Professional practice in a local and global context

The course will provide basic knowledge of some common scientific methods in social science. The students will gain research- experience by planning a project, collecting and analyzing the data, searching for, and reading scientific literature, and finally writing up a report in a scientific format. Consequently, the students will gain knowledge and experience of all stages of a research process. Students will apply social scientific methods on a topic of their own interest that is relevant to social work at the individual, group and societal level. The students can collect data either in Norway or abroad. The course thus provides an opportunity to learn about social work in Norway, but also in other national contexts. By carrying out empirical work, the students will develop their understanding on how different factors at the societal level can have an impact on people's living conditions. The practical empirical work will also provide increased knowledge on how economic, political, cultural, legal and structural conditions impacts social work.

Knowledge

• The candidate has knowledge of social science methods, and is able to evaluate some of their strengths and weaknesses
• The candidate has knowledge of research ethics
• The candidate has knowledge of how social science research methods can create knowledge about social problems locally and globally
• The candidate has knowledge on how to lead a group, and of group processes

Skills

• The candidate has experience in collecting and analyzing data based on their development and formulation of a research question
• The candidate has knowledge that allows them to reflect on all processes related to the collection and analysis of research data
• The candidate can apply relevant theoretical knowledge in a scientific study
• The candidate knows how to search for litterature on a given topic
• The candidate is able to answer a research question by building upon empirical data and applying literature

General competence

• The candidate is familiar with and can reflect on main ethical issues in research
• The candidate has basic knowledge of how to disseminate scientific knowledge, both orally and in writing
• The candidate has a basic understanding on how scientific knowledge of social work is developed
• The candidate can promote and be responsible for constructive group processes

Lectures, group work, supervision in groups, written assignment and oral presentation. The duration of the project is 4-5 weeks.