Politics through the Life Course
| Module title | Politics through the Life Course |
|---|---|
| Module code | POL3204 |
| Academic year | 2020/1 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Professor Susan Banducci (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 30 |
|---|
Module description
There are a range of life events that have an effect on the development of political attitudes and behavior. For example, one of the most notable longitudinal studies found that the majority of women attending a women’s only university in the US came to hold significantly less traditional values at the end of their degree programme. Entering a partnership also has an enduring impact on political behavior. Education, friendships, employment, marriage, parenthood, divorce and aging are all life transitions that affect our identities, the resources that we have at our disposal and our social networks. In this course we examine how these life course events influence politics. We look at these relationships at the individual level and in the context of major societal developments: declining birthrates, changes to the traditional family structure and labour force participation by women. All of these socio-economic developments will have implications for how individuals navigate the political landscape and how political organization such as political parties respond to citizens (e.g. ‘Soccer Mom’ and the ‘Mumsnet Election’). Since this module will be data intensive, students should have completed POL1041, POL1004 and POL2077 (or be able to demonstrate suitable familiarity with data analysis).
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module aims to improve (1) your understanding of political socialisation processes over the life-course and how this interacts with social and political structures, (2) your ability to analyse empirical, quantitative data on political attitudes and behaviour especially longitudinal data, and (3) your capacity to critically evaluate the interdisciplinary research on life cycle events, identity, communication, inter-personal and social networks and political behaviour. Finally, the module aims to improve your ability to communicate thoughts and ideas through an original research report.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Critically assess how political attitudes and behaviour develops over the life course
- 2. Understand and apply the key theories and approaches explaining the effects of life cycle events on political behaviour and attitudes
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Use statistical methods to analyse data and model political life cycle effects
- 4. Critically evaluate political science research according to its assumptions, methods, and conclusions
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Confidently select relevant data, assimilate and synthesise multiple data sources
- 6. Integrate political science and other relevant disciplinary research with independent statistical analysis
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- How to Study Politics through the Life Course: Key
- Key Theories I: Socialisation
- Key data sets I: on socialisation and examples
- Key Theories II: Inter-personal communication and social networks
- Key data sets II: Networks
- Key Theories III: Culture & Identity
- Key Theories IV: Bio-psycho-social
- Early Childhood
- Schooling
- Key Methods: Cohort analysis
- Family
- Media & Culture
- Key Methods II: Longitudinal analysis
- Relationships
- Key Methods III: Cross-national analysis
- Parenthood
- Career choices
- Aging and retirement
- Isolation and Loneliness
- Health
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | 230 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 40 | 20 x 2 hour sessions, class meeting to discuss readings, introduce material, give presentations |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity | 30 | 10 x 3 hour sessions, scheduled lab times for data analysis & data presentations |
| Guided Independent Study | 10 | 5 x 2 hour sessions, suggested group meetings to develop projects and presentations: 6 hours lab prep time for assignments, 4 hours writing up assignments |
| Guided Independent Study | 220 | Preparing for seminars by completing required and recommended reading, reviewing reading, preparing questions and comments for seminar discussions, finding data resources for coursework, writing scripts in R for data analysis research reports, data analysis for coursework, interpretation of data. |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual presentation to the class on research report | 10 minutes | 1-7 | Global and oral feedback |
| In-class participation in discussion and exercises | 20 x 2 hours | 1-7 | Oral feedback - assessed on contribution to class discussion, feedback on student presentation and familiarity with assigned reading. |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research report | 50 | 3,000 words & 8-10 charts, figures and/or data tables. | 1-7 | Written feedback |
| Critical review | 25 | 1,500 words | 1-7 | Written feedback |
| Data analysis exercise on research report theme including in-class presentation | 25 | 10 minute presentation, 5 PowerPoint slides, 1 page explaining exercise & instructional data set | 1-7 | Oral and written feedback |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research report | Research report | 1-7 | Aug/Sept assessment period |
| Critical review | Critical review | 1-7 | Aug/Sept assessment period |
| Data analysis exercise on course theme | Write up of the presentation (1500 words) | 1-7 | Aug/Sept assessment period |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Political Attitudes over the Life Span: The Bennington Women after Fifty Years (Life course studies)
Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis: Modeling Change and Event Occurrence
The Politics of Parenthood: Causes and Consequences of the Politicization and Polarization of the American Family
And relevant journal articles
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
Scholar.google.com
Sage online research methods
Youtube.com
UK Data Service
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
British Household Panel Data
Understanding Society
European Social Survey
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | POL1041 POL1008 POL2077 |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 01/09/2016 |
| Last revision date | 01/09/2016 |
