University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2022/23 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Social Sciences and Law > School for Policy Studies > Criminology with Quantitative Research Methods (BSc) > Specification
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Programme code | 9SPOL029U |
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Programme type | Single Honours |
Programme director(s) |
Samuel Kirwan
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Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
School/department | School for Policy Studies |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups | Criminology (2022) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 3 years (full time) |
This section sets out why studying this programme is important, both in terms of inspiring you as an individual and in considering the challenges we face. It describes how this degree programme contributes to:
This programme aims to develop the student’s interest in and knowledge and understanding of criminology and quantitative analysis within the broader context of policy studies. Criminology is a multi-disciplinary subject, which draws on different disciplines such as sociology, law, history, psychology, philosophy, and social policy. Based in the School for Policy Studies, the BSc Criminology programme has two core aims: (i) to provide an understanding of crime and related social harms; and (ii) to analyse the role and impact of public policies on crime and harm reduction. The programme draws upon zemiological (social harm) perspectives to examine conventionally defined crimes, and also other activities/behaviours that may not be criminalised, but yet cause extensive harm to individuals and society.
The learning outcome statements shown below for your programme have been developed with reference to relevant national subject benchmarks (where they exist), national qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) and professional body requirements.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies are listed to show how you will be able to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.
This programme provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Acquisition of core knowledge and understanding is through lectures, seminars, classes and workshops together with regular course work in the form of essays, presentations, critical reviews, case studies and other forms of assessment. Advanced knowledge is acquired through individual supervision and one-to-one tutorials as part of the preparation of the student's dissertation. Throughout students are encouraged to undertake independent study both to consolidate and supplement what is being taught and to broaden and deepen their individual knowledge and understanding of the subject. This independent study will include the reading of academic texts and journal articles, public documents and internet material. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Throughout the programme there is a combination of formative and summative assessment. Formative assessment is given through structured learning activities, marking unit course work essays, marking ‘mock’/practice exams, feedback on student presentations and on a variety of work done in classes. During preparation of the 10,000 word dissertation regular meetings between student and advisor include feedback on the student's work in progress. Summative assessment is through a combination of methods that include: portfolios, essays, policy briefings, presentations and a critical analysis of published research. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Intellectual skills are being developed through the teaching and learning programme outlined above – and in particular students are exposed to this form of analysis in the lecture programme. Acquisition of 1 through to 6 are further developed by discussion of key issues, summarising key points from reading and unit course work unit essays. Acquisition of 7,8 and 9 are developed primarily through training in research methods and data analysis (e.g. statistical analyses, thematic analysis) (mandatory units), one-to-one discussion with academic advisor of student dissertation and dissertation empirical work. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Formative assessment of intellectual skills is through unit course work, feedback on student presentations and on a variety of class work. Summative assessment of intellectual skills is through methods that include portfolios, essays, policy briefings, presentations and critical analysis of published research. Skills relating to the planning, performance and reporting on a programme of original research are assessed by the dissertation. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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All learners receive initial guidance on how to identify, locate and use material available in libraries and elsewhere (6). Comprehensive bibliographies are provided for each course unit at the outset, as are guidelines for production of essays. Workshops are given in the use of on-line databases for literature searching. The final year dissertation is supported by a series of workshops relating to quantitative and qualitative and mixed methods which enhance and extend these skills.
Workshops provide support for students' own personal and professional development. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Formative assessment of skills 1-3, & 6 is through course work unit essays, feedback on student presentations (in particular the presentation of the student's own dissertation work at dissertation conferences). Summative assessment of skills 1 to 3 and 6 is through the range of coursework assessment methods used and through submission of the dissertation. Skill 5 is assessed by the ability to meet the deadlines set for assessment, and preparation of contributions to classes. |
This section describes what is expected from you at each level of your programme. This illustrates increasing intellectual standards as you progress through the programme. These levels are mapped against the national level descriptors published by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
At the end of this level, students are expected to be able to demonstrate knowledge of: the nature, prevalence and patterning of major crimes and social harms; key concepts and theories in relation to these phenomena; the contemporary and historical development of criminal justice and public policy interventions responsible for controlling crime and social harm; and research skills relevant to their discipline and study skills for higher education. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
At the end of this level, students are expected to be able to demonstrate that they have expanded the range and depth of their criminological knowledge. Through mandatory units, they should have deepened their knowledge of theories related to crime, deviance, victimisation, social harm and responses to these phenomena via an the examination of the ideas of key criminological thinkers, and also become familiar with the range of research methodologies relevant to their field. Through their choice of optional units they should be developing their skills and knowledge in relation to particular topics. They are expected to be developing a capacity for self-directed learning. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
Learners should continue to develop the depth of their knowledge and critical reflections through their study of both mandatory and optional subjects. Students are expected to demonstrate an ability to apply the skills learnt in the research methods unit and to enhance their capacity for self-directed study, especially through the completion of a dissertation. Students are expected to demonstrate an enhanced knowledge of how the production of crime and social harm is related to the way society is organised and how public policy interventions can contribute to a harm-free society. |
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
UG Workload Statement
Success as an undergraduate student depends on you being able to make the transition to self-motivated, independent learning. Programmes are designed to assist you in this development, in many cases by starting with units in which timetabled teaching, such as lectures and practical classes, provides the foundations of knowledge and skills in a subject, moving on to individual research-based work. Over time you will be expected to take increasing responsibility for your own learning, guided by the feedback on your work that you will receive. At the heart of your studies at every level there must be regular and disciplined individual reading, reflection and writing and it is this skill of independent studies, above all others, that will serve you best when you leave the University.
