2023/24 Undergraduate Programme Catalogue

BA International Relations with Quantitative Research Methods Commencing at level two

Total credits: 365

Entry requirements:

There will be no direct recruitment to the ‘quantitative methods’ pathways. Students will be able to transfer to the quantitative methods pathway at the end of level one subject to achieving a minimum mark of 60 in PIED1110 Comparative Politics and an average of 60 overall.

School/Unit responsible for the parenting of students and programme:

School of Politics and International Studies

Examination board through which the programme will be considered:

School of Politics and International Studies

Relevant QAA Subject Benchmark Groups:

Programme specification:

The BA in International Relations in the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) is a successful and established degree programme that has been running for many years. The course is taught by a dedicated team of experts in the field of international relations who use their highly specialised and general knowledge of the international system to provide a thorough grounding in the one of the most important areas of political life.

The core elements of the programme are designed to introduce students to the workings and nature of the international system. In addition to these core parts of the programme, students are also invited and required to study a wider range of topics and courses. Thus the degree programme combines overall views with specific analyses of various issues, problems and topics.

You will explore the political dynamics that influence interstate cooperation, and assess the specific role that international organisations, such as the United Nations, play in promoting international peace and security. You also have the option to study terrorism and insurgency, security studies, foreign policy, international political economy and politics in the Middle East. Furthermore, BA International Relations students, as members of POLIS, are invited to undertake study in the wider set of courses offered in the School, including courses in Development Studies, European Politics, Political Theory and British Politics. In the third and final year students undertake a dissertation on an in-depth and specialised topic with advice from tutors.

Courses are taught using a mixture of lectures and seminars and there is also the opportunity to engage in web-based learning. All students are allocated personal tutors and staff are available during the week for more personalised consultation. POLIS is a friendly and supportive place to engage in the in-depth study of international relations today.

The Pathway will:
- Provide students with an understanding of the logic and principles of quantitative analysis
- Enable students to apply the logic and principles to a range of substantive settings, including case-study and comparative approaches
- Teach students to use simple statistical tests to assess the rigour and robustness of empirical data sources
- Provide the opportunity to carry out exploratory analysis of quantitative data using bivariate techniques
- Understand secondary analyses using complex statistical techniques
- Conceive, construct and interpret advanced statistical analyses, including multivariate regression and causal analysis
Such learning outcomes will contribute to students’ capacity to progress to further study at postgraduate level, bring a substantial set of social science analytical tools to the full range of disciplinary Masters and PhD programmes, as well as a very strong analytical skillsets for the employment market. Combined with the wide array of subjects in a School the size of POLIS, the applications of QM for undergraduates will be extremely broad. Similarly, the opportunity to undertake short-courses and attend other events run by the University’s Q-Step Centre will introduce students to a much wider network of social scientists working in different disciplines, and allow them to develop understanding of social enquiry through QM. Graduates from the Pathway programme should enter the new cohort of academic, public- and private-sector analysts.

Year1 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules

Discovery modules:

Candidates will be required to study 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year2 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

You must choose at least 20 and up to 40 credits from the following list:

To make up your total to 120 credits, you may choose a module from the following list, or you may choose to take up to 20 credits of Discovery Modules.

Discovery modules:

Yoy may take up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year3 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Compulsory modules:

Candidates will be required to study the following compulsory modules:

Optional modules:

You are required to study modules from the following lists.

You must choose at least 20 and up to 40 credits from the following list.

To make up your 120 credits, you may choose to take up to 20 credits of optional modules from the following list. Alternatively, you may choose 20 credits of discovery modules.

Discovery modules:

You may take up to 20 credits of discovery modules.

Year4 - View timetable

[Learning Outcomes, Transferable (Key) Skills, Assessment]

Last updated: 28/04/2023 14:29:26

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