Course

Read about the Master Programme and find the Study Regulations at ruc.dk

You register for activities through stads selvbetjening during the announced registration period, which you can see on the Study administration homepage.

When registering for courses, please be aware of the potential conflicts and overlaps between course and exam time and dates. The planning of course activities at Roskilde University is based on the recommended study programmes, which should not overlap. However, if you choose optional courses and/or study plans that goes beyond the recommended study programmes, an overlap of lectures or exam dates may occur depending on which courses you choose.

A practice-oriented methodology course aims to equip students to competently apply a given technique or tool that is frequently used in practice.

The course equips students to argue for the applicability and relevance of the technique or tool to the problem, and to apply the technique or tool in work situations.

This course engages with ways in which gender as analytical tool and methodological lens can be made fruitful in social scientific analysis. The sessions will touch upon methodologcial concerns, research techniques as well as broader questions of how to engage with gender objectives in research.

The course encourages students to engage with various gender perspectives in a concrete, hands-on way. It also provides students with the opportunity to improvde their general understanding of critical methodologies and research design – regardless of whether or not they will actually employ a gendered understanding in their next project or master thesis, an engagement with these debates will help them sharpen their grasp of the diversity of perspectives in social science.

Specific learning outcomes: • Knowledge of various perspectives of gender and/in research • Knowledge of academic and practice-oriented methods in gender analysis, their use and relevance at advanced level. • Knowledge of and critical reflection on the application of gender as method, in terms of researcher positioning and research ethics.

• Skills to evaluate and select relevant gender analytical tools in research and professional practice • Skills to carry out a basic gender analysis using academic and/or practice-oriented methods • Skills in communicating and discussing gender as method in a way that is clearly argued, technically and methodologically precise, and societally relevant.

We will be using this book as core reference in the course:

Brooke Ackerly and Jacqui True (2019) Doing Feminist Research in Political and Social Science (Palgrave), 2nd edition. The book is available online through the library. You might also want to consider buying it as it is a useful resource also e.g. for the master thesis.

In addition to this, we'll be reading academic articles and chapters (having checked that they are all accessible), e.g. - Harding, Sandra (1988) Feminism and Methodology: Social Science Issues (Wiley) - Laura Shephed (ed) (2022) Gender matters in Global Politics (Routledge)3rd - Georgina Waylen et al (2013) Oxford Handbook of Gender and Politics (OUP), in particular the section on ‘concepts and methods’

In total 135 hrs: Class teaching 10x2 hrs session = 20 Exercises = 15 Peer review = 10 Course readings= 50 Examination written assignment = 40

It is recommended that students participating in this class have a basic understanding that gender matters in social science. But even should that not be the case you might still find the course useful for its thorough reflection on methods and research practice.

Lecturer feedback and supervised peer review for exercises, feedback on written assignment during office hours, final evaluation

The course starts with a brief introduction in the main traditions of gender research, drawing on essentialist, constructivist and poststructuralist perspectives. This also includes a focus on masculinity and intersectionality studies. The key focus here is on discussion of gender in social scientific enquiry, or ‘how research does or should proceed’ (Harding 1987: 3).

Subsequently, the course introduces concrete tools for gender analysis. In this context, we discuss the gendered dimensions of research methods such as interviews and focus groups. We also investigate impact assessment and gender mainstreaming as method, for analysis as well as in a policy-making context.

In the final part of the course, we will discuss research ethics and the embedding of social science research in a broader societal context, and how these dimensions matter for the pratice of research inside and outside the university.

At the conclusion of the course, students will be able to:

• Explain and evaluate key concepts relating to the given technique or tool, using academically relevant terminology

• Argue for the utility of the technique or tool in practice

• Master the application of the basic functions of the given technique or tool

• Take a critical position in relation to the use of the technique or tool in practice.

The assessment is based on an individual written take-home assignment. The assignment is a reflection assignment that asks students to develop a research design for applying a 'gender as method' approach.

Assesment criteria include - clarity of argumentation - engagement with and critical review of relevant literature - level of understanding of specific methods and tools discussed in the course - analytical reflection