Most programmes use credits and a 20 credit unit broadly equates to about 200 hours of student input. This includes all activities related to the teaching, learning and assessment of taught units.
A component of this is the time that you spend in class, in contact with the teaching staff, which includes activities such as lectures, laboratories, tutorials and fieldwork. Some of this activity may be online and could consist of activity that is synchronous (using real-time environments such as Blackboard Collaborate) or asynchronous (using tools such as tutor moderated discussion forums, blogs or wikis).
In some programmes there are field courses and/or placements that will take place in concentrated periods of time.
Outside scheduled activities you are expected to pursue your own independent learning to build your knowledge and understanding of the subjects you are studying. Such independent activities include, reviewing lecture material, reading textbooks, working on examples sheets, completing coursework, writing up laboratory notes, preparing for in-class progress tests and revising for examinations.
We recognise that many students undertake paid employment. To achieve a sensible balance between work and study, you are advised to undertake paid work for no more than 15 hours per week in term-time.
Professional Programmes
Many undergraduates in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be following the professional programmes of:
For these professional programmes, full time attendance is compulsory unless absence is formally approved. Academic activities are timetabled throughout the 5-day week and student workload is around 40 hours per week on average. Where possible, students in the early years are permitted Wednesday afternoons for sport and extra-curriculum activities. This may not be available in later years of professional programmes as when a student progresses through the curricula there is an increasing exposure to clinical and professional activities. Students in clinic or on placements may need to stay later than core times of 08.00 – 18.00 or even overnight to observe out-of-hours activities. This increasing exposure to clinical activities means that students on these professional programmes often have longer term dates than the University standard. Individual years within programmes are likely to vary in length (for example because of the timings of placements) and further information on this will be found in individual programme regulations. Another important point to note is that many of the assessments sit outside of the standard University examination timetable and are likely to be more frequent meaning that students will more oftentimes be engaged in revision activities and self-directed learning.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty Assessment and Feedback Statement for Undergraduate Students. University of Bristol access only.
This course is ideal for those interested in learning more about how to use numbers and data within the social sciences, and in acquiring practical and analytical skills that are attractive to employers. It has been developed in partnership with the Nuffield Foundation, ESRC and HEFCE as part of the new Bristol Q-Step Centre: one of fifteen centres in the UK tasked with leading a step-change in the quality of quantitative methods teaching provided to undergraduate social scientists. There is also a four-year undergraduate degree option, offering more advanced quantitative methods for those wishing to graduate with a Master's (MSci) qualification
Undergraduate Programmes’ Office: sps-ugadmin@bristol.ac.uk
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Understanding Crime, Harm and Society | SPOL10020 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Critical Skills for Social Scientists: Criminology | SPOL10028 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Responding to Crime and Social Harm | SPOL10031 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 |
Criminological Theory: An Introduction | SPOL10029 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 |
Segregation and Inequality in International Perspective | SPOL10038 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 |
Convincing stories? Numbers as evidence in the social sciences | GEOG10005 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
The following units are must pass: POLI20001 and SOCI20069.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Key Thinkers in Criminology | SPOL20036 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Principles of Quantitative Social Science | SOCI20069 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Conducting a Research Project using Secondary Data | POLI20001 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 |
Punishment in Society | SPOL20052 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 |
Globalisation, Crime, Harm and Justice | SPOL20025 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Please select one unit (20 credits) from the list below: | ||||
Crime, Harm and Money | SPOL20064 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Youth Justice | SPOL20022 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Work and Work Placements: Criminology | SPOL20041 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 |
Diploma of Higher Education | 120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Dissertation (with Quantitative Research Methods) (Criminology) | SPOL30064 | 40 | Mandatory | TB-4 |
Critical Studies of Harm, Violence, and Oppression | SPOL30086 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 |
Please select at least two units from the list below: | ||||
Violence, Migration and Borders | SPOL30088 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Sex Power and Consumption | SPOL30073 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Gender based Violence | SPOL30029 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Leisure, Pleasure and Harm | SPOL30063 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Global Illicit Drug Markets | SPOL30080 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Children and Social Harm | SPOL30079 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
and the remaining units from the list above or below: | ||||
Disability in Society | SPOL30075 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Children and Young People in the Law A | SPOL30057 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Child Nutrition, Activity and Health | SPOL30034 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 |
Childhoods in a Global Context | SPOL30089 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Climate Emergency | SPOL30074 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 |
Criminology with Quantitative Research Methods (BSc) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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