the different disciplines. While the lectures will provide the foundation for student learning, this will be supplemented by guest speakers from within industry to apply concepts to actual business settings. Seminars will provide space for more detailed discussion of issues and topics covered during the module. Key skills sessions will also be interspersed between the different subject packages so that students will be able to develop these generic skills which they can utilise in the various assessments components and for which they will receive feedback.

20 credits

You will take 10 credits from the list below or any other first year module on the BSc Quantitative Social Sciences.

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

Whether you're a journalist writing stories for the public, or a social research analyst working in government, you need to be able to understand, use and present data. This 10 credit module aims to demystify data and encourage critical thinking on statistics; often wrongly used, and sometimes in very misleading ways. The module will equip you with the knowledge and skills you'll need to become a discerning data user, through engaging teaching, active learning and examples from the news media. The module is comprised of a mix of lectures and computer workshops and is assessed through a multiple choice exam.

10 credits

In your second year, you will take two core modules, 60 credits from Management and then 20 credits from any other second year module on the BSc Quantitative Social Sciences.

Multivariate Data Analysis

The analysis of multivariate data requires the extension of standard univariate statistical models and methods as well as introducing new problems. Initially attention is given to summarising and displaying high dimensional data and to ways of reducing multivariate problems to more manageable univariate ones. This is followed by routine generalisations of standard distributions and statistical tests before considering new strategies for constructing hypotheses tests and then consideration of problems specific to multivariate data such as discrimination and classification (used in medical diagnosis problems for example). Most of these methods can be implemented in Minitab. The overall objective of the course is to provide some appreciation of the available techniques for statistical analysis of multivariate data.

10 credits

Intermediate Research Project in Quantitative Social Science

This unit gives students experience in conducting a social science research project employing quantitative methods, and provides training in the design and preparation of a viable independent quantitative social science research project. It discusses how to refine a research idea, how to decide on the appropriate choice of data and methods to analyse research questions, how to plan and conduct the research process to ensure the successful completion of a project (emphasising issues of ethics, timing and resourcing), and how to present research plans and results effectively.

20 credits

You will take 60 credits from Management below:

Organisational Behaviour

This module builds on and develops the basic concepts introduced in MGT120. Organizational Behaviour is concerned with understanding the effects of how workers think, act, and interact with each other. This involves considering a wide range of issues such as power, culture, gender and stress. However, to understand what happens inside organizations, it is also necessary to also take account of their external social, economic, and cultural environments/contexts. While considering the 'general principles' of Organizational Behaviour, this module will also relate them to issues of contemporary relevance, such as the growing importance of management by culture, and the move towards flexible working practices.

20 credits

Business Strategy

This course will introduce students to business strategy and the strategic management process. It seeks to enhance their understanding of the theories and practice of strategy. Students will be able to learn why, and how, companies make strategic decisions in the context of today's complex and dynamic world of business. Students will be introduced to various strategic analysis frameworks and learn how these can be used to help organisations better understand their strategic position and formulate feasible and suitable growth and competitive strategies. Based on a sound understanding of the theories, students will be required to apply the concepts through the use of innovative strategic planning teaching and learning technologies and case study material.

20 credits

Essentials of Marketing

This module aims to introduce the field of marketing to Level 2 students. The coverage will include the basics of marketing strategy including segmentation, targeting and positioning as well as the practical domains of strategy development like product and brand management, services marketing, pricing methodologies, promotional strategies, distribution and logistics.

20 credits

Career Management Theory and Practice

This module is designed to incorporate critical reflection on the concepts of career and career management suitable for undergraduates in the School of Management for their own personal development and action planning as well as their future use as managers and employers within organisations.

20 credits

Final year core modules:

Advanced Research Project in Quantitative Social Science

This module requires the student to prepare, organise, research and report a piece of original work on a social science topic. The student will decide on the topic and will either be expected to collect original material in order to investigate it, or to perform secondary analysis on information drawn from existing source (and in both cases using quantitative methods to analyse the data). The finished product is presented in the style, and at the length, associated with academic journal articles.

40 credits

Doing Mixed Methods Research

Research in the social sciences is increasingly using mixed methods to explore the social world. This module covers the principles and practices of conducting mixed methods research (MMR), through an enquiry-based learning approach. By designing and completing their own projects, students will learn how to apply mixed methods and appreciate the value of bringing together both qualitative and quantitative approaches in conducting research. Students will develop their ability to collect, analyse, and present MMR data, alongside critically reflecting process of using MMR.

20 credits

Research Dissemination in Social Sciences

This unit is focused on students preparing and presenting a body of work in various forms, and to various audiences. The aim of the unit is to develop students' ability to disseminate the findings of their L3 dissertation/independent project to both specialist and non-specialist audience, and in a variety of written and verbal forms. This will culminate in a conference towards the end of the year.

20 credits

You will take 40 credits from Management below:

Critical Perspectives in Work and Organisational Psychology

In general terms, Work and Organisational Psychology is concerned with the application of psychological theories and techniques to the analysis and resolution of problems that confront the personnel or human resource function, in its endeavours to select, train, appraise and develop a competent workforce. Work and Organisational Psychology has traditionally positioned itself within the broad terrain of experimental social psychology, a discipline that emphasises the importance of the application of empirical scientific methods to the study of human behaviour. The aim of this unit is to critique this positioning and to present arguments that we need alternative knowledges to enable us to fully understand workplace behaviour.

20 credits

Corporate Social Responsibility

The Johannesburg Earth Summit, the runaway success of No Logo, the corporate scandals and subsequent questioning of the regulatory structures within capitalism, all suggest that the relationship between business, the state and civil society is being debated with greater urgency than at any time since Milton Friedman declared the business of business is business. Again we are asking 'what is the role of the firm?. Much of the dialogue and debate surrounding this issue is being conducted under the rubric of the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Citizenship. The emergence of these concepts and the implementation of strategies to emphasise and improve the socially responsible practices of companies represents a significant development in the ongoing debates surrounding the role of business in modern society. Supporters suggest we are witnessing the emergence of a new breed of 'Corporate Citizen' as companies seek greater interaction with civil society, look to adopt more ethical business strategies and engagement about their practices through the provision of greater openness and access to information.This module seeks to provide an initial introduction to the key issues and themes that are emerging within the CSR field. It examines the pressures encouraging companies to adopt more ethical business strategies, the types of practices and strategies which different companies have sought to adopt in this field, and the potential advantages that are iden

20 credits

International Marketing

This module provides students with an understanding of international marketing. The module will prepare students for the challenge of global marketing and enable students to have sufficient knowledge to be able to take on international related work, if faced by this challenge in industry.

20 credits

International Business

This unit introduces key theories of international business development - those concerning the rationales for international expansion, the choice of foreign market entry strategy and the impact on the economies of host countries. This theoretical understanding will then be illustrated and examined by reference to the way particular companies in contrasting industries have developed and implemented their international strategies. Particular attention will be devoted to the role played by the international business environment and its institutions, and to key strategic management issues such as global supply chain management, knowledge management, intellectual property protection and risk management,

20 credits

Strategy Practice

This module will introduce students to strategy practice and the process by which strategies and performance are realized. It seeks to enhance their understanding of the theories and frameworks in the area of strategy formation and strategic change. Students will be able to learn why, and how organizations perform and maintain the ability to perform. Students will be introduced to various strategy formation theories and frameworks and learn how these can be used to understand how and why organizations perform or underperform, to be able to suggest interventions by which organizations can be changed. Based on a sound understanding of the theories, students will be required to apply the concepts through the appreciation of case evidence and the suggestion of appropriate interventions.

20 credits

Industrial Relations

Industrial Relations explores the nature of working relationships and the constraints within which they operate. The subject is multi-disciplinary in nature and the content of this particular unit focuses on aspects of industrial relations which practising managers may experience. The unit aims to establish a conceptual framework for understanding industrial relations based on academic theories and research data. A further aim is to develop analytical skills that look beyond symptoms and to encourage judgement founded on an understanding of likely outcomes/implications.

20 credits

Integrated Marketing Communications

This module is concerned with the concepts and uses of advertising and promotion and integrated marketing communications context. The successful commercialisation of both and existing advertised products and services depends on how well the company will communicate any messages to its target marget, to trigger desired attitudes and behaviours. However, these messages must be clear and consistent across the different means of communication available to modern businesses. Thus, advertising, public relations, packaging, sponsorship and other promotional tools must be integrated and managed as a whole and not as isolated communications. Other issues covered will include e-marcoms, international marketing communications and ethics.

