Year 1 course units

Q-Step units are listed by degree, but can usually be taken as options in other courses too.

Criminological Research Methods

The unit promotes a critical appreciation of the purposes and practice of research in criminology.

You will learn the intellectual roots of empirical enquiry, key distinctions and traditions in social research and the research process.

It also covers the diversity of methods and designs used at different levels of analysis.

Making Sense of Politics

This provides a foundation for the use of data to analyse political problems.

It introduces the idea of using data to resolve central research questions across the discipline, and the methods used to gather, analyse and interpret data used in politics research.

You will also be provided with the widely used data analysis software (SPSS and Excel).

Researching Culture and Society

This unit examines the process and practices of sociological knowledge production, and what is distinctive about sociological approaches to understanding and researching social life.

Providing a foundation for the study of sociology, and the core issues of sociological method and research which underpin many of the sociology courses, and readings, you encounter.

Understanding Social Media

You will develop your understanding of social research methods using social media data such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

You will gain basic training in the use of software for the handling and analysis of social media data, and develop critical skills in sampling, sample bias and statistical inference in social research.

Unequal Societies: Health, Wellbeing and Happiness

You will learn about accessing and using quantitative data and evidence with a focus on health, wellbeing and happiness.

Reviewing different data types and consider how to access and analyse such data.

This will develop your critical data skills and involve hands-on training and practice analyses of social survey data, using online interfaces such as NESSTAR and software such as Excel and SPSS.