BSc Social Policy with Quantitative Research Methods (International)
Year 4
(Award available for year: Bachelor of Science)
Learning outcomes
1. to demonstrate knowledge of: - UK welfare institutions: origins and development; the social and demographic contexts in which they have operated; their contemporary activities and organisation, including the provision, financing and regulation of social security, education, health and social care, and housing; - the UK policy process: framework; operation; finance;- non-governmental sources of welfare (informal, voluntary and private sectors): impact; operation; interaction within mixed economies of welfare;- main features of the interrelationship between social policies and differently placed communities, families and individuals;- international and global contexts of social policy including the role and organisation of the European Union (QAA, Benchmark; 3.2).2. to demonstrate an understanding of:- interdisciplinary approaches to social policy topics and issues;- the key concepts and theories of welfare, including human needs and social welfare; inequality, poverty and exclusion; citizenship, social difference and diversity; theories of the state and policy making; theories and methods of comparative analysis;- how different social groups and individuals experience, respond to and contest social policies (QAA, Benchmark; 3.3)- the ability to design and conduct a rigorous quantitative research project in Sociology and Social Policy;- the ability to retrieve, manage and manipulate large and complex datasets- the ability to produce accurate descriptions of data using numerical summaries and effective data visualisation- the ability to use statistical models to answer substantive research questions;- the ability to write sociological research reports based on quantitative data in a critical and reflective way.
Transferable (key) skills
the transferable/key/generic skills necessary for employment related to Social Policy; - the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility;- the deployment of decision making skills in complex and unpredictable situations;- the communication of information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways;- the ability to undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature. - Data search and preparation- Quantitative data analysis and management skills;- Quantitative data visualisation skills;- Knowledge of quantitative research design and methodology;- Writing skills in reporting quantitative research findings in a critical and reflective way.
Assessment
- demonstrating the ability to apply a broad range of aspects of Social Policy;- work that draws on a wide variety of material in Social Policy;- the ability to evaluate and criticise received opinion in Social Policy;- evidence of an ability to conduct independent, in depth enquiry within Social Policy;- Social Policy work that is typically both evaluative and creative. - Report writing based on student-led data analysis - Short data challenges involving specific techniques to consolidate week on week learning outcomes- Documenting and annotating data analysis process