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Equality & Human Rights (MRes)

Core Courses

Equality and Human Rights

Tutor: Professor Nick Watson
Course Type: Core
Schedule: Semester 1, Tuesdays 10-12pm

Course description
This course is one of the two core courses for the MSc Equality and Human Rights.  The course will explore the relationship between equality and human rights, types and causes of inequality, the methodological issues that arise in charting inequality and interconnections, commonalities and differences between different types of inequality.  It will also examine actions taken by various agencies to overcome inequalities.

Course reading
There is no single 'textbook', but the following are introductory, core and useful texts:

  • Bagilhole, Barbara (2009) Understanding Equal Opportunities and Diversity (Bristol: The Policy Press).
  • Baker, John; Lynch, Kathleen; Cantillon, Sara and Walsh, Judy (2009) Equality: From Theory to Action, second edition (London: Palgrave Macmillan).
  • Seidman, Steven (2008) Contested Knowledge: Social Theory Today, fourth edition (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell)
  • McGhee, Derek (2008) The End of Multiculturalism? Terrorism, Integration and Human Rights (Maidenhead: Open University Press)
  • Nickel, James W. (2007) Making Sense of Human Rights, second edition (Oxford: Blackwell)
  • Goodhart, Michael (ed.)(2009) Human Rights: Politics and Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
  • Dorling D (2010) Injustice: Why social inequality still persists London Policy Press
  • National Equality Panel (2010) An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK: Report of the National Equality Panel London, Government Equalities Office. 
    http://www.equalities.gov.uk/national_equality_panel.aspx
  • Wilkinson R and Pickett K (2009) The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. (London: Allen Lane)
  • Grabham, Emily; Cooper, Davina; Jane Krishnadas and Didi Herman (eds.)(2009) Intersectionality and Beyond (London: Routledge-Cavendish).
  • Hills, John and Stewart, Kitty (2005) A more equal society? : New Labour, poverty, inequality and exclusion (Bristol: Polity Press)
  • Woodward, Kath (ed.)(2004) Questioning identity: gender, class, ethnicity, second edition (London: Routledge).
  • Tilly, Charles (1999) Durable Inequality (Berkeley: University of California Press)

Qualitative Research Methods

Course Description
Qualitative research includes a broad range of approaches and research techniques.  The purpose of the course is to introduce students to a number of the most commonly used approaches and research techniques.  These tools include in-depth interviews, focus groups and content analysis as well as the gathering of data based on observation and textual information.  The course aims to develop a practical understanding of the philosophical underpinnings, application and analysis of qualitative methodology for those working in social research.

The lectures are designed to give students grounding in why we use particular methodologies and how they may fit into a broader examination of society.  The tutorials are designed to give students time to try out and critically examine how qualitative methods work in practice.  The goal of the course is to give students a) robust introductory knowledge of a range of qualitative methods; b) the ability to build a solid research design; c) the skill to find appropriate qualitative methods that relate to their inquiries and d) the tools and experience to start to implement qualitative research methods such as interviewing, focus groups, context analysis, broadcast analysis with skill and confidence.  Once again, students are given tutorials as well as weekly lectures.

Topics include:

  • Qualitative Research Traditions
  • Interviewing techniques
  • Document and archive research
  • Content analysis and Discourse analysis
  • Focus groups
  • Participant observation
  • Research Ethics

Social Science Statistics 1

Course Description
This is the core quantitative element in the MRes Equality and Human Rights.  Students are expected to understand computing operations designed for social scientists, such as the SPSS, and will learn the necessary statistical skills for interpreting large-scale data (e.g criminal statistics, census findings and large-scale social mobility surveys).  They will focus in the second half of this course on preparing an assessment in the lab.  Tutorial assistance is given to students in this course as well as weekly lectures.

Topics include

  • Units and Variables
  • Describing Variables
  • Introduction of Hypothesis Testing
  • Sampling
  • Sample Statistics and Parameters
  • Statistical Significance
  • Research Design
  • Introduction to Regression Analysis