This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Postgraduate Handbook 2007-2008 (archived)

Module ANTH54830: The Research Process

Department: Anthropology

ANTH54830: The Research Process

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	4	30	Available in 2007/2008		Durham

Pre-requisites

None

Corequisites

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To provide an understanding of the contexts in which various research techniques are appropriate.
To become familiar with accounts by anthropologists of their field experiences.
To understand the formulation of anthropological research aims and to practice the formulation of one's own research aims.
To understand how anthropological fieldwork is influenced by the researcher's theoretical orientation.
To understand the ethical problems which anthropological researchers encounter.
To gain an understanding of the presentation of anthropological research aims.

Content

Planning a research paper.
Techniques fo investigation.
Bounding the unit of research.
Ethics.
Writing up field notes.
Preparing a research project.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Knowledge of the contexts in which various research techniques are appropriate socio-cultural anthropology.
Knowledge of the accounts by anthropologists of their field experiences the ways in which anthropological theory informs anthropological practice.
An understanding of how anthropological fieldwork is influenced by the researcher’s theoretical orientation.

Subject-specific Skills

To understand the process of formulating anthropological research aims, and the opportunity to engage in formulating one’s own research aims.
To identify the ethical problems which anthropological researchers encounter.
Familiarity with methodological debates and controversy in contemporary socio- cultural anthropology.

Key Skills

Communication: students will be taught how to communicate clearly (both orally and specifically in report writing) their understanding of the material they have read.
Improving own learning and performance: students will learn to use a variety of web tools for searching the primary and secondary literature.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Weekly seminars throughout the year, chaired by two members of staff.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours
Seminars	22	Weekly	2 hours	44
Preparation and Reading				256
Total				300

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Essay	100%	Essay	5000 words	100%

Formative Assessment

Summary assessment sheets of seminar presentations.

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.