Master
2024/2025
Research Seminar "Population and Development"
Type:
Compulsory course (Population and Development)
Area of studies:
Public Administration
Delivered by:
Department of Demography
Where:
Faculty of Social Sciences
When:
1 year, 1-4 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Master’s programme:
Population and Development
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
9
Contact hours:
124
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course introduces the students with the basic concepts of economic and human development, problems of inequality and basic demographic challenges. It combines some theoretical models with broad empirical evidence. Within the discipline students can realize the interconnections between social and economic development and demographic behavior The discipline is an obligatory three modules course for first-year students of the Master Program with specialization at ‘Population and Development’ at the Faculty of Social Sciences. The discipline is taught in English. The prerequisites are the basics knowledge of geography, economics, history, social sciences and statistics.
Learning Objectives
- The aim of the course is to explain students the demographic and social economic aspects of the human development. Within this course the connections between demographic, social economic and political processes are observed as well as their influence on social and human development and possible causal mechanisms. In the first part, we will take a look at the contemporary differences in various development outcomes across nations. Once we realize that these differences were (and indeed had to be) in the making since at least a couple of centuries, and possibly way more, it becomes imperative to turn our attention to possible answers to the two fundamental questions: (1) Why are contemporary societies so much richer than their distant ancestors? (2) Why are some nations so much wealthier than others today? In the second part of the course, we will briefly discuss the history of global economic growth and the history of divergence between rich and poor nations, with particular emphasis on the Industrial Revolution and various hypotheses on its causes. Next, we will consider individual factors of economic development, like geography, human capital and institutions, and analyze how they contribute to economic development and to the observed between-country economic inequality, using both historical and contemporary material. Finally, we will examine topics especially salient for the developing countries, like coping with advantages and challenges of ethnolinguistic and religious diversity; the resource curse issues; the debate on long-run benefits of international development aid.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Additional useful for the academic paper writing skills
- The student can find the most suitable methods of research, data sources, develops hypotheses and the ways to test it
- The student can organize the predefence of the paper as a public presentation
- The student is able to summarizes and groups knowledge from the research literature
- The student is able to write texts of different genres
- The student know the basic elements and stages of academic research
Course Contents
- Literature review
- Methodology for studying migration
- Methods of sustainable development research
- Public administration
- Methodology of the study of fertility
- Practical aspects of the application of R
- Sociological methods of analysis
- Semi-structured interview and other qualitative methods
- Discussion of the Proposal
Assessment Elements
- Literature review
- Methodology for studying migration
- Methods of sustainable development research
- Public administration
- Methodology of the study of fertility
- Practical aspects of the application of R
- Sociological methods of analysis
- Semi-structured interview and other qualitative methods
- Discussion of the Proposal
- 2 - year
Interim Assessment
- 2024/2025 4th module0.1 * Discussion of the Proposal + 0.1 * Literature review + 0.1 * Methodology for studying migration + 0.1 * Methodology of the study of fertility + 0.1 * Methods of sustainable development research + 0.1 * Practical aspects of the application of R + 0.1 * Public administration + 0.2 * Semi-structured interview and other qualitative methods + 0.1 * Sociological methods of analysis
- 2025/2026 3rd module1 * 2 - year
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Bischoping, K. (2005). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches/The Practice of Social Research. Teaching Sociology, 33(1), 95–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X0503300110
- Telling a research story : writing a literature review, Feak, C. B., 2009
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Heck, R. H. (2004). Studying Educational and Social Policy : Theoretical Concepts and Research Methods. Mahwah, N.J.: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=113815
- Ligia MUNTEAN JEMNA. (2016). Qualitative And Mixed Research Methods In Economics: The Added Value When Using Qualitative Research Methods. Journal of Public Administration, Finance and Law, (9), 154. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsrep&AN=edsrep.a.aic.jopafl.y2016v9p154.167
- The literature review : a step-by-step guide for students, Ridley, D., 2012