AP/HREQ 3100 6.00
Research Methods in Human Rights and Equity Studies
This course introduces research methods pertaining to critical human rights and equity studies. Qualitative and quantitative research designs and methods of collecting and analyzing phenomena pertaining to right and equity are undertaken. The links between theory (concepts) and practice (praxis, policy applications, ethics protocols) are presented. The distinctiveness of this innovative, interdisciplinary course lies in the balance it strikes between the development of critical awareness, and appreciation, of research methodology and the practical methods skills that students will acquire during this course of study.
The Fall Term consists of the conceptual contexts of social analysis: theoretical formulations and theorizing: salient theoretical formulations, convergence (micro-macro links), forms of reasoning (inductive /deductive), and styles of interpretations. Ethics, nature of knowledge (“objective /scientific and personal/ ideological debates) will be addressed. We will explore the nature of the “empirical” by introducing and assessing various basic research designs and methods of collecting and analyzing phenomena (survey, observations, content analysis, secondary data analysis, critical ethnographies, historical, etc. ). The Winter Term examines quantitative research designs and methods of collecting and analyzing data. The set of skills in the second term have to do with being able to conduct one’s research, analyzing your own data and writing up a proposal in survey research. In general, data analysis and statistics will be introduced and developed Students will become familiar with a variety of methodological orientations (qualitative and quantitative); ethics and protocols when conducting research within different sociocultural contexts; and, methods for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data.
Course credit exclusion: AP/MIST 3100 6.00
Prerequisites: 24 credits, including AP/HREQ 1010 6.00 (formerly AP/HREQ 2010 6.00)