Social Science Research (Criminology) MA

The module has three parts:

1. Science and the philosophical critique of science
2. Epistemological debates in the social sciences - including, but not limited to, positivism and its critics, interpretative approaches including phenomenology, critical realism, social construction and the politics of knowledge and the sociology of science
3. The funding environment - interdisciplinarity and the impact agenda

This module focuses on the analytical, practical and ethical organisation of social science research. 

The organisation of analysis is often referred to as 'research design' and will constitute the bulk of the content of this module. Research design consists of choices necessary to transform a research question into actual research. These choices pertain to strategies and modes of case selection, observation methods, data collection and analysis. 

Every research question can be elaborated in different ways (ie with different designs), none of which will be ideal in all respects as the various choices pertain to trade-offs. Each design has its own implications in terms of costs and in terms of potential threats to the validity of its eventual results. These implications will be elaborated in the module, along with ways of handling the resulting choice problems in actual practice.

The practical organisation of research is closely related to design choices, but focuses particularly on logistical and timing issues. Ethical organisation of the research involves awareness of ethical issues, of ethical consent procedures and of their implications for research design and practical organisation.

This module aims to give you:

• An understanding of statistical analysis methods, using topics and datasets from empirical social science literature
• A familiarity with STATA statistical software and data management

The course uses a range of datasets from across political science, focusing on topics such as social capital, voter turnout, cabinet duration, demonstration activity and class voting.

This module provides a conceptual overview of the various approaches and debates associated with the theory and practice of qualitative research. It examines a range of contrasting perspectives on the design of research including problem identification, selection and sampling, and analysis.

Research ethics, and the role of the researcher in generating qualitative data, are key themes which run through the module. Specific consideration is given to the ways in which qualitative and quantitative approaches may be seen as complementary, and the use of mixed methods.

The module will also cover the ways in which qualitative research can be evaluated. The module will also facilitate dialogue between members of different social science disciplines, to give an understanding of how some issues or practices may be viewed differently from different disciplinary perspectives.

You will complete a 60-credit 15,000-word dissertation. You will be assigned an appropriate dissertation supervisor who will oversee your progress.

This module considers a range of theoretical and conceptual issues in criminology relating to the nature and scope of criminology as a discipline as well as recent developments in criminological theory. The work discussed during the course of the module will be at the forefront of the discipline.

This module introduces you to the criminological study of cyber crime. It draws on key literature and current research to consider the ways in which new and emerging forms of digital media and information and communication technologies provide opportunities for a variety of deviant and criminal behaviours. The module will typically cover the following broad themes:

• Criminological definitions and theories of cyber crime
• Case studies of types of cyber crime, including, for example: fraud, identify theft, hacking, revenge porn, sexting, online harassment, trolling and cyberstalking
• Victims’ experiences of cyber crime
• Why individuals commit certain types of cyber crime
• Cyber crime in a global world
• The policing, surveillance and regulation of cyber crime
• The implication of the ‘internet of things’ for privacy and security

This module will cover the following broad themes:

• State crime, corporate crime, state-corporate crime, harm, green crime
• State-facilitated and state-initiated corporate crime
• Capitalism, neoliberalism, austerity and indifference
• Crimes of commission and omission
• Command and control regulation vs. business self-regulation

In this module, you will learn about human trafficking. Over the semester, you will develop an understanding of human trafficking by exploring the different forms of trafficking as well as patterns and trends in trafficking internationally, with a focus on Europe and the Asia-Pacific.

You will examine topics ranging from the causes of trafficking, different methods used to prevent trafficking and popular understandings of this transnational crime. You will be introduced to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and explore some of the issues surrounding media representations of trafficking and rescue-based approaches as you learn to think critically about human trafficking.

This module will chart the evolution of the social construction of the victim and presence in criminal justice policy by examining the historical, theoretical and research material in victimology. The module will cover the following broad themes:

• Theoretical underpinnings of ‘victimology’
• The victim’s movement
• Key issues and debates in the field of victimology
• Various approaches to responding to victim needs by both governmental and non-governmental organisations