20 credits

International Business

This unit introduces key theories of international business development - those concerning the rationales for international expansion, the choice of foreign market entry strategy and the impact on the economies of host countries. This theoretical understanding will then be illustrated and examined by reference to the way particular companies in contrasting industries have developed and implemented their international strategies. Particular attention will be devoted to the role played by the international business environment and its institutions, and to key strategic management issues such as global supply chain management, knowledge management, intellectual property protection and risk management,

20 credits

Core modules:

Data Visualisation

This module consists of three key elements. The first is principles of good graphic design, combined with how figures can be used to lie and mislead. The second is learning how to make a wide range of graphs, maps, and figures, for a wide range of different audiences, using the latest and most powerful software. The third is interpreting visual representations of data, whether from other sources or by students on he module themselves, and using them to answer substantive research questions. Fundamentally, this is a hands-on module that allows students to make and understand data visualisations.

10 credits

Introductory Quantitative Data Analysis for Social Scientists

This unit provides students with training in, and hands-on experience of, introductory quantitative data analysis techniques for social scientists. Students are introduced to descriptive statistics, data distributions, commonly encountered mathematical functions, principles of hypothesis testing, principles of statistical inference, and methods for testing bivariate relationships. The course includes hands-on experience of some commonly used statistical methods.

20 credits

Introductory research project in quantitative social science

This unit introduces students to the skills required for the effective design, execution and communication of a social science research project utilising quantitative methods. Students will construct their own research project aimed at answering a particular problem in social science, will identify, obtain and analyse the data necessary to answer that question, and will present their findings both on a written project report and in a poster paper to be presented at a student conference.

20 credits

Survey Design and Data Collection

Survey method is commonly used by government, business and other organisations to understand changes in the society. Yet, not always it leads to producing meaningful analysis as a result of bad survey design choices. This module will improve your understanding of the art of asking survey questions and the science underpinning survey data collection. Specifically, you will learn how to design an effective questionnaire, whom to include in the survey sample, how to organised your fieldwork and finally, how to process raw data and manage the final dataset. You will use online survey software to practice your skills.

10 credits

You will take 40 credits from Politics, Sociology and Criminology below:

Comprehending Criminology

This module introduces students to key areas of criminological definitions, empirical study, theory and the development of criminal justice systems. The module looks at case studies of crime and deviance from contemporary life to help students understand how some of the history and theory of criminology can be brought to bear on social and legal issues. Topics may feature, for example, youth crime, spouse murder, football hooliganism and credit card crime but also other areas if and when interesting cases arise.

20 credits

Introduction to Comparative Politics

This module examines the utility of the comparative approach to politics with a particular focus on democracies, dictatorships, and semi-democratic regimes. The key features of each regime type are considered and these are used to explain the nature of the comparative method, its strengths and weaknesses. This course also applies a comparative lens to processes such as democratisation, modernisation, and mobilisation. This course will draw on a wide range of examples from democratic, authoritarian, and semi-democratic countries.

20 credits

Analysing Politics

This module is about (1) politics, and (2) how to analyse it. More specifically, it involves (1) understanding how power and truth operate in the contemporary world; and (2) discovering different ways to research these dynamics so to build compelling and rigorous accounts of the political worlds that we find ourselves a part. Students will learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, and independent study; and will be assessed on the basis of an essay, a portfolio relating to seminar preparation, and an online multiple-choice test.

20 credits

Introduction to Western Political Thought

This module provides an introduction to key themes and thinkers in Western political thought. It explores the different meanings of the nature of politics and the political in this tradition. One key theme will be the relation between human nature and politics. This will be explored through a series of deep conflicts between reason and desire, the state and individual, and the public and private. These conflicts are examined through the different visions of politics of a selection of ancient and early modern thinkers. The module will also engage with critiques of the canon of Western political thought itself, in particular from a postcolonial perspective.

20 credits

The Sociology of Everyday Life

This module aims to introduce students to basic sociological concepts, such as 'the sociological imagination', 'social interaction', 'social identity', 'deviance' and 'globalisation' and illustrate how these can be applied to everyday life. Drawing on the work of key thinkers in sociology, a range of everyday life situations, such as mobile phone use, shopping and travel will be used as exemplary cases

10 credits

Understanding Inequality

The aim of this unit is to explore a key concern of sociology to explain how and why material and symbolic rewards are distributed unequally. It will consider the unequal distribution of wealth, privilege and power and, in doing so, will question common-sense understandings of various inequalities in society. It will focus on various social divisions including the `big three' of social class, gender and race, as well as sexuality, age, religion and disability. Major themes will be explored with a predominantly British- and policy-related focus, although global divisions and inequalities will also be included for consideration.

10 credits

Introducing Criminology

Crime is a major social problem in virtually all societies. In this module, sociological understandings of crime are discussed, often with reference to their implications for policy. The module will introduce you to major research about crime in contemporary Britain and help you to understand the contribution of sociology to its analysis. This module will be of value to anyone thinking about a career in the criminal justice services, journalism, public service, the voluntary sector and anyone interested in understanding the significance of crime in contemporary British society

10 credits

Introducing Criminological Research

This module focuses on how crucial criminological topics have been investigated. The module is taught by lectures and seminars/classes and assessed by two 'take-home' exercises. In the seminars/classes students will work in small groups to examine real research studies, and work out how to tackle research problems.

20 credits

Introduction to International Relations

This module will introduce students to the discipline of International Relations (IR) and therefore the study of global politics. IR is a complex, multi-level and multi-actor field whose terrain spans global to individual issues. To provide a comprehensive introduction to IR, the module will focus on two questions: 1) What is the subject matter of IR? And 2) What is the unit of analysis? Structuring the module as such will introduce students to key debates in IR and provide a broad overview of the subject matter (from global governance to individual activism) and different actors (from the UN to terrorists).

20 credits

British Politics

This module will introduce students to key concepts and debates in British politics through an examination of post-1976 British political history. Each lecture will take as its starting-point one day in recent British history and will describe what happened on that day and what happened as a result of that day. Each of the seminars will then follow that discussion: paying particular attention to concepts and ideas within the study of politics which can help us make sense of those events.

20 credits

Introduction to Global Political Economy

This module provides an introduction to global political economy (GPE). It covers key mainstream and critical theories and considers critically what GPE is. Following this, the main focus will be on sketching the outlines of the global economy (past and present) by considering particular commodities. This provides a novel way to introducing the student to the major processes of global trade, finance and production. It also considers the political economy of race, class and gender as core theoretical themes that interweave the empirical examination of the global political economy, from roughly 1500 through to the 21st century.

20 credits

Gender, Sexuality and Society

This unit intends to address the following questions regarding gender and sexuality and their interaction with society: What do we mean by gender and sexuality? How do we do gender and sexuality? How do we see gender and sexuality? How do we control gender and sexuality?

10 credits

Classical Sociological Theory

The aim of this module is to introduce foundational theories in sociology. The lectures will describe the ideas of leading theorists Durkheim, Marx, and Weber with reference to the social context in which they lived and wrote. Lectures will analyze the primary texts of sociological throught with reference to the social contexts in which they emerged. This will include a look at the concerns of the first generation of sociological thinkers, their understanding of changes in European societies at the time, and the way in which their ideas inform an understanding of issues and problems in the contemporary world.

10 credits

Welfare Politics and the State

This unit introduces students to some of the material and theoretical concerns of social policy by focusing on the politics of `welfare'. It is organised around unpacking common contemporary 'welfare myths' - e.g. 'the benefit scrounger', 'welfare tourism' and the need for austerity - by taking a long view of their articulation through history, exploring their ideological roots, examining policy responses and assessing the empirical evidence to support them. In doing so the unit also focuses on the policy making process, examining in particular issues of power in contemporary UK and the role of the media in perpetrating 'welfare myths'.

10 credits

You will take 20 credits from the list below and/or any other first year module on the BSc Quantitative Social Sciences.

Economy, Society and Public Policy (ESPP)

ESPP is for students who are interested in the big policy problems facing societies today ¿ inequality within and between countries, environmental sustainability, the future of work, health and wellbeing, wealth creation and financial instability and so on. This module has been created specifically for social science students who are NOT economists, but who want to understand how the economy works, and how it can be made to work better. The module will give you an understanding of the ways in which we can interpret the evidence on the social and economic issues of today, and formulate appropriate public policy interventions. We emphasise issues of power, social norms, fairness, institutions, etc, and illustrate throughout with real-world data.

20 credits

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

Whether you're a journalist writing stories for the public, or a social research analyst working in government, you need to be able to understand, use and present data. This 10 credit module aims to demystify data and encourage critical thinking on statistics; often wrongly used, and sometimes in very misleading ways. The module will equip you with the knowledge and skills you'll need to become a discerning data user, through engaging teaching, active learning and examples from the news media. The module is comprised of a mix of lectures and computer workshops and is assessed through a multiple choice exam.

10 credits

In the second year, you will take two core modules, 60 credits from Politics, Sociology and Criminology and then 20 credits from any other second year module on the BSc Quantitative Social Sciences.

