PIR-20089 - Module Specification
School of Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

Elections and voting are key components of the democratic political process. Opinion polling and other research on public opinion forms the basis of our understanding of electoral trends, is used by governments and political parties to develop policy and strategy, and features in everyday commentary on politics in the media. Understanding elections, voters and public opinion is therefore central to our understanding contemporary politics. This module engages students in the study of elections, voters and public opinion. In doing so students will develop their knowledge of psephological trends, alongside key skills in the practicalities of designing, conducting and analysing quantitative political research. These skills are developed during a series of interactive workshops alongside traditional lectures.

To equip students with the core skills needed to evaluate aspects of and carry out basic quantitative political research. This includes developing research questions to test theories and hypotheses, designing survey-based political research and working with quantitative political data, including constructing and reading appropriate data tables and graphs, and interpreting descriptive statistics. This is achieved through engaging students in basic psephology and focusing how quantitative research can be used to understand elections, voters and public opinion.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate knowledge of core concepts in psephology, including theories of voter behaviour: 1
Produce and evaluate descriptive and explanatory research questions relating to the study of politics: 2
Operationalise and develop indicators for political concepts: 2
Design questionnaires and demonstrate awareness of good practice in questionnaire design and survey administration: 2
Produce and interpret tables and graphs using basic descriptive statistical techniques and appropriate software: 3

Study hours

11 hours: 11 x 1 hour lectures
11 hours: 11 x 1 hour workshops
22 hours: independent preparation time for workshops (2 hours each)
42 hours: preparation time for assessment 1 (1,000 word essay)
32 hours: preparation time for assessment 2 (questionnaire design)
32 hours: preparation time for assessment 3 (750 word data analysis report)

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment