Anthropological Research Methods (850L6)

15 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Spring teaching

You study methodological, theoretical and ethical issues surrounding ethnographic research in anthropology and the social sciences.

Through a series of workshops, you are introduced to a range of research methods used in the discipline, including interviews, participant observation, ethnography, visual and digital methodology. Methodological concerns around research design and conduct are related to issues of epistemology and ethics.

You learn applied research skills (participatory and action research) and study broader debates about politics, positionality and representation in ethnographic research and writing. Finally, the analysis and writing up of qualitative data is explored.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 128 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2021/22. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.