Core modules:

Multivariate Data Analysis in Social Science

The module is designed to provide students with a solid grounding in the proper application of multivariate data analysis methods, and an appreciation of their role in the study of contemporary society. This is achieved through a combination of lectures, practical classes and seminars which cover the underlying ideas, provide hands-on experience and give examples of the methods¿ application in the research and policy literature. The module covers methods including multivariate regression, logistic regression, and classification methods.

20 credits

Intermediate Research Project in Quantitative Social Science

This unit gives students experience in conducting a social science research project employing quantitative methods, and provides training in the design and preparation of a viable independent quantitative social science research project. It discusses how to refine a research idea, how to decide on the appropriate choice of data and methods to analyse research questions, how to plan and conduct the research process to ensure the successful completion of a project (emphasising issues of ethics, timing and resourcing), and how to present research plans and results effectively.

20 credits

You will take 60 credits from Politics, Sociology and Criminology below:

Responding to Crime

The module looks at key topics in relation to responses to crime and victimisation. It explores policing and prosecution, public responses, crime prevention, restorative justice and victim support. To what extent are policing and public priorities for policing aligned? How does the public view the role of the authorities? How can we support victims? Are there alternative responses to crime instead of prosecution and sentencing? What are we doing to prevent crime? Do certain types of crime require particular responses? A goal of the module will be to emphasize the interrelatedness of these topics and present them as integrated problems.

20 credits

The Politics and Government of the European Union

This module will provide students with a working knowledge of European integration, and of the main institutions of the European Union, including the Council of Ministers, the Commission and the Parliament. The module consists of a series of lectures on the history and institutions of the European Union, and seminars to discuss issues raised in the lectures.

20 credits

The Political Economy of Global Capitalism

This module will begin by providing students with an account of the major theoretical traditions which seek to interpret and explain the global political economy. These are liberalism and interdependence theory; mercantilism, nationalism and hegemonic stability theory; and marxism, dependency and world systems theory. It then explores different aspects of the contemporary global political economy - finance, development, trade and production - and ends by reviewing the intellectual debate about the meaning of globalisation.

20 credits

International Relations Theory

This module provides an introduction to international relations theory. The module examines the beginnings of the Discipline and demonstrates how these origines have continued to shape contemporary international relations theory. The module then outlines hte key areas of theoretical debate, including Realism, Liberalism, Marxism, Postmodernism, Constructivism, Neorealism, Feminism and Critical Theory

20 credits

Political Theory in Practice

This module explores key debates in political theory, and the implications of those debates for current political practice. It first examines debates surrounding justice, and what these mean for welfare and taxation policies. It then analyses disputes over the meaning of well-being, and their implications for policies surrounding disability and health. It introduces students to different ideas of toleration, and how these influence laws on free speech. It also explores controversies over multiculturalism, and in particular its impact upon women. Finally, it examines care ethics and its implications for how we value the environment.

20 credits

Sociological Theory and Analysis

The aim of this module is to build on and develop students' understanding of Sociological theory, exploring its relevance to key themes and issues in contemporary society. The course will begin with an exploration of the work of modern social theorists such as Talcott Parsons and will conclude with a focus on contemporary theorists such as Donna Haraway. In order to foster student understanding of social theory, its aims and purposes, each theorists work will be applied to substantive issues in modern and contemporary society such as family formation, urbanisation, politics, and globalization. Overall, the module aims to provide students with a critical understanding of the importance and use of modern and contemporary social theory.

20 credits

Dynamics of Social Change and Policy

This unit adopts a 'sociological perspective on social policy' to provide a macro perspective on contemporary social and economic transformations in the UK and globally, with a particular emphasis on the challenges posed for social policy theory and practice, as well as the potential to imagine alternative social policy scenarios. Issues considered include: globalisation, neoliberalism, falling fertility and ageing societies, precarious labour markets and migration and mobility. The unit adopts a comparative and international / global perspective, variously emphasising not only the perspectives of International Organisations, but also the challenges faced by other types of welfare regimes.

20 credits

Men, Feminism and Gender relations

This unit provides a critical examination of the growing body of sociological and other literature concerned with men and masculinities. It will locate this growth of interest within the context of the feminist movement and subsequent writings/critiques of men and patriarchy. Significantly, the unit will connect to wider scholarship on gender relations, with topics and case studies including: men in sport, men and media, men and health/ well-being, men and feminism, as well as men and sexualities. Methodological and epistemological issues involved in the study of men and masculinities will also form part of this module.

20 credits

Punishment and Penal Policy

This module is concerned with the sentencing and punishment of offenders. It considers, in historical context: the philosophical underpinnings of punishment; sentencing policy and practice; and the forms that punishment takes (including custodial and non-custodial options). It also considers what we know about public attitudes toward punishment. A key issue addressed by this module is the rapid growth of the prison population since the mid-1990s: how can we explain this state of affairs, and can/should this trend be reversed?

20 credits

Contemporary Security Challenges

This module examines a series of key contemporary challenges to international security. It addresses debates about the changing nature of security, analyses some of the causes of conflict and the development of new security threats, and assesses some of the ways in which states seek to manage these threats. A range of approaches are examined in order to provide students with a theoretically-informed but policy-relevant understanding of security-related issues in the twenty-first century.

20 credits

Development

This module explores development, through a focus on the key debates about, approaches to, and strategies for engendering it that have prevailed in different parts of the world at different points in history. It emphasises how development is not just about what happens in poor countries: it has always been historically, ideologically and spatially rooted. It moves forward chronologically and geographically, starting with classical debates about British industrialisation, before examining contending visions of development in the post-war era; the diverse experiences of Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean; and the contemporary rise of China. It ends by returning to Britain and its growth crisis; itself a manifestation of a peculiar development problem.

20 credits

Understanding 'Race' and Migration

The module explores the meaning of race in various social and political contexts. It examines how ideas about race help to shape and determine social and political relations and includes considering the part played by ideas about race in forming notions of self and other at the micro and macro levels. It also explores the role of race as a major source of social divisions and aims to show the significance of racism to the reproduction of structural inequalities. Themes explored include theories of racism, multiculturalism, Muslims, racialised identities, immigration, education and criminal justice.

20 credits

Sociology of Family: Continuity and Change

Using a sociological and anthropological perspective this unit seeks to problematise the concept of `family' as a natural and universal phenomenon. Rather, it underscores the need to explore the notion of the family as a social and historical construction and will achieve that by examining the diversity of family life in countries around the world. While acknowledging the impact of social change on different family constructions, it will also seek to show how some family structures remain the same, creating a situation where one society can have multiple family structures. In particular, it will focus on the role of the state in constructing the family and highlight the impact these different constructions of family life (and the changes they have undergone) have on particular individuals such as women, children and the elderly.

20 credits

Social Problems: Policy and Practice

This team taught unit adopts a ‘sociological approach to social policy’. Drawing on current examples and comparative references, it explores social and ideological constructions of social problems and the role of the state and other agencies in responses to them. It explores key concepts and themes in social policy and practice such as inequality, justice and fairness; individual versus collective responsibility; and welfare versus social control. It focuses on major contemporary issues, including welfare and work; housing and homelessness; and community participation. The unit aims to equip students with the necessary critical perspective and skills to understand and explore social problems.

20 credits

Digital Media and Social Change

By reviewing relevant perspectives on digital society and contemporary activism, the conceptual part of the module will introduce theories and debates used to look at the role of digital media (from email to social media) in protest and activism from the 1990s onwards. The practical part of the module will specifically focus on contemporary cases of protest and activism - e.g., #BlackLivesMatters or #MeToo - to guide students in planning and developing an empirical explorative analysis of the use and role of social media like Twitter and Facebook in campaigns aimed at social change.

20 credits

In the final year, you will take three core modules and 40 credits from Politics, Sociology and Criminology.

Core modules:

Advanced Research Project in Quantitative Social Science

This module requires the student to prepare, organise, research and report a piece of original work on a social science topic. The student will decide on the topic and will either be expected to collect original material in order to investigate it, or to perform secondary analysis on information drawn from existing source (and in both cases using quantitative methods to analyse the data). The finished product is presented in the style, and at the length, associated with academic journal articles.

40 credits

Doing Mixed Methods Research

Research in the social sciences is increasingly using mixed methods to explore the social world. This module covers the principles and practices of conducting mixed methods research (MMR), through an enquiry-based learning approach. By designing and completing their own projects, students will learn how to apply mixed methods and appreciate the value of bringing together both qualitative and quantitative approaches in conducting research. Students will develop their ability to collect, analyse, and present MMR data, alongside critically reflecting process of using MMR.

20 credits

Research Dissemination in Social Sciences

This unit is focused on students preparing and presenting a body of work in various forms, and to various audiences. The aim of the unit is to develop students' ability to disseminate the findings of their L3 dissertation/independent project to both specialist and non-specialist audience, and in a variety of written and verbal forms. This will culminate in a conference towards the end of the year.

