DESCRIPTION OF MODULES OFFERED
SC5101 Graduate Research Methods
This module is designed as an intermediate level of research methods in Sociology. The module covers the following key areas (a) theorising and conceptualization; (b) measurement; (c) sampling approaches; (d) quantitative research methods (including survey research, nonreactive research and experimental research); (e) qualitative research methods (including interviewing and observational techniques); (f) qualitative analysis (grounded theory); (g) quantitative analysis.
SC5102 Quantitative Data Analysis
This module provides a systematic exposition of general linear models in social science research. Topics include relative frequencies, probability distribution, model specification, estimation, hypothesis testing, and remedies for violations of statistical assumptions. The main emphasis is on the hands-on application of statistical techniques to social research. Research articles in sociology are used to illustrate the application of these models and techniques. Extensions to nonlinear models and panel data analysis are introduced in the latter part of the module. The course aims to help students to strengthen their understanding of statistical concepts and modelling techniques, and enrich their capacity to interpret statistical findings. Prerequisite(s): SC5101 and SC3209
SC5103 Qualitative Data Analysis
Increasingly, more qualitative research work is being undertaken
in its own right rather than as preliminary research for subsequent
quantitative surveys. This explains the broadening of the
range of qualitative research techniques. In addition to dealing
with traditional fieldwork and participant observation methods,
the module will examine a number of qualitative approaches.
These include techniques of analyzing data generated by laypersons
(as in life-documents: diaries, journals, travelogues), communications
materials, material artifacts, and visual information. This
course is open to postgraduate students with an interest in
qualitative research methods. Prerequisite(s): SC5101
SC5218 Population and Ageing Preclusion: SC5211C
Information from the lecturer: This module introduces you to the main issues in ageing research from a sociological perspective. One of the central tenets of the course is that age is socially constructed and that the various definitions of "old" are related to the historical, social, and economic conditions of a particular country. The elderly constitute a very diverse population, in terms of their economic status, health status and social integration. This will become clear as we examine characteristics of aged populations in Western and non-Western countries. One of the aims of the module will be to provide students with an understanding of population issues relevant to the changing age structure of Singapore and other Asian countries, in particular their rapid population ageing. Both the theoretical underpinnings and the policy implications of these demographic trends will be examined. Other specific topics that will be touched on include theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of ageing; gender and ageing; the elderly in society - changing family situation, roles and expectations; formal versus informal support of the elderly; living arrangements of the elderly; retirement migration; ageing and health; care for the frail and disabled elderly; inter-generational transfers; ageing and income maintenance; and government policies toward the aged. We will draw upon readings from the fields of sociology, demography, economics, psychology and epidemiology, to show the complexity of the issues involved in ageing research. The course has a strong international perspective, comparing ageing issues and research in Western countries with Singapore and other Asian countries. This will provide students with an understanding of the unique characteristics of Asian countries that must be taken into account when conducting ageing research in Asia.
SC5219 Tourism: Culture, Society, and the Environment Preclusion: SC5211D
Tourism is an important part of culture, society and the environment in the modern world. How have social scientists theorized about the role of tourism and its influence in the contemporary world? We will explore the history of the rise of tourism in the contemporary world and its rise as a type of “ordering” that is integrated with other social, political and economic changes of the modern world. What role does tourism have in the lives of people in industrial and post-industrial society? We will explore what it means to be a “tourist”, and what being a tourist means in the social and culture life of contemporary society. What is touristic culture? How does tourism shape culture and nature in the contemporary world? What is eco-tourism? Is tourism a way of solving ecological problems in marginalized and degraded environments? What is tourism’s relationship with power, inequality and morality? This course will explore tourism as an important lens through which to understand our contemporary global situation.
SC5770 Graduate Research Seminar For Masters Students
This is a required module for all Masters research
students admitted from AY2004/2005. The module provides a
forum for students and faculty to share their research and
to engage one another critically in discussion of their current
research projects. The module will include presentations by
faculty on research ethics and dissertation writing. Each
student is required to present a formal research paper. Active
participation in all research presentations is expected. The
module may be spread over two semesters and will be graded "Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory" on the basis of student
presentation and participation.
SC6102 Sociological Theory
Modern society is highly complex and differentiated. Sociological
theories help us to make sense of this complexity, to understand
and penetrate realities at all levels of social aggregation
– at the micro-level of individual interaction and of small
collective units (such as the family), at the meso-level of
organizations and intermediate institutions (such as business
firms) and at the macro-level of society’s basic structure.
