Unit information: Qualitative Research Methods for Human Geography in 2028/29

Unit name	Qualitative Research Methods for Human Geography
Unit code	GEOG20037
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Crane
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None.
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None.
Units you may not take alongside this one	None.
School/department	School of Geographical Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Unit Information

This course will equip students to critique and interrogate how geographical research is shaped by distinctive qualitative research methods. It guides students through a broad range of established methods, for example archives, surveys, interviewing, visual, and ethnography. The unit also develops students’ understanding of cutting-edge and new methods, such as collage, walking, and engaged research for change. Teaching is divided between lectures, seminar discussion and interactive practical exercises, enabling students to practice and test out qualitative methods with academics and practitioners. Students will thus learn to rethink the research they encounter in academia and beyond. They will see how such research methods are helping academics, today, to answer some of the most pressing social, economic, and political questions of our times. Students will also become better equipped to develop as independent researchers themselves – skills which will guide their engagement with year 2 field trips and in their year 3 dissertation projects. Within this remit, the unit aims are:

• To introduce students to established and new qualitative research methods
• To familiarise students with the challenges and rewards underpinning a qualitative approach to research
• To raise students’ awareness that different methods produce different kinds of information suited to different questions and contexts
• To instruct students in the importance of linking theory with practice
• To prepare students to undertake field tasks and dissertation research using cutting-edge qualitative methods

Your learning on this unit

On completion of this Unit students should be able to:

1. Select qualitative research methods appropriate to the task at hand;
2. Undertake research using qualitative methods;
3. Explain the methodological principles underpinning the application of qualitative research methods in human geography;
4. Critically evaluate the data generated using qualitative research methods; and
5. Apply such data in geographical tasks

The following transferable skills are developed in this Unit:

• Written and verbal communication
• Group work and presenting
• Analytical skills
• Planning and design of research

How you will learn

The unit will be taught through in-person teaching, augmented by online teaching if necessary. We will see:

• lectures to discuss key literature and concepts
• interactive group workshops and seminars
• tutorials and/or office hours
• asynchronous individual activities and guided reading for students to work through at their own pace

How you will be assessed

Annotated bibliography (20%). [ILOs 3-4]

Group project (80%). [ILOs 1-5]

The annotated bibliography enables students to see how methods work in existing research articles. Building on this, and taught materials, in the group project students propose different methods to answer different ‘real world’ problems.

When assessment does not go to plan

The annotated bibliography (20%) will be set as an alternative assessment.

In place of the group project (80%), students will complete a research project design briefing.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. GEOG20037).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.

The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.