Reporter 14/11/01:: Social and Political Sciences Tripos, Part IIA and Part IIB, 2002: Notice

Social and Political Sciences Tripos, Part IIA and Part IIB, 2002: Notice

The Faculty Board of Social and Political Sciences give notice that the following research project titles, methods essay titles, and statistics assignments have been prescribed for Paper Int. 1 in Part IIA and Part IIB of the Social and Political Sciences Tripos in 2002 (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 386).

Int. 1. Inquiry and analysis I

RESEARCH PROJECT TITLE

Positive psychology in action

Generational consciousness amongst women

Ethnic politics in Western Europe

British immigration since World War Two

Education and social capital - can citizenship be taught?

Are values truisms?

Young children's ideas of Britishness

Memories of Sept 11th, 2001

Job aspirations and life plans of male and female students

Media representations of masculinity

Gender and HIV/Aids risk

Attitudes towards new genetic technologies

The health effects of employment: gender differences in working conditions

The implications of social capital for public health and redevelopment programmes

People's values, attitudes, and representations of the economy

Perceptions of risks to health

Gender and family change in Europe

Voluntary childlessness - exploring perceived conflicts of careers and parenting

Generational consciousness among women

National identity and political attitudes in Northern Ireland

Identity, acculturation, and intergroup relations

Students may offer an alternative project title, subject to supervision availability and written permission by the Course Director and Director of Studies.

METHODS ASSIGNMENT (2,500 words)

Write an essay on one of the following:

Q1. Why is there no best method of conducting social research?

Q2. What ethical issues are relevant for social research?

Q3. What are the main benefits and weaknesses of a longitudinal survey design?

Q4. What problems are faced by experimental studies of human behaviour and how should they be solved?

Q5. What are the strengths and weaknesses of quasi-experimental studies?

Q6. What use are personal documents in social research?

Q7. What are the strengths and weaknesses of ethnography as a method of research?

Q8. What are the strengths and weaknesses of discourse analysis as a social science method?

Q9. Are all empirical approaches to social representations equally valid?

Q10. Critically discuss the usefulness of either realism or falsification for thinking about methodological issues in the social science?

Candidates attempting essays numbered 1-9 are expected to demonstrate a careful reading of at least two primary sources reporting relevant empirical work.

STATISTICS ASSIGNMENT (2,500 words)

EITHER

Using the British Household Panel Survey Youth Cohort, explore how young people's well-being varies by gender, age, and home circumstances.

OR

Using the European Working Conditions Survey (1996), explore the differences in the speed of work between employees in different European countries.

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