CHRIST (Deemed to University), Bangalore

DEPARTMENT OF sociology-and-social-work

humanities-and-social-sciences

Syllabus for
Master of Philosophy (Sociology)
Academic Year  (2019)

 
1 Semester - 2019 - Batch
Course Code
Course
Type
Hours Per
Week
Credits
Marks
RES131 FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH - 4 4 100
3 Semester - 2018 - Batch
Course Code
Course
Type
Hours Per
Week
Credits
Marks
RSO381 DISSERTATION - 0 10 200

RES131 - FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH (2019 Batch)

Total Teaching Hours for Semester:60
No of Lecture Hours/Week:4
Max Marks:100
Credits:4

Course Objectives/Course Description

 

Philosophical foundations of research are the scenario of higher education provided. Various approaches to research,  review of literature and application of theory are also included.

Course Outcome

  • Reflections on the hilosophical foundations of research
  • Knowledge of the history and context of higher education
  • Knkowledge about various approaches to research
  • Review of literature
  • Application of theory

Unit-1
Teaching Hours:14
Philosophical foundations of Research
 

Ethics and values in Research, Scope of Interdisciplinary, multi-disciplinary and cross disciplinary research, Doctoral Supervision and supervisory styles, Types of Doctoral Research and implications, Pedagogy and Research: Research Informed teaching and Problem Based learning

Unit-2
Teaching Hours:16
Higher Education
 

History of Higher Education, The notion of University, Disciplines and Domain knowledge, Accreditations and Educational Policy, The Public Intellectual

Unit-3
Teaching Hours:16
Approaches to Research & Review of literature
 

Quantitative, Qualitative and mixed methods, Relationship between Research Paradigms, Designs and methods, Research Designs and its types, Research methods, Conceptualisation of Research problem in different research approaches, Research questions, Review of literature: Research Topic, Review of Literature in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods, Steps in conducting Literature Review, Literature map, Abstracting studies, Literature Summary matrix, , Types of Reviews, Identification of Research Gap, Overview of Style manuals, Operational and Theoretical Definitions

Unit-4
Teaching Hours:14
Application of theory
 

Theory in quantitative research, Writing a Quantitative theoretical framework, Theory in Qualitative and mixed methods, Research proposals format for quantitative, Qualitative and mixed methods (Practical)

Text Books And Reference Books:

Creswel, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Los angeles: University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Essential Reading / Recommended Reading
  • Altbach, P. G., Reisberg, L., & Rumbley, L. E. (2019). Trends in global higher education: Tracking an academic revolution. BRILL.
  • Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.). (2011). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
  • Fink, A. (2019). Conducting research literature reviews: From the internet to paper. Sage
  • Fuller, S. (2019). Philosophy of science and its discontents. Routledge.
  • Herr, K. and Anderson, G.L. (2005). The action research dissertation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Johnson, A.P. (2005). A short guide to action research. Boston: Pearson Education. 
  • Kindon, S., Pain, R., and Kesby, M. (eds). (2007). Participatory action research approaches and methods. NY: Routledge.
  • McNiff, J. and Whitehead, J. (2006). All you need to know about action research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 
  • Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (eds.). (2006). Handbook of action research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 
  • Stringer, E.T. (2007). Action Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 
Evaluation Pattern
  • Internal Assessements are designed to improve knowledge of and skill in all sections of the course
  • Each unit is evaluated separately and all units have equal weightage
  • Not attending more than four hours of lectures of each unit will require the scholar to repeat the unit

RSO381 - DISSERTATION (2018 Batch)

Total Teaching Hours for Semester:0
No of Lecture Hours/Week:0
Max Marks:200
Credits:10

Course Objectives/Course Description

 

MPhil in Sociology is an opportunity for students to familiarise with the different facets of social research. Starting from proposal until the final dissertation the dissertation supervisor help the students to walk through the various stages of research including conceptualizing the research, stating the research problem and/or giving a hypothesis, literature review, methodology, collection and analysis of data.The students are required to conceive a research topic, conceptualise it and work towards a research proposal. The proposal should reveal a clear plan of research and a neat lay out under all necessary headings. Researches of different variety are encouraged by the department including theoretical and applied, qualitative and quantitative, empirical and non-empirical, ethnographic and so on. Students should, depending upon the nature and character of research, chose their tools for collecting and interpreting data. The process culminates  with students preparing the final report in the form of a dissertation and giving an oral defence before the dissertation committee in an open platform.

Course Outcome

 

By the end of the course the students are expected to have-

1.      A clear understanding about the various processes involved in Social research, including conceptualizing, theorizing, writing etc.

2.      A clear idea about the significance of methodology, the different methods available and their practical application in Social research.

3.      Attained a level of articulation in terms of presenting ideas and arguments in a comprehensive manner.

4.      Attained a level of maturity to plan and design a research project and carry it successfully to the final stages in a time bound manner.

5.      A clear idea about the significance of knowledge production and the excitement and difficulties involved in it.

 

Unit-1
Teaching Hours:0
Dissertation
 

MPhil in Sociology is an opportunity for students to familiarise with the different facets of social research. Starting from proposal until the final dissertation the dissertation supervisor help the students to walk through the various stages of research including conceptualizing the research, stating the research problem and/or giving a hypothesis, literature review, methodology, collection and analysis of data.The students are required to conceive a research topic, conceptualise it and work towards a research proposal. The proposal should reveal a clear plan of research and a neat lay out under all necessary headings. Researches of different variety are encouraged by the department including theoretical and applied, qualitative and quantitative, empirical and non-empirical, ethnographic and so on. Students should, depending upon the nature and character of research, chose their tools for collecting and interpreting data. The process culminates  with students preparing the final report in the form of a dissertation and giving an oral defence before the dissertation committee in an open platform.

A proposal presentation, regular progress presentations and a pre submission presentations are part of the course. The students also need to have a paper presentation ina national or international seminar before their final submission of the dissertation.

Text Books And Reference Books:

NA

Essential Reading / Recommended Reading

NA

Evaluation Pattern

Proposal                   25

Pre-submission        25

Adjudication          100

Viva                         50