Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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POLS1231 - Approach and methods in social sciences


USL-B


Credits : 5

Lecturers :
Teaching assistants :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , second term, 22,5 hours of theory and 15 hours of exercises.

Timetable :
Second term
Monday from 09:00 to 10:30 at 43 Botanique 1
Tuesday from 15:45 to 17:15 at Ommegang Om10

Language of instruction :
French

Learning outcomes :
The course (5 ECTS) is part of the methodological stream
The learning outcomes pursued are as follows. Having reached the end of this course, the student must be able to:
1) At the theoretical level:
a. mastering the epistemological, theoretical, methodological and ethical foundations of the social science approach
b. having a first look at the whole collection of data collection methods
2) At the level of techniques and tools:
a. Mastering the techniques of reading and critical comparison of texts (or other resources)
b. Mastering the lineaments of searching bibliographic resources
3) At the implementation level
a. Being able to formulate a starting question and a research question
b. Being able to realize a state of the art
c. Being able to mount a problematic
d. Mastering some tools related to group work and oral presentation of work


Prerequisites :
None

Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
The contents of the activities relate to these different channels. They are complementary and overlap only partially.
1) The teaching in audience will follow in parallel the following 4 tracks:
1. What is a scientific posture?
2. What is the social science research approach?
3. Practical skills for the social science student occupation;
4. Some epistemological debates of the social sciences.
2) The preparation of the practical sessions by readings and the follow-up of an MOOC upstream by the students will consist on the one hand, to read progressively a) chapter 4 of the book Pratique de la lecture critique en sciences humaines et sociales, to read articles necessary for the realization of exercises in TP, and also to follow certain modules of the MOOC "Louv23x: Practicing the research method in human and social sciences".
3) The practical work aims to enable students to learn and practice:
1. TP1 (computer room): the realization of a bibliographic search on the computer databases of the library;
2. TP2 (class): the achievement of a critical comparison of articles submitted for reading;
3. TP3 (class): help and advice in the construction of problematization and research hypotheses;
4. Permanences: correction of the comparison and support for the completion of the final work;
5. Group Hearing: oral presentation of the final work;
6. Permanences: last support to the realization of the final work.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The role of the teachers (and assistants) is to transmit the subject, the mastery of the techniques and tools, to allow the putting into practice of these last ones by means of scenarios and resolutions of exercise carried out in TP, and accompany, during the ad hoc devices, the students · in · the realization of the various services.

For this EU, the role of students and the related expectations are as follows. At university, there is freedom for students to attend or not the classes. Teachers and course assistants obviously recommend maximum attendance at class sessions as well as practical assignments. Except in cases of force majeure, non attendance and its potential consequences are therefore entirely the responsibility of the students. In the same way, everyone is free to organize his study and his time during the quadrimester. Here again, the course's staff and assistants recommend a verification of ongoing understanding AND gradual construction of successive works. Finally, the teaching of the methodology can only develop its full potential if the students are actively and autonomously involved in the reading and other tasks they will have to carry out prior to the sessions on the one hand, and in the context of the final work, on the other.
The teaching unit is conceived as a mechanism whose four developmental paths are the wheels. They gradually provide students with the various building blocks needed to build the services they will be evaluated on. Its timing is tight, which is why fixed deadlines are imposed for these benefits.


Assessment methods and criteria :
The evaluation of DMSS is, in June, a part of individual evaluation (the rating is given to the student) and a part of collective evaluation (the rating is assigned to the entire group composed from 3 to 4 students). It breaks down as follows:
- An individual intermediate work of critical comparison of 4 texts to be submitted during the semester (formative work = no points awarded, but -2 points on the note of the individual written examination if no delivery or late delivery)
- A final work involving both an individual assessment part (30% of the points or 6/20) and a part of collective evaluation (30% of the points or 6/20), as well as a group oral presentation final work (10% of points or 2/20)
- An individual written exam on the subject (30% of points or 6/20)
!!!!! A student will only be awarded the mark of the collective part of the final work (30% of the points) if his own individual part was considered sufficient (= obtained at least 3/6). In the opposite case, the note of the collective part will be equivalent for him to the note of his individual part.
The final score, individual, adds the partial ratings. The students will be informed, at the latest after the deliberation of the corresponding session, of the points which they obtained for these various services.


Recommended or required reading :
The mandatory resources for this EU are 3:
1) The slides presented during the course (moodle)
2) Chapter 4 of the following work: Marquis N., Lenel E., Van Campenhoudt L Pratique de la lecture critique en sciences humaines et sociales, Paris, Dunod, 2018.
3) Articles on moodle