Master of International and Diplomacy Studies

• About the Master's degree «
• Courses overview «
  • International relations and diplomacy
  • International political economy
  • Research proposal and methodology
  • European Economic integration
  • EU law
  • Policies of the EU
  • Politics and
    decision-making
  • EU external relations
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Research Methodology

Course Coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chan Lean Heng

Research methodology essentially consists of three aspects: research design, theoretical approaches and empirical approaches. The focus of this course will be on the first aspect. However an overview of the second and third aspects will be introduced to enable students to be literate and competent as consumers and producers of social research. The course aims to encourage students to think more carefully and systematically about research design issues in their own research projects, as well as the acquisition of knowledge on the various phases of the social research process including formulation of research questions, use of library and internet resources, data collection, data processing and data interpretation/analysis, and the writing of research. Since this is a course designed for students of International Relations, special attention will be given to national/cross-national studies and comparative research.

The course will also support students to develop a detailed research proposal that continues into a dissertation for SDH 599/2. At the end of the course, students are required to present their research proposals to a panel of evaluators.

Course objectives

The main aim of the course is to enable students to acquire knowledge in planning, carrying out, writing up and appraising research. Other objectives include the development of students’ oral, research and written presentation skills. At the end of the course students will be

• able to demonstrate familiarity with the language and various strategies employed in social research
• have an understanding of the appropriate research design and methods for particular research questions
• be aware of the ethical and political issues in social science research
• know how to formulate research designs, including research questions, and objectives, major quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection, data processing and analysis
• be familiar with the various components of a research proposal
• be able to develop a research proposal for their Masters dissertation.
  

© 2005 Master of International and Diplomacy Studies (Universiti Sains Malaysia)