Postgraduate Course: Dynamics of Social Inquiry (SCIL11032)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Dynamics of Social Inquiry explores key theoretical positions and issues relating to the character, dynamics and status of social scientific knowledge. It investigates different conceptualizations of knowledge, considers how knowledge develops over time including the role of values in shaping it, and puzzles over the role of social science in wider social life. It will help sociologists and other social scientists reflect both on the research that they study and the research that they wish to produce. |
| Course description |
Dynamics of Social Inquiry explores key theoretical positions and issues relating to the character, dynamics and status of social scientific knowledge. The first issue is what exactly knowledge is. In the first unit students will critically reflect on three important conceptualizations of knowledge which inform different approaches to sociological inquiry: knowledge as a representation of reality, knowledge as a social construction, and knowledge as an enactment and intervention into reality.
The second set of issues examined relate to how the dynamics of social scientific inquiry shape the knowledge produced by inquirers. The second unit involves students analysing questions of value and reflexivity as well as the relationship between the perspectives of social scientists and lay actors.
Exploration of these issues is extended in the third unit in which students evaluate the relation of social scientific knowledge to other political and cultural forms, such as comedy, and sociology¿s potential contribution to wider social life.
The intention is for students to attend lectures which provide useful background on these topics and then participate in discussions which allow them to develop and express their own critical perspectives.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- critically evaluate different conceptions of knowledge and contribute to debates about the character of social scientific knowledge.
- evaluate the challenges that different objects of study pose for social scientists and propose ways to address those challenges.
- critically appraise published research on the basis of the extent to which the researcher has reflexively recognized the values that have shaped it.
- critically reflect on the relationship between social scientific knowledge and other forms of understanding and contribute to debates about the strengths and weaknesses of each form of understanding.
- formulate a reasoned defence or critique of the role of sociology in social life.
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Reading List
¿ Goldman, A. (1999) Knowledge in a Social World, Oxford: Oxford UP
¿ Friedman, S. (2014). Comedy and Distinction: The Cultural Currency of a ¿Good¿ Sense of Humour¿, Routledge.
¿ Law, J. (2004) After Method: Mess in Social Scientific Research, London: Routledge
¿ Rose, G. (1997) ¿Situating Knowledges: Positionality, Reflexivities and Other Tactics¿, Progress in Human Geography, 21(3): 305-320
¿ Seidman, S. (1994) Contested Knowledge: Social Theory in the Postmodern Era, Blackwell: Oxford
¿ Clawson, D., Zussman, R., Misra, J., Gerstell, N., Stokes, R. (eds.) (2007) Public Sociology: Fifteen Eminent Sociologists Debate Politics and the Profession in the Twenty-first Century, Berkeley: University of California Press
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Stephen Kemp
Tel: (0131 6)50 3978
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Kate Ferguson
Tel: (0131 6)51 5122
Email: |
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