20 credits

You will take 40 credits from Politics, Sociology and Criminology below:

Drugs, Crime and Control

This module aims to develop a multidisciplinary understanding of drugs, crime and control by engaging with the key academic and policy literature. Students will explore a wide range of drug-related issues and debates, critically analyse the laws, policies and institutions of drug control, and situate them within the wider social context. The topics covered will include: the social construction of the `drug problem'; drugs and crime; historical and contemporary perspectives on drug policy; drugs policing from the global to the local; tackling drugs through criminal justice interventions; drug control across the world; and the legalisation debate and alternatives to criminalisation.

20 credits

Responding to Crime and Victimisation

This module examines the legal response to international and transnational crimes, from atrocities such as genocide to crimes with a trans- or international element, such as drug and people trafficking. In particular, the module will cover issues of jurisdiction, criminalisation (including contentious international crimes, such as terrorism and organised crime), justifications of international criminal prosecution and its alternatives, and concepts surrounding the implementation of the punishment of international crimes. Special attention is paid to how domestic public laws influence the applicability and `reach' of contemporary international criminal mechanisms.

20 credits

Sexual Offending and Sex Offenders

This module will explore various aspects associated with sexual offending and sex offenders by engaging with key academic literature and policy documents. The module encourages students to review and reflect on the representations of sexual offending and sex offenders across a variety of media formats, to examine current sexual offences legislations in England and Wales and responses to the ‘sex offender problem’. The module will also critique the supervision and management efforts implemented specifically for sex offenders in England and Wales as well as in other jurisdictions.

20 credits

The Rehabilitation of Offenders

Attempts to rehabilitate offenders have a long history and have taken a variety of forms. This module considers the legitimacy and effectiveness of approaches toward offenders which come under the umbrella of `rehabilitation¿. The module focuses in particular on contemporary rehabilitative approaches used in prisons and in the context of community penalties, including the current popularity of cognitive-behavioural treatment programmes. It also examines in detail the relevance and effectiveness of rehabilitation in respect of specific groups of offenders, such as those who commit sexual offences and drug misusing offenders.

20 credits

Analysing Crime Data

This module does not assume any knowledge of the main data analysis computer package used by criminologists to examine survey data (Statistical Package for Social Scientists - SPSS). Using progressively more complex data-bases based on pre-existing surveys, students are taught how to enter, clean and check data, and all commands necessary to analyse survey data (frequency, cross-tabulation, correlation, select, count, etc.).

20 credits

Gender, Crime and Criminal Justice

This module examines the experiences and treatment of men and women as victims and criminals. It examines whether and how offending patterns vary according to gender and explores connections between gender, offending and victimisation. The module also explores the treatment of and experiences of men and women within the criminal justice system. It argues that in order best to understand crime and criminal justice, criminologists must understand both as gendered.

20 credits

Youth Crime and Justice

This module examines youth crime and `antisocial behaviour, as well as formal responses to young people who offend. During the first half of the module, contemporary and historical views of youth crime are critically examined, attending particularly to class, ethnicity and gender, and to the historical construction of youth as problematic. The second half of the module focuses on youth justice, including the role of the police, the courts, Youth Offending Teams, custodial institutions and other bodies in regulating unruly youth and preventing and responding to youth crime.

20 credits

Civilisation, Empire and Hegemony

With American power seemingly all powerful today, this unit provides a rethink of the origins of great power politics/economics. Mainstrem Eurocentric theories in International Relations view great power politics/economics as having universal materialist properties. And they view America and Britain as hegemons that provide global public goods for the benefit of all. This module problematises this view by revealing the differing moral foundations and 'standards of civilisation' that inform the various directions that great power can take. It examines Britain and China in the pre-1900 era, contemporary America, Japan, and the potential role of China in the coming decades.

20 credits

Terrorism, Violence and the State

This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the nature and legitimacy of forms of protest against the modern state. In particular the module focuses on issues of contemporary terrorism. However, in order to understand the nature and motivations of terrorism it is necessary to understand the nature of the modern state and other, non-violent forms of protest such as civil disobedience

20 credits

The Making of the Modern Middle East

This module offers an interdisciplinary examination of the socio-economic and political dynamics of the modern Middle East by exploring the region's major historical developments from a non-Eurocentric perspective, and investigating how the region has been represented and analysed in the social sciences. Students will have the opportunity to reassess the imperial and colonial legacies by retracing the trajectories of state formation and economic development in the past two centuries. The overall aim is to equip students with the knowledge and skills to `de-exceptionalise' the Middle East and enable them to study it as any other region in the international system.

20 credits

Anti-Politics and Democratic Crisis

Across the world, politicians face growing challenges to their authority. The public distrust them more than ever. Insurgent populist parties challenge traditional politics. Private security firms deliver public services. The public, especially young people, experience politics in very different ways (e.g. through social media). This module interrogates these issues through the idea of anti-politics. Built through an innovative course design to mirror the progression of a research project, students will debate theories suggesting liberal democracies are in `crisis', select methodological frameworks, and use them to explain case studies of anti-politics in diverse cases, from to the state to the supermarket.

20 credits

Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence

This module examines under what circumstances political violence is deemed legitimate or illegitimate. We will not treat this as a question to be answered by normative political theory, but rather as an empirical question of power and politics. The key organizing questions for the module will thus be: when is violence treated as legitimate in the world? who gets to determine this? and how and when do the boundaries between legitimate and illegitimate violence change? Specific cases may include the distinction between civilians and combatants, the use of violence in war vs. peace-time, terrorism, torture, domestic/family violence, and police brutality.

20 credits

Narcopolitics

Drugs are big business and politically salient, yet their production, trade, distribution and regulation are understudied in politics. Narcotics are rooted in complex webs of public, private and criminal power, with diverse consequences for growth, development, security and health. This module explores this evolving panorama: it traces the political evolution of therapeutic/psychotropic substances from the opium wars to prohibition, before analysing the `War on Drugs', the attendant creation of mafia violence, and the emergence of `narco-states'. Later classes address contemporary experiments in legalisation and decriminalisation, the development of licit recreational narcotics industries, and the implications for the global prohibitionist architecture.

20 credits

Justice in World Politics

This module interrogates normative issues in world politics. We will first discuss the theoretical perspectives of cosmopolitanism, nationalism and statism, before applying these perspectives to contemporary global issues. Questions to be addressed may include: how ought we to respond to global poverty and inequality? Do we need a global democracy? What does a just global trade regime look like? Who bears responsibility for climate change mitigation? Can states' territorial claims be justified? Should there be a right to global freedom of movement? And what kinds of political institutions do we need in order to realise a globally just order?

20 credits

Party Politics: Competition, Strategies & Campaigns

This module provides an in-depth analysis of party politics. It offers a detailed exposition of the multiple issues related with parties, looking at the interactions both within and outside parties. The module covers key aspects of party politics such as the different types of parties, their organization, party membership, types of party systems, political competition and issue positioning, campaign strategies, formation of new parties, the effects of cleavages, coalition formation, party financing and the number of parties.

20 credits

Parliamentary Studies

This module focuses on how parliaments and legislatures operate and is founded on the basis of theoretically-informed but policy-relevant teaching. It therefore attempts to provide students with a sense of why cultures, traditions and informal relationships matter as much (if not more) than formal procedures. Although the House of Commons and the House of Lords provide the main institutional focus for this module students will be encouraged to adopt a comparative approach whenever possible and to situate their analysis within an appreciation of the changing role of parliament within evolving frameworks of multi-level governance.

20 credits

Pandemics and Panics: Health, Security and Global Politics

In today's globalized world, infectious diseases and other health issues have increasingly come to be seen as security threats - a shift that has challenged traditional notions of what 'Security Studies' is all about. This module seeks to provide an understanding of the contemporary politics of health and security, identifying the health issues which have been seen as security threats and the major policy responses to them. The module locates health and disease within the key approaches to Security Studies (including state-centric and human security approaches), and requires students to critically engage with the politics and ethics of securitizing health.

20 credits

The Ethics of Political Leadership

This module investigates the ethics of political leadership via an engagement with the western tradition of political thought and contemporary analytical political theory. Its overall objective is to enable students to analyse and evaluate normative arguments on the significance and function of political leaders in contemporary politics. The module examines competing theories of leadership in their historical and intellectual contexts and a number of issues of contemporary ethical significance, including the problem of 'dirty hands', the nature of political integrity, and the ethics of political compromise. The approach is theoretical and philosophical and examples of political leaders will be used to highlight strengths and weaknesses of competing theories of leadership, and to emphasise their ideological assumptions and implications.

20 credits

Animals, Ethics and Politics

This unit explores the debates surrounding what we owe to animals politically. It introduces students to the main debates in animal ethics, and asks how they affect our political practices, norms, institutions and policies. Particular attention is focused on the tensions between animal welfare and other political values and goods, with students exploring such controversial policy debates as animal experimentation, animal agriculture, conservation and the use of animals for entertainment. The overall aim of the unit is to investigate the implications of taking animals seriously for current political practice.

