Unit name | Poverty, Inequality and Social Inclusion Research |
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Unit code | SPOLD2024 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | D/8 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Dr. Fahmy |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School for Policy Studies |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Tackling poverty and social exclusion is currently a core aim of both domestic and international policy. Fundamental to policy development are questions of how best to define and measure poverty and social exclusion: without dealing adequately with these questions we have little idea of the size of the problem or the effectiveness of proposed solutions. This unit explores the range of issues relevant to researching in this policy field, including: debates regarding the definition of poverty and social exclusion, approaches to measuring poverty, deprivation and social exclusion, sources of data, the cross-sectional and longitudinal impacts of deprivation, the links between research and policy making. Many of the theoretical and methodological themes are approached through discussion of illustrative policy areas, such as health, housing, labour markets and area-based regeneration.
Upon completion of this unit student should be able to:
Lectures and class exercises.
Formative assessment:
Will be by means of student presentations delivered as part of the teaching program. Students will be asked to work in small groups in addressing a key issue in the theory and measurement of poverty and social exclusion, including potential implications for policy and practice. Students will be asked to work independently over the course of the unit and will be expected to make a brief presentation (15mins) of their findings, and to have an opportunity to receive feedback on this during the presentations session.
Summative assessment:
Will be by means of a written assignment of not more than 4,000 words. Participants will be asked to apply the knowledge and skills they have developed during the course of the unit to the investigation of poverty within the UK or internationally.