SP201      One Unit
Research Methods for Social Policy

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Requisites

Pre-requisites:

Students must have completed SP101 before taking this course.

This course introduces students to tools used by scholars and practitioners in the study of social policy, focusing on their application to addressing research questions and policy issues in various disciplines and contexts. The course is aimed at helping students transform from a consumer to a producer of research. Through various hands-on activities, students will gain first-hand experience of a research process from start to finish,and, subsequently, build confidence and competence for conducting independent dissertation research in the third year. In the process, students will develop life-long problem-solving and analytical skills not only essential for working in the field of social policy but also highly valued by and transferable to other sectors. 

This course is divided into two parts. SP201.2 in AT focuses on research design and qualitative methods. SP201.1 in WT focuses on quantitative methods, including statistical programming using STATA. 

10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of classes in the Autumn Term.
10 hours of lectures and 15 hours of classes in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

All teaching will be in accordance with the LSE Academic Code which specifies a "minimum of two hours taught contact time per week when the course is running in the Autumn Term (AT) and/or Winter Term (WT)". Social Policy courses are predominantly taught through a combination of in-person lectures and in-person classes/seminars. Further information will be provided by the Course Convenor in the first lecture of the course.

Research design

Poster

Abstract

Research design: You will submit a plan for your qualitative research project.

Poster: You will make a poster and present your qualitative research project, including any preliminary findings.

Abstract: You will analyse a given dataset and answer research questions. The format will resemble the summative take-home exam.

Weiss, Robert S. Learning from strangers: The art and method of qualitative interview studies. Simon and Schuster, 1995.

Imai, Kosuke, and Lori D. Bougher. Quantitative Social Science: An Introduction in Stata. Princeton University Press, 2021.

Course participation (10%)

Project (40%)

Essay (50%)

The course will be assessed by 10% Class Participation (throughout the year), a 40% project (due in ST), and a 50% Essay based take home online exam during the ST Exam period.