20 credits

Sex, Race and Death: Feminist Perspectives on War, Violence and (In)Security

This unit produces a critical take on war, violence and security from feminist perspectives. Particular attention is focused on feminist theories that foreground the interconnectedness or 'intersectionality' of different power relations, including postcolonial, transnational and queer approaches. How are different forms and sites of violence connected? How do technologies of gender, sex and race shape understandings of certain forms of political violence as lawful, legitimate and necessary? What are the gendered legacies of (ongoing) histories of colonialism and imperialism? What are the (feminist) ethics of researching and possibly reproducing violence and suffering? Among the themes we will explore are the erotics of conquest and slavery; military masculinities; sexual violence in conflict; private military and security companies; torture and surveillance; women as agents of violence; Orientalism and the War on Terror; human rights and international law; imperial feminisms and just war theory; occupation and resistance.

20 credits

The Sociology of Surveillance

The course aims to introduce students to the emerging field of surveillance studies. By focusing on an exploration of the primary literature concerning recent development in surveillance theory students will be equipped to engage with sociological debates surrounding the spread of new surveillance technologies. In particular the course will explore how `surveillant solutions' have become a dominant form of governance in the 21st century by focusing on case studies of surveillance in particular contexts such as policing and criminal justice, health and welfare, the work place, and consumer behaviour.

20 credits

Whiteness, Power and Privilege

This unit explores the importance of studying whiteness in order to understand racism as a system of power relationships. It explains why the construction of whiteness has become a key focus in debates about race and ethnicity and examines critically some of the key themes to emerge in this field of study. This includes exploring the historical origins of `white studies' and assessing representations of whiteness in literary and visual culture. It also includes exploring the racialised, classed and gendered boundaries of whiteness by examining, for example, the socially and politically constructed categories of `white trash' and the `chav'.

20 credits

Sociology of Evil

Despite the increasing secularisation and rationalisation of society, evil is still an all too familiar term. For some it invokes images of devils, demons and witches, for others criminals, terrorists and murderers, whilst debates on the `social evils' of poverty, prostitution and alcohol are continually recycled for each generation. This module aims to introduce students to a sociological approach to evil by asking them to develop their own innovative case-studies of evil in combination with published research. They will be asked to: explore the ontology of evil; examine how evil is explained and accounted for; investigate the consequences of evil; develop an understanding concerning the representation of evil and assess the aetiological precedents for that representation; and, ultimately, critically determine the role evil has within society.

20 credits

Digital Identities

This module explores how gender, age, race, class and other identities are being reimagined in what various commentators have called a `social media age'. It provides students with an in-depth understanding of social media platforms, roles in people's identity negotiations, examining users' social media identities in different global contexts, and paying close attention to the intersections between different identities. It reviews debates about identity formations from the earliest digital media moments and considers contemporary concerns, such as: anonymity and agency; selfies and sexting; censorship, resistance and collective identities; social media fandoms; masculinity and gaming.

15 credits

Police and Policing in a Global Context

The Criminology Research Paper requires a student to submit a research paper of 6,000 words on a criminological topic that is approved in advance by the module convenor. The aim of the module is to support a student in independently carrying out research, whether library-based or empirical. It may also enable a student to study a subject that is not otherwise covered in depth on their degree. It is the student's responsibility to select the topic and to approach the module convenor for approval. The student may only proceed with research that a member of the criminology staff is willing to supervise. The student should approach the appropriate staff member and seek agreement for the supervision of their project before opting to undertake the research paper.

20 credits

Criminal Evidence

The Law of Criminal Evidence is the body of rules that determine what material may be used to prove or disprove the criminal offence alleged to have been committed by the accused. Specific topics covered include the rules governing witness testimony, the regulation of questioning, the burden of proof, and the operation of exclusionary rules concerning hearsay evidence, confessions and character evidence.

20 credits

Criminology Research Project

This module develops on the earlier research methods module (Analysing Crime Data). There, students learned to manipulate and analyse data using SPSS on a computer. Here, students will work in small groups developing research ideas to form a fully developed questionnaire, which will be subsequently administered to a small general public sample via Corporate Information and Computing Systems (CICS). Thereafter, resulting data iscoded, computerised and analysed, and results written up as an individual report.

20 credits

Restorative Justice

This module examines the historical and theoretical foundations of restorative justice as a response to offending behaviour. The various practices associated with restorative justice (including victim-offender mediation, family group conferencing and police-led conferencing) around the world are examined and their relationship with `formal¿ systems of criminal justice considered. The module also critically considers the effectiveness of restorative justice practices from the perspectives of a variety of stakeholders, including victims, offenders, communities and politicians.

15 credits

Marx and Contemporary Marxism

This module will familiarise students with Marx's corpus and enable them to evaluate key historical processes-such as the development of capitalism and modernity, the birth of the nation-state and the international system-through a Marxist lens. The first part of the module surveys the development of Marx's thought against the background of the socio-economic and political transformations of the nineteenth century. The second part focuses on thematic issues, reviewing how Marx engaged with the questions of strategy, mobilisation, gender, culture, imperialism, and colonialism. This puts Marx and Marxism into dialogue with other critical approaches, including feminism, postcolonialism, and poststructuralism.

20 credits

Peacekeeping, State-building and International Intervention

This module looks at the way international intervention has changed in recent years. It draws on a number of different areas - humanitarian intervention, peacekeeping, development and state-building. It draws these areas together by exploring what they have in common and how there has been a shift in the way that international intervention deals with these issues. In particular, the international community has moved from direct involvement towards a form of governance that operates from a distance by encouraging local ownership, capacity building and resilience.

20 credits

Political Theory in An Age of Total War

This module presents an overview of the major figures and themes in twentieth century continental political theory, ranging temporally from Max Weber to Jacques Derrida. In reflecting on the dynamics of modernity and rationalization, contemporary European political thought responds to the atrocities of Europe's age of total war. Much of this work is an attempt to come to grips with reason and unreason in the capitalist, industrialized, mass democracies of Europe in light of the legacies of two world wars and the rise of totalitarianism. Key themes include: the legacy of the Enlightenment, the role of technology in modern life, the bureaucratization of politics, the possibility of human freedom, collective memory and forgiveness and the role of philosophy in the aftermath of mass genocide. We will approach this material both historically and hermeutically in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of these responses to these problems.

20 credits

The Value of Sociology

This module builds on the subject-specific knowledge and skills that students have acquired at levels 1 and 2. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on both the value of Sociology as a discipline and the value of their degree programme overall. A critical assessment of the state of the discipline will be explored through a series of lectures delivered by a range of lecturers, leading to a series of workshop-type seminars in which students will reflect on the usefulness of what they have learned during their degree and how to communicate this to an external audience. Students will develop enterprise skills within the context of the discipline they are studying and enhance their understanding of the inter-connection between Sociology, the skills they have developed and their application in the wider world.

20 credits

Sociology of Health, Illness and Medicine

This module explores sociological aspects of health, illness and medicine. It will focus on issues of health inequality exploring the ways in which patterns of health and disease vary according to class, gender and race. It also provides a critical examination of biomedicine, highlighting the contemporary challenges faced by medicine as a profession. Furthermore, it will focus on new dynamic developments in science and medicine linking health with the Internet and exploring the rise of the new genetics. The aim of this course is to provide students with a critical understanding of the role of health, illness and medicine within contemporary society.

20 credits

What it means to be human

New scientific knowledge in evolutionary biology, psychology and neuroscience is making powerful claims about `human nature¿ that are reconstructing how we understand ourselves. At the same time, powerful new technologies have the potential to reshape our bodies and brains. This module aims to critically engage with these developments using concepts from a number of sociological traditions. Can biology tell us anything meaningful about social interaction? What is the nature of choice and agency? Is biology relevant to understanding racial and gender differences? Does our psychology have an evolutionary basis? How are the boundaries between humans and machines changing? Should we use new technologies to enhance ourselves? The module will address and seek to answer these and other important questions.

20 credits

Intimacy and Personal Relationships

The module explores approaches to theorising and studying intimacy and personal relationships. Beginning with the Individualisation thesis and its critics, the module will go on to explore recent moves towards conceptualising personal relationships in terms of embeddedness, relationality, intimacy and linked lives. Students will also explore a range of substantive topics within the field including memory, genealogy, material culture and home, marriage and sexuality, responsibility and care, and friendship.

20 credits

Digital Media in a Datafied Society

This unit examines the social consequences of widespread use of social media, a key characteristic of digital society. It explores what happens as a result of the digitised and networked sharing of personal information and life experiences of all kinds, in times of datafication (that is, the transformation into data, numbers and statistics aspects of social life which formerly did not exist in such forms). The unit reviews theoretical literature on social media, data and society and addresses specific debates and issues, including: social media data mining; social media surveillance; the economic value of social media data; data tracking, privacy, rights and data subjects; governing social media data mining; data activism and open data; data visualisation; new forms of data work; data and everyday life.

