MPP821 - Fundamentals of Research

Unit details

Note: You are seeing the 2022 view of this unit information. These details may no longer be current. [Go to the current version]
Year:2022 unit information
Important Update:

Our aim is to provide you with an optimal learning experience, regardless of how this unit is delivered.

For Semester 1/Trimester 1 2021, teaching will be delivered in line with the most current COVIDSafe health guidelines.  This may include a mix of online and on-campus activities.  Please check your unit sites for announcements and updates one week prior to the start of Semester/Trimester.

Thank you for your flexibility and commitment to studying with Deakin in 2021.

Last updated: 16 November 2020

Enrolment modes:

Not offered in 2022.

Credit point(s):1
EFTSL value:0.125
Unit Chair:Edward Podolski
Cohort rule:Nil
Prerequisite:

Nil

Corequisite:Nil
Incompatible with: Nil
Typical study commitment:

Students will on average spend 150 hours over the trimester undertaking the teaching, learning and assessment activities for this unit.

Scheduled learning activities - campus:

3 face-to-face contact hours per week (1 x 3-hour seminar).  

Content

This unit is designed to lay the foundations of good empirical research in the social sciences.???It does not deal with specific techniques per se, but rather with the assumptions and the logic underlying social research. Students become acquainted with a variety of approaches to research design, and are helped to develop their own research projects and to evaluate the products of empirical research. 

ULO These are the Learning Outcomes (ULO) for this unit. At the completion of this unit, successful students can: Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes
ULO1 Critically analyse how data in social sciences can be used and misused to draw inferences about reality  GLO8: Global Citizenship
ULO2 Formulate and communicate an appropriate research design to address a specific research question

GLO1: Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities

GLO2: Communication

ULO3 Critically evaluate existing research and the limitations of empirical evidence in forming a view of the world  GLO4: Critical thinking
ULO4 Identify and use online resources to source and evaluate information/concepts relevant to a research question.  GLO3: Digital literacy

These Unit Learning Outcomes are applicable for all teaching periods throughout the year

Assessment

Assessment Description Student output Grading and weighting
(% total mark for unit)
Indicative due week
Assessment 1: (Individual) Report (Research) 500 words 10% TBA
Assessment 2: (Individual) Case Study (Report) 1000 words 20% TBA
Assessment 3: (Group of 3) Report (Research)  4000 words 35% TBA

Assessment 4: (Group of 3) Project

In class presentation

 

Presentation:

20 minutes

Q&A:

10 minutes 

Total: 30 minutes

35%

 

TBA

The assessment due weeks provided may change. The Unit Chair will clarify the exact assessment requirements, including the due date, at the start of the teaching period.

Learning Resource

The texts and reading list for the unit can be found on the University Library via the link MPP821.

Note: Select the relevant trimester reading list. Please note that a future teaching period's reading list may not be available until a month prior to the start of that teaching period so you may wish to use the relevant trimester's prior year reading list as a guide only.

Unit Fee Information

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