They enlighten us about hidden forces, principles and interests
which shape our daily lives and the reproduction of social
structures. This module aims to demonstrate the usefulness
and limitations of different theories both as tools of analysis
and as concrete guides to social practices.
SC6213 Families in Transition
This graduate seminar examines changes in family behavior and household relationships from a global perspective. Class discussion will consider major theoretical perspectives and debates about changing family forms and family variation around the world. Literature will be drawn from sociological, demographic, ideological, economic, and anthropological perspectives to explain these changes. We will read about families in countries in Asia, Americas, Africa and Europe. Throughout this class, you will begin to appreciate that when we study the family in its cross-cultural complexity, there is a dynamic interaction between macrosocietal forces and the microsocietal forces that interact to explain how family member's lives are shaped around the world.
SC6216 The Anthropological Perspective
This course will explore concepts that have been prominent in the development of anthropology as a distinctive discipline. Concepts such as culture, cultural relativism, ethnocentrism, ethnography, participant observation, and social structure, will be examined in the context of their development and use by anthropologists over the past century. Other themes will include the historical relationship between anthropology and colonialism, critiques that have been made of anthropology in recent decades over questions of ethnographic authority, and the construction of anthropological objects and subjects.
SC6220 Conflict and Power in Comparative Perspective
Among the themes covered are state power and formation, ideology, political violence and terror, democracy/authoritarianism, and social movements. These are addressed in relation to issues of political economy transformations within societies as well as the changing international political economy. It asks a number of fundamental questions, including: What are some of the defining features of social conflict and of the exercise of power in modern societies? What is the role of the state and of civil society-based organisations in defining social, political, and economic trajectories? Are major social transformations inevitably accompanied by conflict and violence? Has the nature of social conflict and power, domestic and international, been transformed in the post-Cold War and post-9/11 International Order? How has the recent world economic crisis affected the kinds of social conflicts that transpire in the developed and developing worlds? This module is comparative, providing case studies from the experiences of contemporary European, Latin American and Asian societies.
SC6224 Producing Ethnographic Texts
Ethnography is the central mode of documentation and representation in social and cultural anthropology. ‘Ethnography’, the detailed depiction of human social and cultural experiences and their focused analysis, can refer either to the process of conducting fieldwork and undertaking participant observation or the product of such research, in a written or a visual form. The module recognizes the diverse modes in which anthropologists represent their works – including in visual, oral and digital. The emphasis is on ethnographic writing/ representation in an effort to understand the various methodological, literary and conceptual choices made by authors in the process.
SC6770 Graduate Research Seminar
This is a required module for all PhD
research students admitted from AY2004/2005. The module provides a
forum for students and faculty to share their research and
to engage one another critically in discussion of their current
research projects. The module will include presentations by
faculty on research ethics and dissertation writing. Each
student is required to present a formal research paper. Active
participation in all research presentations is expected. The
module may be spread over two semesters and will be graded "Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory" on the basis of student
presentation and participation.
CSA6102 Cultural Studies in Asia
This module will examine the various areas of research in Cultural Studies conducted by Asian scholars or scholars locating their research in Asia. It will examine the histories, concepts and analytic strategies that these scholars deploy in the analysis of the changing cultural landscapes and practices in contemporary Asia. Abiding themes of the module will be the conceptual constitution of the idea of 'Asia', the emergence of 'trans-Asian' practices and the possibility of 'pan-Asian' identities that these trans-location practices might engender.
CSA6880 Topics in Cultural Studies in Asia
This module is to be taught by an eminent visiting scholar in Cultural Studies in Asia, appointed as a visiting teaching fellow for one semester. The content of the module will therefore vary according to the specialised interests of the visiting teaching fellow.
Past visiting fellows include Associate Professor Maila Katrin Stivens, who was appointed the Visiting Associate Professor under the William Lim Siew Wai Fellowship for AY2010-2011, Semester 1. Her selected topic was titled 'Genders, Sexualities and Globalisation: Emerging Asian Perspectives'. For AY2011-2012 Semester 1, the visiting fellow was Professor Mike Featherstone, who was appointed under the Lim Chong Yah Professorship in Arts and Social Sciences. His selected topic was "Consumer Culture: Issues in Social and Cultural Theory".
For Semester 2, AY2012-2013, the visiting scholar is Associate Professor Audrey Yue. Please click here for the course outline. |