15 credits

Digital Health

This module looks at the social implications of digital technologies in health, considering what these mean for our experiences of health and illness as patients and as citizens, for the work of health care professionals, and for the provision of health care. The module will consider a range of contemporary areas such as self-tracking and gamifying health, telemedicine and care at a distance, health information on the net, electronic patient records, illness death and dying on the web, and health activism and online patient groups. Drawing across these, the module will consider questions about changing representations and cultures of health and illness, whether we can all be medical experts now, who has responsibility for health, how we relate to health care professionals, the commodification of health data and the relative benefits for state and industry.

20 credits

Queer Theory and the Media

This module introduces queer theory and discusses the role of different media for how gender and sexuality are constructed, represented and expressed. We will trace activist and academic origins of the word `queer¿ and explore queer (self-)representations in mainstream and alternative media such as newspapers, films, zines, blogs, social media and dating apps. We will also look into how those representations promote or challenge the binaries of male versus female, masculine versus feminine, and heterosexual versus homosexual as well as how they travel around the world and promote particular understandings of gender and sexuality transnationally.

20 credits

Core modules:

Data Visualisation

This module consists of three key elements. The first is principles of good graphic design, combined with how figures can be used to lie and mislead. The second is learning how to make a wide range of graphs, maps, and figures, for a wide range of different audiences, using the latest and most powerful software. The third is interpreting visual representations of data, whether from other sources or by students on he module themselves, and using them to answer substantive research questions. Fundamentally, this is a hands-on module that allows students to make and understand data visualisations.

10 credits

Introductory Quantitative Data Analysis for Social Scientists

This unit provides students with training in, and hands-on experience of, introductory quantitative data analysis techniques for social scientists. Students are introduced to descriptive statistics, data distributions, commonly encountered mathematical functions, principles of hypothesis testing, principles of statistical inference, and methods for testing bivariate relationships. The course includes hands-on experience of some commonly used statistical methods.

20 credits

Introductory research project in quantitative social science

This unit introduces students to the skills required for the effective design, execution and communication of a social science research project utilising quantitative methods. Students will construct their own research project aimed at answering a particular problem in social science, will identify, obtain and analyse the data necessary to answer that question, and will present their findings both on a written project report and in a poster paper to be presented at a student conference.

20 credits

Survey Design and Data Collection

Survey method is commonly used by government, business and other organisations to understand changes in the society. Yet, not always it leads to producing meaningful analysis as a result of bad survey design choices. This module will improve your understanding of the art of asking survey questions and the science underpinning survey data collection. Specifically, you will learn how to design an effective questionnaire, whom to include in the survey sample, how to organised your fieldwork and finally, how to process raw data and manage the final dataset. You will use online survey software to practice your skills.

10 credits

You will take 40 credits from Geography, Urban Studies and Landscape below.

Information and Communication Skills

The skills needed to be able to find, evaluate, summarise and critically evaluate information are all vital to success in an undergraduate degree programme, and are also key transferable skills. This module provides basic knowledge of a range of methods for information-gathering and forms of communication. The teaching is delivered through a mix of lectures, workshops and student-led discussions, with students expected to take more responsibility for their own learning as the module progresses. . Lectures provide basic knowledge on method for information gathering and forms of communication, whilst workshops and a range of exercises are used to develop these skills

10 credits

Housing, Home and Neighbourhood

Housing and the homes and neighbourhoods that we live in are in the news every day. Whether this is over concerns about housing shortages, affordability, housing bubbles, `generation rent', social housing, housing evictions, Covid lockdown, city-centre housing, DIY and `grand designs', or debates about the domestic sphere, `home as a haven', `benefit streets', flooding and shack settlements, housing is often at the centre of social science research. This module aims to introduce students to this broad and diverse subject by drawing on the expertise of staff who research across these multiple themes. The module focuses on contemporary concerns, while maintaining an appreciation of the impact of historical trends (e.g. the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8). The module will make use of cases from the UK and abroad to illustrate trends, arguments and challenges.

10 credits

The Making of Urban Places

This module will introduce you to cities and urbanisation, from the very first settlements to contemporary metropolises, using examples from across the world. The module focuses on thinking about the role of cities within societies and civilisations throughout history. The first half, on the history of urbanisation and urban settlement, looks at how various forces have shaped cities, and the outcomes of urbanisation for cities and their populations. The second half, on contemporary global urbanisation challenges, examines some of the major global challenges facing cities today. Throughout, we will explore influential ideas which have changed our thinking about cities, and look at how urban governments and planners have sought to respond to the challenges of urbanisation.

20 credits

The Changing Landscape

This module aims to: - Introduce landscape and environmental planning as a means of intervening in landscape at the large scale. - Provide an understanding of landscape formation, change and the drivers of change. - Introduce the toolkit available to landscape planners. - Introduce the theory and technique of Landscape Character Assessment. - Develop report writing skills and visual literacy. - Introduce student to ArcGIS. By the end of the module, students will be able to demonstrate understanding of/proficiency in: - The influences and processes that shape landscape. - The relationship between landscape planning and landscape policy. - Sourcing and interpreting landscape information. - Appreciating the (sometimes controversial) nature of landscape change. - Landscape Character and Landscape Character Assessment at an introductory level capacity and sensitivity analysis at an introductory level. - Communicating landscape data and analysis at a planning scale in a critical imaginative and creative manner.

20 credits

The Environmental Challenge

Human impacts are significantly altering the natural environment, and ecological degradation poses threats to human society. This module introduces students to these challenges and how they might be addressed. It aims to (1) to examine the key environmental challenges facing human societies with a particular focus on climate change; (2) to provide students with theoretical knowledge and practical understanding to help in confronting environmental challenges in a context they know (3) Provide an awareness of society’s main political institutions and regulatory procedures concerned with environmental protection and climate change (4) Develop skills in report writing and critical thinking related to environmental issues.

10 credits

Economics for Spatial Planning

This module provides an introduction to economic concepts and theories and to the way in which they are applied to the analysis of selected markets and policy challenges. The module seeks to offer an economic perspective on planning issues. The overall aim of the module is to develop students' understanding of the economic environment within which planners and other urban professions operate and to enhance understanding of economic theory and the economy in general.

10 credits

Cities

The main aim of Cities is to introduce you to our urban condition in a global context. Within this broad aim we will connect you to a range of key issues in contemporary urban studies and help you to understand more about the roots of urban problems and questions of social inequality and social justice within that context. This a general course that aims to develop an understanding of urban social life, economies, political systems, urban order/disorder and a range of other themes in an international context.

10 credits

Development, Planning and the State

The module provides an introduction to planning theory and practice, exploring arguments for and against spatial planning and the rationale for state intervention into land and property development and introducing key principles of planning law and practice. The first part of the module covers key debates on the purposes of planning, the historical development of planning as a state activity and the current structure of national, regional and local government. The central part of the module introduces key aspects of the English planning system and key debates about its role and purpose. The final third of the module explores its application to issues of contemporary concern.

20 credits

Exploring Human Geographies

The module provides an introduction to human geography including key principles and processes in economic, social and cultural geography. It describes the main elements and issues involved in the global economic system including the process of uneven development and how local economic activities are moulded by global forces. It also provides an introduction to social and cultural geography focusing on a range of concepts, current debates and contemporary issues. Drawing examples from around the world and at a variety of geographical scales, the module highlights the value of a geographical perspective on current economic, social and cultural issues.

20 credits

Environmental Change and Society

This module will introduce students to a wide range of critical environmental issues facing the world today from physical science and social science perspectives. Using a range of environmental problems evident in the Global North and Global South (such as climate change, habitat loss, water resources, land-use change, agriculture), the physical and social processes implicated will be examined. Drawing on a range of examples, students will critically explore the causes, consequences, management and solutions to environmental issues and learn how to question assumptions about environmental processes.

20 credits

Exploring New Horizons in Geography

Geographers actively contribute to intellectual debates across the sciences, social sciences and Humanities addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the modern world, from climate change to food security, informing policy and practice. The module provides a challenging but accessible insight into the origins of the discipline and how these translate into the cutting edge of contemporary geographical research, and how this helps us understand our changing world. Serving as a bridge between the general introductory modules and the more specialist modules taught at levels 2 and 3, this module provides an opportunity for students to engage with topical issues in contemporary human and physical geography led by academics actively engaged in cutting edge research on those subjects.

20 credits

You will take 20 credits from the list below and/or any other first year module on the BSc Quantitative Social Sciences.

Economy, Society and Public Policy (ESPP)

ESPP is for students who are interested in the big policy problems facing societies today ¿ inequality within and between countries, environmental sustainability, the future of work, health and wellbeing, wealth creation and financial instability and so on. This module has been created specifically for social science students who are NOT economists, but who want to understand how the economy works, and how it can be made to work better. The module will give you an understanding of the ways in which we can interpret the evidence on the social and economic issues of today, and formulate appropriate public policy interventions. We emphasise issues of power, social norms, fairness, institutions, etc, and illustrate throughout with real-world data.

