RESEARCH METHODS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

RESEARCH METHODS IN POLITICAL SCIENCE

3 Credits

LECTURER: Dr O.P. Adelusi

         

 

                   

COURSE DESCRIPTION 

The course has been designed to develop students’ skills of scientific investigation, information gathering, analysis and interpretation in dealing with business and organizational behaviour problems in Nigeria. The art of problem identification and analysis, data gathering, analysis and report writing.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this course, students are expected to;

1.    Understand the meaning of Political and Social Science Research and its techniques and methods.

2.    How to Develop a Research Proposal.

3.    Identify and discuss sources of data, data collection and analysis.

4.    And Understand what is Framework of Analysis-Methodology

METHOD OF TEACHING/TEACHING AID

Class Discussion and Presentation of Power Point notes with the aid of projector.. More importantly, each student will be asked to pick a topic and write a mini essay following the procedures identified above. This must be submitted at the end of the course.

MODULE I: DEVELOPING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL    

Week 1: Research; definitions, types and major reasons.

Week 2:  Concepts, Variables and Paradigms in Political and Social Science   Research.

Week 3:  The Role of Theory in a Research.

MODULE II: RESEARCH PROBLEM

Week 4: The Statement of Research Problem

Week 5: Sources of Research Problem

Week 6: Research Questions and Hypotheses.

MODULE III: RESEARCH TECHNIQUES-

Week 7: Research Design, Sourcing Research Data- Primary, Secondary and Mixed.

Week 8: Data Collection Methods- Field Survey, Historical and Archival, Internet etc

Week 9: Data Analysis Methods- Descriptive, Statistical, Logical and Content analytical methods.

MODULE IV: LITERATURE REVIEW

Week 10: The Importance of Literature Review.

Week 11: Sources of Literature Review and Referencing Styles.

MODULE V: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

MODULE VI: MINI RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT

Week 12: Discussion of selected individual research works.

Week 13: Revision

TUTORIALS

There will be two hours of Lectures and an hour of tutorials every week. Attendance to lectures and tutorials are compulsory for registered students

METHOD OF GRADING:

Mini-Project        10%

CA Test20%

Semester Exam           70%

GRAND RULES & REGULATIONS

Attendance at lectures and tutorials are compulsory for registered students. 

Students must be seated 10 minutes before the commencement of every lecture.

TOPICS FOR TERM PAPER/ASSIGNMENT

Individual Mini Project Topic.

REFERENCE TEXTS

ASIKA.Nnamdi, (2002), Research Methodology in the Behavioural Sciences.

Longman NgeriaPlc.Lagos.

OJO.Olu, (2005), Fundamentals of Research Methods, Lagos: Standard Publications. 

SIMEON. J. Yates (2004), Doing Social Research, 3rd ed. London: Sage Publication.

RANJIT .Kumar (1996), Research Methodology: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners. London: Sage Publication

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LISA.J .McIntyre (2005), Need to Know: Social Science Research Methods, Washington State University: McGraw Hill.

CLIVE .Seale, et. al. , (2004), Quantitative Research: Theory, Methods, and Practice, 2nd ed. London: Sage Publication.

SALIU.H.A. & OYEBANJI.J.O (eds);(2004),  Research Proposal and Writing. FBSS, University of Ilorin. Ilorin.

SALIU.H.A. & FAYEYE.J.O (eds), (2007), Further Readings on ResearchMethodology.FBSS, University of Ilorin. Ilorin.

Research Methods in Political Science: An Introduction Using Micro Case