Subject Area: Sociology and Anthropology
This course can also be studied in the following specialisations: Australian Studies, Development Studies, Women's and Gender Studies


This course reflects on the practice of social research as a way of coming to understand aspects of culture and society. We address method and methodology and recognise the importance of understanding the historical, theoretical and philosophical context in which particular practices in social research have developed. Social researchers do not apply a set of neutral techniques to the issues they investigate, but rather research is part of a dynamic engagement with social and cultural worlds. A heightened sense of the strategies used in researching culture and society enhances the reflexivity of social researchers: that is, their capacity to reflect upon what they are doing, and to recognise that social research is in itself a form of intervention in and relationship with the social and cultural world. This course encourages you to think about the political, theoretical and philosophical implications of making particular choices when doing a research project. To this end we will consult with a wide source of documented information and knowledge and address grounded theorizing, ethical issues in research, and the role of the researcher in the research process.