Research Methods in Law Enforcement and Security Studies

Course Coordinator: Dr. Grace Au, BA (SFSU), MSocSc, MPil (HKU), PhD (CityU)

Course Developers: Prof. John Hughes; Dr Allan Jiao; Steven Li, Consultant; Dr Ruth Fan, Consultant; Dr Raymond Lau

Advisory prerequisite(s)
You are advised to have already studied LESM A201 and LESM A204.

Aims
This course aims to provide a systematic grounding in the various theories and methods by which evidence can be brought to bear upon policy issues of relevance to a wide range of activities, including law enforcement and security management. Students will be made aware of the various philosophical underpinnings of conceptions of science and the social research methods they have given rise to.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• The philosophy of social research: the positivist project and its problems
• Interpretative philosophies, social realism and social research
• The nature of qualitative research
• Types and methods of qualitative research
• Collection and analysis of qualitative data
• The process of quantitative research
• Quantitative research methods
• Collection and analysis of quantitative data
• Researching on the Internet

Learning support
There will be regular two-hour tutorials and day schools.

Assessment
There are four assignments and a final examination. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Set book(s)
There are no set books for this course.