PRZ17
Research Methodologies -
- Unit
Description: This unit introduces students to contemporary approaches to qualitative
and quantitative research methodologies, with a particular focus on those that
are most often used in research in areas of theology and ministry. It provides
students with tools to select and apply those methodologies in the formulation
of a research proposal. The unit outlines the methodological challenges, hermeneutical
questions, and new directions for recent theological research, and the responses
across various disciplines to those new developments. Students will be introduced
to the skills, competencies and technical methods that are needed to conduct and
present high quality research, including identifying a research topic, citation
and bibliographical protocols, and obtaining ethics clearances.
-
- Learning
Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that
students will be able to: - 1.
Demonstrate a working knowledge of terms, assumptions and approaches to research
that are current in selected theological disciplines
2. Critically evaluate
key research methodologies and identify those that are most relevant to their
own research topics
3. Demonstrate a familiarity with research methods and
protocols
4. Demonstrate an appreciation of the nature, purpose, ethical responsibilities
and limitations of research in theological disciplines
5. Critically review
scholarly literature relevant to their own research topics. -
- Prerequisites:
Nil
-
- Corequisites:
Nil
-
- Prohibited
Combinations:
- DT401.15
Research Methods in Practical Theology (WHT) PABC406 Research Approaches for Theology
(UFT) PGS420.15 Spirituality Research Seminar (ICSPF)
-
- Level:
- Undergraduate
(Honours)
Graduate: Specialised Postgraduate Discipline: Methodology
Crosslisted
to: - all disciplines
Courses in which this unit is taught: BTheol (Hons), GradDipTheol, MTS, MA (Theol),
MDiv, MA, MTheol, MEd (Research), PhD, DTheol. For the purposes of the MDiv this
is a Specialised (Postgraduate) unit.
Faculty:
Mark Lindsay -
Offered: 2012. Semester
2, Wednesday evenings (5.30-8.30pm) at Centre for Theology and Ministry (CTM),
29 College Crescent (between Ormond College and St Hilda's College), Parkville.
-
Workload (demand hours):
- Timetabled
hours/week: 3
Personal study hours/week: 9
Total workload hours/week:
12
Total workload hours/unit: 144 -
- Assessment:
- 1 x 1000 word review
essay 20%
1x 5000 word research proposal 80%
-
- Recommended
Reading:
- *
= set texts recommended for purchase
Abraham, W. Canon and Criterion in Theology:
From the Fathers to Feminism, (Oxford: Clarendon: 2002).
Anderson, R.A. The
Shape of Practical Theology: Empowering Ministry with Theological Praxis, (Downers
Grove: IVP, 2001).
*Booth, W. Et al. The Craft of Research, 3rd ed., (Chicago:
Chicago University Press, 2008).
Browning, D (ed). Practical Theology: the
emerging field in theology, church and world, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983).
Fink, A. Conducting Research Literature Reviews: from the internet to the
paper, (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2005).
Hall, D.J. Thinking the Faith: Christian
Theology in a North American Context, (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1989).
Kwok,
O. Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theologies, (Louisville: Westminster
John Knox Press, 2005).
Lonergan, B. Method in Theology, (Toronto: University
of Toronto Press, 2003).
Marshall, C. & Rossman, G.B. Designing Qualitative
Research, (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1999).
Mueller, J.J. What are they saying
about theological method? (New York: Paulist Press, 1984).
Penslar, R.L. (ed).
Research Ethics: Cases and Materials, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1995).
Ricoeur, P. Hermeneutics and the human sciences: essays on language,
action, and interpretation, ed. & trans. J.B. Thompson, (Cambridge & New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1981).
Ruether, R.R. (ed). Feminist Theologies:
legacy and prospect, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007).
Strauss, A & Corbin,
J. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded
Theory, (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1998).
Swinton, J & Mowat, H. Practical Theology
and Qualitative Research, (London: SCM Press, 2006).
*Turabian, K. A Manual
for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, 7th ed., (Chicago: Chicago
University Press, 2007).
|