20 credits

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics

Whether you're a journalist writing stories for the public, or a social research analyst working in government, you need to be able to understand, use and present data. This 10 credit module aims to demystify data and encourage critical thinking on statistics; often wrongly used, and sometimes in very misleading ways. The module will equip you with the knowledge and skills you'll need to become a discerning data user, through engaging teaching, active learning and examples from the news media. The module is comprised of a mix of lectures and computer workshops and is assessed through a multiple choice exam.

10 credits

In the second year, you will take three core modules, 40 credits from Geography, Urban Studies and Landscape and then 20 credits from any other second year module on the BSc Quantitative Social Sciences.

Core modules:

Multivariate Data Analysis in Social Science

The module is designed to provide students with a solid grounding in the proper application of multivariate data analysis methods, and an appreciation of their role in the study of contemporary society. This is achieved through a combination of lectures, practical classes and seminars which cover the underlying ideas, provide hands-on experience and give examples of the methods¿ application in the research and policy literature. The module covers methods including multivariate regression, logistic regression, and classification methods.

20 credits

Intermediate Research Project in Quantitative Social Science

This unit gives students experience in conducting a social science research project employing quantitative methods, and provides training in the design and preparation of a viable independent quantitative social science research project. It discusses how to refine a research idea, how to decide on the appropriate choice of data and methods to analyse research questions, how to plan and conduct the research process to ensure the successful completion of a project (emphasising issues of ethics, timing and resourcing), and how to present research plans and results effectively.

20 credits

Spatial Analysis

The aims of the module are to provide students with a broad introduction to the basic concepts of GIS and how they can be used for the spatial analysis of a wide range of data for planning purposes. The assessments will (a) test students' individual understanding of key concepts and their ability to think about the potentials and limitations of using spatial analysis to solve planning related problems; and (b) assess students' skills in the practical application of GIS and spatial analysis to a contemporary planning-related problem.

20 credits

You will take 40 credits from Geography, Urban Studies and Landscape below.

Geographies of Development

Development in the Global South is a major issue of international concern in the 21st century. This module explores contemporary development issues and examines the contribution that geographers, and geographical thought, can make towards understanding inequality, poverty and socio-economic change. Definitions of `development', `poverty' and `the poor' shift and are invested with political meaning which reflect specific geographies and ways of seeing the world: students develop critical understandings of such terminology and the power dynamics implicit within them. This module addresses diverse theories, paradigms and contemporary critiques of development, and explores some of the central issues affecting processes of development. Case examples are drawn from Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia.

20 credits

Atmospheres and Oceans

This module will give students an understanding of the global climate, focusing on the atmospheres, the oceans, and their interaction. The first part of the module will consider the main characteristics of, and processes behind, climate from the global to the local scale. The second part of the module will examine the physical characteristics of the oceans and their geographical variation, and the role of the oceans in the climate system.

20 credits

Social and Cultural Geographies

This module builds on the Level 1 module Introduction to Human Geography. It illustrates the diversity and vitality of contemporary social and cultural geography including some of the philosophical concepts and theoretical debates that have shaped the subject. As well as demonstrating the value of a geographical perspective on a range of social and cultural issues, the module will enhance the understanding, critical awareness and interdisciplinary capacities of students. The module aims to deepen and enrich the ways in which students are able to think about geographical issues, through a critical understanding of concepts and approaches that underpin the substance and methods of contemporary human geography. The module is delivered through lectures and engagement with a variety of media. It will be assessed via an essay and an unseen exam.

20 credits

Environmental Pollution and Quality

This module aims to introduce the students to the origins, pathways and consequences of pollutants in the environment, their control and remediation. Pollutants are released into the environment through anthropogenic activities that include domestic, leisure and industrial practices. These pollutants are potentially harmful to the ecosystem and human health. Therefore, an understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes involved during the contamination of water and soil is essential to protect the environment. This module provides an introduction on how to assess and quantify pollutants by using laboratory techniques for the determination of contamination in water and soil.

20 credits

Earth Surface Processes

This course on the earth surface processes looks at the relationship between processes and landforms at a variety of scales in space and time. It examines endogenic processes originating within the earth, exogenic processes occurring at the earth/atmosphere/ocean interface and the way they interact to create landforms. The course discusses geomorphological concepts, frameworks and monitoring techniques and will elucidate a range of quantitative modelling approaches, where numerical expressions are introduced. Case studies drawn from staff research (e.g. aeolian/fluvial/volcanic) alongside practical classes and an appreciation of the importance of new measurement techniques to process understanding, will directly support learning. The course is delivered through 20 one-hour lectures, and 3 three-hour practical classes.

20 credits

Doing Quantitative Research

This dynamic inquiry-based course will provide students with practical experience of conducting quantitative social research that has real-life application to the social world. Using a wide range of national and international sources, students will work on the process of gathering, processing, and analysing quantitative data, with a particular focus on communicating findings to a wide range of audiences. This will involve working with different software to analyse and present results, using a wide range of graphical techniques, and interpreting quantitative results in social science more generally.

20 credits

Urban Theory

This module aims to develop student’s imaginative engagement with the nature of urban life and human settlement. Urban theory is about how we think about and ‘see’ cities around us – ideas are critical to how we engage with the key problems of the urban world, they are also important to our understanding of how cities work in practice. Urban Theory introduces a range of ideas and key concepts in urban studies with a view to understanding how cities have developed and how they ‘work’ in broad terms. The module considers a range of thinkers, ideas and problems.

20 credits

Political Geographies

The module introduces students to contemporary debates within political geography, addressing political processes at a variety of spatial scales, from international, national, local and community politics through to individual political behaviour. Questions of power, efficacy and conflict are examined at all these scales with particular emphasis on the spatial and place-specific aspects of politics in relation to issues including: geopolitics and international relations; the state and territoriality; the politics of nationalism and citizenship; civic activism; and individual political participation.

20 credits

Environment, Society and Politics

Environmental issues continue to be a key area of contemporary public concern and current political debate. They raise fundamental questions about the relationship between society and environment, and the politics of that relationship. This module provides a geographical introduction to these issues and debates with examples from a range of scales from the global to the local. After a review of key concepts, the module is developed through inter-related sections covering debates through different empirical themes.

20 credits

Past Environmental Change

The landscape we live in is a dynamic place and has been in the past as well. Huge changes at a global, regional and local scale have occurred in the last 2.6 million years of the earth's history (Quaternary period). These changes are ongoing with implications for both present and future environments. Methods and techniques to investigate past environmental changes from proxy data are outlined and illustrated. The module also looks at how palaeoenvironments have responded to past climate changes thereby putting a context for present day climate changes and predicting future changes.

20 credits

Glaciers and Ice Sheets

This module examines glaciers and ice sheets of the World focussing on how they are believed to function and with some consideration of their historic and future changes.We examine how glaciers and ice sheets come into existence through an understanding of climate and the concept of glacier mass balance. We then consider how glaciers work including on topics such as ice flow, hydrological drainage, ice streams, ice shelves, glacial lakes, and icebergs. Hazards to humankind are also explored. How glaciers modify the underlying landscape is dealt with via a section on glacial geomorphological processes and landforms, and we consider how landscapes evolve under the influence of ice.

20 credits

Cities and Modernities

The links between social conflict and cultural production in the history of modern cities have long fascinated scholars exploring the cultural history of the capitalist urban imagination. They have sought to understand the way artists, intellectuals, political activists, ordinary people and other thinkers sought to understand and explain the varied experiences of, and relationships between, sensory perceptions, aesthetic judgements and power relations in their own place and time. This module will draw from historical, cultural, social, and political geographies as well as other disciplines to engage with the shifting nature and spatiality of these relationships through case studies of selected cities, the particular changes in capitalist urban culture they occasioned, contemporary responses to those changes, and the theoretical debates they inspired. Key topics will include urban form and architecture, cultural difference and social inequality, representational practices and bodily experiences, and the overall consciousness of change in modern capitalist cities.

20 credits

Landscape Planning for a Changing World

This module explores the relationship between landscape,planning, policy and governance at different scales and in different contexts. This ranges from international decision-making frameworks down to individual sites in different contexts. Students will learn about the impact of policy and ideas on landscape and vice versa, and explore the role of landscape planning tools, techniques and methodologies within the wider planning framework. The module will examine how decisions about landscape are made and the effects they have from the strategic to the site scale.

