Course description
The course consists of two 30 credit (Level M) modules which are common to all of the pathways, and which introduce you to the broad field of social science research. The modules are Research Practice and Research Methods.
These are taught by researchers drawn from across the University, and provide an opportunity for contact with students from other social science disciplines at Bristol UWE. The content of the Built Environment routeway is underpinned by the research and consultancy undertaken by the Faculty's research centres.
The modules listed are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain up to date and relevant, so some of them may change before the course starts or whilst you are on it, but the overall aims and broad content of the course will remain the same.
Research Practice
This module consists of taught sessions and practical workshops, and provides an introduction to the methodological and epistemological base of social science research, its relationship to social theory and its socio-economic contexts. It explores the way in which the construction of knowledges (epistemologies) are both the products of methodological approaches to social research, and also the rich contexts within which research takes place. The module emphasises the need for reflexivity within the research process. It recognises that research depends not only on intellectual skills but also on the practical and professional skills essential to the proper and ethical conduct of research. These practical sessions include the development and design of research proposals, management of the research process, approaches to writing and dissemination.
Research Methods
This workshop-based module concentrates on the practical issues surrounding the process of social science research. It aims to sharpen awareness of the quality of evidence deployed in academic debates, to increase understanding of the issues involved in adopting qualitative and quantitative methods of research and to provide students with practical skills of data generation and analysis. Specific analytical workshops deal, for example, with large secondary datasets, multivariate statistical analysis, and computer-based qualitative analysis.
Built Environment pathway
The Built Environment pathway comprises the module 'Claims and Debates in Built Environment Research' plus a further 40 credits of optional modules from across the Faculty of the Built Environment's postgraduate scheme. You will also complete a 60 credit dissertation.
Claims and Debates in Built Environment Research
This module explores theoretical diversity, theoretical 'paradigms' and policy and practice in the Built Environment field.
Dissertation
This 60 credit module provides the opportunity to engage in an extended research project. You will be allocated a research supervisor, who in most cases will be the tutor who has supported you throughout the programme. Research skills acquired in previous modules are practised and applied to your individual research interests. You are supported in conducting their research in a way consistent with both professional practice and research ethics, and to communicate your research findings in written form to both academic and non-academic audiences. Students wishing to apply for future PhD study may wish to use the dissertation to carry out a pilot study, or to explore a specific related area of interest.
Study facilities
A range of specialist facilities are provided by the Faculty. A suite of computer rooms supports software for word processing, data analysis and spatial enquiry. They provide access to e-mail and internet, including Faculty and University websites which enable you to use a vast number of specialist electronic journals and publications, and resources provided by lecturers to support their modules. A Project Room provides space for students to work on individual and group assignments, together with a range of materials and equipment. An audio-visual group provides support for photography, digital imaging, filming and sound recording.
You may also use the well equipped laboratories for concrete and environmental services, environmental physics, earth sciences, spatial analysis (including mapping and Geographical Information Systems) and surveying technology, each with specialist technicians supporting both teaching and research.
The Faculty is based in a large modern building, to which a new set of studios and teaching rooms (designed by a member of the Faculty) have recently been added.
Student representatives sit on a wide range of committees at University and Faculty levels, where they can influence discussions and decisions which affect your learning experience
