Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2007-2008 (archived)

Module EDUC2191: PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Department: Education

EDUC2191: PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Type Open Level 2 Credits 20 Availability Available in 2007/08 Module Cap None. Location Durham

Prerequisites

  • Normally, The Discipline of Social Science (EDUC1191).

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • The module aims to help students to develop a sophisticated understanding of the nature and distinctive procedures of the social sciences, and of some of the chief movements and schools of thought in this discipline.
  • Emphasis will be placed throughout on: the reading of primary texts, as far as possible, and the problematising of their status as 'social science' texts.
  • the issue of the ethical views and political stance of the social scientists.

Content

  • Are ethical and political neutrality desirable goals in social science? Objectivity and subjectivity in the social sciences.
  • Liberalism: should social science be neutral between different conceptions of the good? Human perfection and notions of development.
  • Should social science be emancipatory? Communitarian perspectives on the practice of social science.
  • Multiculturalism: social science and the celebration of cultural and social difference.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • .
Subject-specific Skills:
    Key Skills:

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

      • .

      Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

      Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
      Lectures 22 Weekly 1 hour 22
      Tutorials/Seminars 11 Fortnightly 1 hour 11
      Preparation and Reading 167
      Total 200

      Summative Assessment

      Component: Examination Component Weighting: 50%
      Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
      two-hour written examination 100%
      Component: Assignments Component Weighting: 50%
      Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
      essay 1 2000 words 50%
      essay 2 2500 words 50%

      Formative Assessment:

      1 essay in the first term (2000 words); no collections.

      ■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University