20 credits

Doing Qualitative Research

Qualitative research remains a key method of data collection and analysis in the social sciences and the skills and techniques that researchers use to generate qualitative data have numerous other applications in the workplace and beyond. In this inquiry-based module students will continue to develop their ability to collect, analyse, and present qualitative data by working on problem-focussed research project. Building on their experience of social research practice they have developed at level one, by the end of this module, students will have completed a team-based qualitative project from beginning to end and used the data to produce an internet-ready research newsletter 'Google Site'. More importantly, they will also demonstrate the ability to critically reflect on the process of doing qualitative research.

20 credits

Profit, Planning and Context

The module explores the relationship between the activities of profit-seeking business, the use and development of land and the planning activity. It provides an elementary introduction to the economics of land and property development and explores how these pressures interact with lifestyle choices to shape the use of land and property and the implication for public planning. The first part provides a brief introduction to measuring the performance of businesses and investments. The remainder of the module looks at the use of land and property for housing, retail, leisure, employment and transport uses in `urban' contexts

20 credits

In the final year, you will take three core modules and 40 credits from Geography, Urban Studies and Landscape.

Core modules:

Advanced Research Project in Quantitative Social Science

This module requires the student to prepare, organise, research and report a piece of original work on a social science topic. The student will decide on the topic and will either be expected to collect original material in order to investigate it, or to perform secondary analysis on information drawn from existing source (and in both cases using quantitative methods to analyse the data). The finished product is presented in the style, and at the length, associated with academic journal articles.

40 credits

Doing Mixed Methods Research

Research in the social sciences is increasingly using mixed methods to explore the social world. This module covers the principles and practices of conducting mixed methods research (MMR), through an enquiry-based learning approach. By designing and completing their own projects, students will learn how to apply mixed methods and appreciate the value of bringing together both qualitative and quantitative approaches in conducting research. Students will develop their ability to collect, analyse, and present MMR data, alongside critically reflecting process of using MMR.

20 credits

Research Dissemination in Social Sciences

This unit is focused on students preparing and presenting a body of work in various forms, and to various audiences. The aim of the unit is to develop students' ability to disseminate the findings of their L3 dissertation/independent project to both specialist and non-specialist audience, and in a variety of written and verbal forms. This will culminate in a conference towards the end of the year.

20 credits

You will take 40 credits from Geography, Urban Studies and Landscape below.

Decolonising Geographies

This module examines Indigenous geographies through Indigenous storytelling and film as a way to understand the need to decolonise geography. It examines how race, racism, Indigenous rights, settler colonialism, settler responsibility, white supremacy, land rights, dispossession and genocide shape geographies of place, space and landscape. Topics covered include geographies of identity, emotions, memory, racism, colonialism, gender, landscape, and visual representation. The aim of this module is to centre Indigenous narratives, voices and knowledge to understand geography differently while simultaneously critiquing the current whiteness of academic geographical discourse. Trigger warning – this module engages with potentially distressing and challenging themes of rape, murder, abuse, loss and violence.

20 credits

Development and Global Change

The aim of this module is to critically examine the development process within a global context, drawing on examples from developed and developing nations. Attention is given to the different ways in which we in the West understand 'development', and how we can reflect more critically on our position, and the power relations within this process. Drawing on debates within development geography, and other disciplines, the course is structured around three themes: the development industry, the poverty agenda and the local-global nexus. Topics covered may include: neoliberalism and state governance, humanitarian intervention, gender and empowerment, protests and social movements, corporate social responsibility, participation and empowerment, local forms of resistance, environmental action and change.

20 credits

Geographies of Consumption

The ways in which we buy and use stuff and services are inextricable from the shaping of both our everyday lives and of contemporary societies. From constructions of identity and models of human well-being to issues of social equality and environmental sustainability, debates around consumption illuminate critical perspectives on contemporary societies and cultures. This module explores key contemporary geographical perspectives on consumption, linking critical insights and theoretical perspectives to our own practices and experiences.

20 credits

Advances in Cryosphere Science

This research-led module will examine glacial environments in their broadest sense including both their contemporary and former states. Typically, the module will contain four sections including: 1) Glaciology (processes and phenomena of current glaciers) 2) Palaeoglaciology (reconstructions of former glaciers) 3) Periglacial environments (cold region processes often close to glacierised regions) 4) Specialist guest research contributions (lectures/seminars on topical cryospheric research).

20 credits

Landscape Planning Toolkits

On completing this module students will:- have gained an overview of contemporary landscape planning tools- be aware of the legislative basis to environmental impact assessment and the circumstances in which it is likely to take place- understand the scope of the process and the steps that are involved, distinguishing between the assessment process itself and the environmental statement- have gained knowledge and understanding of the range of environmental topics covered in environmental impact assessment and the techniques involved- have understood the place that considerations of landscape and visual impact play in the process- have gained practical experience of assessing the landscape and visual impacts of a development scheme- understand some of the methods of presenting information on landscape and visual impacts in an environmental statement.

20 credits

Environmental Policy and Governance

This unit aims to help students analyse environmental policy. It provides an overview of principal elements of contemporary environmental governance, and an introduction to the process of systematic policy evaluation in relation to a policy element of their choice. The module focuses on the contested and complex nature of the policy environment, and the role of the public and specific interests. Through individual investigation of a specific element of policy, students will explore the multi-level nature of environmental policy, contested and competing policy goals, and theories about how policy brings about change. Teaching involves a combination of lectures and interactive seminars.

10 credits

Philosophy, Aesthetics and Place

Place, in all its forms, has long inspired radically new thought and perception. This module will explore the work of several historical and contemporary philosophers and artists in situ -why did their work arise where it did? What difference does that place (or places) make to their thought and expression? This module will guide students through the intricate relationship between philosophy, art (across various media) and geography with emphasis on specific types of place as sites of intellectual thought and creative practice. These may range from the large scale such as nation and heimat, to the urban scale, to the intimate such as the village and even the body. Core themes will include identity, place and displacement, historical imaginary and the built environment, and creativity and social/spatial transformation.

20 credits

Planetary Geoscience

This module introduces the student to the fascinating discipline of planetary geoscience and exploration. By using the principles of Physical Geography to study unfamiliar environments, we will explore problems that touch upon themes from climate, tectonics, geomorphology, hydrology, and life. The module begins with the Solar System but soon focuses on planetary-scale matters, using the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) as main examples because of an explosion of knowledge gathered from their observation. We will consider the new perspectives which such knowledge offers on the Earth's dynamic systems.

20 credits

Urban Transformations

From the industrial-era modern cities of the Global North such as Manchester and Chicago to the fragmented, sprawling mega-cities of the contemporary Global South such as Lagos and Delhi, urban theorists have sought to understand the interplay of power, everyday practice, and social, political, economic, and cultural processes that both transform and are transformed by urban space. Pulling together critical social science and humanities-informed perspectives, the module draws from interdisciplinary theory and research to engage with urban transformations in both the Global North and the Global South. Topics may include transformations in urban theory, urban uprisings, urban infrastructure, and the role of film and literature in documenting and anticipating urban change.

20 credits

Critical Ecologies

This module explores the critical, contested and controversial debates about environmental and ecological issues. Using a range of examples of research undertaken by staff in the department from the Global North and Global South this module develops a critical geographical approach to understanding environmental controversies. Examples will be drawn from a range of issues including agriculture, water, energy, food, climate change and housing.

20 credits

Coastal Systems: Processes and Management

This module will explore the processes occuring within coastal environments, covering a range of oceanographic, meteorological, geological, geomorphological, biogeochemical and biological topics, including aspects of societal interaction with these environments. The topics covered will vary depending on the teaching team; the environments studied may include estuaries, dunes, cliffs, near-shore environments and fjords, among others. The aim of the module is to give students an appreciation of the variety and multi-disciplinarity of the physical geography of the coastal margins. An integral element of this module will be a weekend field component.

20 credits

Values, Theory and Ethics in Spatial Planning

Drawing on insights from theoretical debates in planning and policy studies the module explores the assumptions underlying spatial planning practice and the challenges confronting practitioners. Firstly, it explores the values underpinning planning to understand why we plan, the nature of the challenges planning seeks to address and the dilemmas and conflicts these generate for planning practice. Secondly, it presents diverse theoretical approaches that planning has taken to address these dilemmas and conflicts. Thirdly, it examines the implications different planning theories have for the values of planning and the ethical frameworks available to planners in deciding how to act. Lectures will employ real-world cases and dilemmas faced by individual practitioners in their day-to-day work. Seminars will involve discussion based on films and other relevant material. Workshops will support students in the application of the approaches and theories discussed to specific cases, in preparation for the assignment.

20 credits

Transport and Infrastructure Planning

This module will provide students with an introduction to planning and policymaking in relation to the provision of transport and other types of infrastructure. The module develops students' ability to think critically about the framing of transport and infrastructure policy using an appreciation of historic developments, current practices and debates, transport and infrastructure planning examples from the UK and abroad. It will focus on how planners working at a range of spatial scales can give shape to effective transport and infrastructure strategies, which balance a range of environmental, social and economic objectives.

20 credits