This course will provide students with a detailed understanding of the main techniques for the collection of social science data that is relevant to policy, business and service delivery decisions. Students will be well placed to design and undertaken their own research and to commission others to undertake design, fieldwork and analysis.
Content will cover quantitative surveys (questionnaire design, fieldwork techniques (CATI, online, f2f), cognitive testing) and qualitative methods (in-depth interviews, focus groups, observational techniques), sampling, weighting and assessing representativeness of data, total survey error, creation of data sets for analysis using administrative data, cross-sectional versus longitudinal data.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- identify testable research questions applicable to the social sciences;
- discuss in detail the strengths and weaknesses of different types of data;
- design a rigorous quantitative empirical strategy;
- design a rigorous qualitative empirical strategy; and
- adjust survey, qualitative and administrative data for analysis by others.
Indicative Assessment
- Class participation (5) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Assignment 1 - Development and testing of a survey instrument, with justification (1,500 words) (15) [LO 1,2]
- Assignment 2 - Development of an empirical strategy for qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods data (3,500 words) (35) [LO 1,3,4]
- Oral presentation - Discussion of an empirical strategy (10 minutes) (20) [LO 3,4,5]
- Class test (2 hours) (25) [LO 2,5]
In response to COVID-19: Please note that Semester 2 Class Summary information (available under the classes tab) is as up to date as possible. Changes to Class Summaries not captured by this publication will be available to enrolled students via Wattle.
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Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: made up of face-to-face lectures, tutorials and online activities; and b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing.Inherent Requirements
Not applicable
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
To be provided on the course Wattle site.Preliminary Reading
Selected chapters from:- Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods. Oxford university press.
- Groves, R. M., Fowler Jr, F. J., Couper, M. P., Lepkowski, J. M., Singer, E., & Tourangeau, R. (2011). Survey methodology. John Wiley & Sons.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees. Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $4050 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2020 | $5760 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Winter Session
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4568 | 08 Aug 2022 | 26 Aug 2022 | 26 Aug 2022 | 16 Oct 2022 | In Person | N/A |