Philosophy

1 The University of Sheffield International College

Effective from September 2020

P_SS: Social Science for Postgraduate Study

Portfolio Part 1: Methodology in the Study of Crime/Poverty

‘A piece of written work where the student discusses social science research, with a particular reference to their chosen social theme, identifying commonly used research strategies, considering crucial factors relevant to researching the chosen theme and making observations about the most appropriate research strategies’. For this part of the Portfolio, you need to demonstrate your understanding of research process in social science. This section should be written by making references to at least two different studies that research one of the social themes covered in our classes (poverty or crime). Your discussion should include discussion of the following questions:

1. What crucial factors affect researching poverty/crime?

2. What are the common strategies used for researching the social theme of

poverty/crime? Discuss by illustrating your points with references to at least two different studies.

3. What are the benefits and limitations of using quantitative methods for researching

poverty/crime?

4. What are the benefits and limitations of using qualitative methods for researching

poverty/crime?

Think about how you structure your writing. Having an analytical and comparative structure will make it easier to actually write and compare the approaches to research. You have 1200 words for this Theme. Think about how many words you will allocate to each section, ensuring that each is covered in sufficient detail. The piece of work must be written in continuous prose and an academic style. Do not use bullet points, tables, or your own personal abbreviations.

2 The University of Sheffield International College

Effective from January 2016

To get started, use the sources that you already have to help you with your understanding: reading assigned to you each week, studies that you have discussed in seminar and additional reading indicated in the ‘further reading’ folder. However, you should write in your own words. There will be vocabulary and phrases that may be unavoidable, but do not copy whole sentences or paragraphs from the sources you use, unless you are quoting directly from a text. Remember that paraphrasing is an important skill to develop! We are not looking for perfect English, but your work should demonstrate your understanding of the ideas you are writing about. There are unlikely to be sources that provide you with ‘the answer’. Instead, you need to locate sources that provide relevant information and analysis, which you can use to help construct your essay. These include books available in the University libraries and academic articles which can be downloaded from StarPlus. There is also a recommended reading list. Where you have used information or ideas from a particular source, you must acknowledge this. You must do this by providing an in-text citation, and final reference list (bibliography). Please consult the APA referencing guide to learn how to format the references – you can find this guide on MOLE.