Research Methodologies for International Studies

2025/2026

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

6

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs

Course type:

Compulsory course

When:

1 year, 1, 2 module

Instructor

Sizova, Alexandra

Course Syllabus

Abstract

This course is aimed at a detailed critical analysis of the main components of a Master’s course paper and thesis and facilitates the acquiring of the necessary competencies for completing the Master’s course papers and theses in International and Area Studies. Special attention is paid to the advanced examination of the research process, its challenges, logic, and structure, work with various sources, applying various methods and theoretical approaches, exploration of the key methods and techniques of argumentation, and presentation of research findings in the fields of International and Area Studies at the Master’s level.It is desirable that by the beginning of the course students possess the Bachelor-level background in social sciences/humanities, sufficient knowledge of world culture, history and philosophy as well as the understanding of International and Area Studies (in relation to Asia) as academic disciplines.

Learning Objectives

• This course is aimed at guiding students through the process of planning, designing, and conducting an independent research in the fields of International Relations and Area Studies; improving students’ analytical and creative competencies, argumentation skills, ability to implement their knowledge of the 21st-century methodology of International Relations and Area Studies into interdisciplinary research, to complete and present an original Master’s degree paper in compliance with all formal academic formal requirements.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• - to identify the goals and basic principles of the contemporary research in socials sciences and humanities;
• - to use the key strategies of the contemporary research design at the Master’s level and adequately use them according to the research tasks;
• - to identify and create a balanced structure of a Master’s research paper in International and Area Studies;
• - to effectively use the instruments and methods of the contemporary social sciences and humanities methodology in conducting Master’s degree research within the field of expertise;
• - to professionally work with literature and different types of information resources, to apply contemporary techniques of effective collecting and analyzing various data to own research work;
• - to plan personal research activity, reflect on own research process and achievements and apply the obtained knowledge and skills to professional practice;
• - to distinguish between incoherent explanation and well-ground argumentation, to know frequent logical fallacies, to identify and correct various types of errors in scientific inquiry and reasoning and formulate logical arguments;
• - to critically assess own written works, oral presentations, and explanations as well as those of the colleagues’, make references of the others’ work;
• -to recognize and follow the main ideas and principles of scientific culture, to clothe thoughts on the subject of study in suitable scientific language according to the rules of academic writing;
• - to present the results of a Master’s level research work according to the requirements and standards of modern academia.

Course Contents

• 1. The Course Overview and Instructions
• 2. Designing a Research in International/Area Studies at a Master’s level
• 3. Preparing a Master’s Research Plan and Writing a Research Proposal in International and Area Studies
• 4. Choosing Methods and Techniques of a Study in International/Area Studies
• 5. A Course Paper and a Master’s Dissertation in International and Area Studies
• 6. The Strategies and Techniques of Academic Writing at the Master’s Level
• 7. Presentation of Students’ Research Results, Recommendations on Individual Master’s Course Papers and Theses, and Pre-Defense Reflection

Assessment Elements

• Assignments (written and oral tasks) 1 year
• Attendance and in-class participation (2 year)
• Attendance and in-class participation (1year)
• Assignments (written and oral tasks) 2 year
• Examination (1 year)
• Examination (2 year)

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 2nd module
  0.4 * Assignments (written and oral tasks) 1 year + 0.2 * Attendance and in-class participation (1year) + 0.4 * Examination (1 year)
• 2026/2027 4th module
  0.4 * Assignments (written and oral tasks) 2 year + 0.2 * Attendance and in-class participation (2 year) + 0.4 * Examination (2 year)

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Alan Bryman, & The Programme Aims. (2001). Social research methods. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.151A861A
• Babbie, E. R. (2016). The Practice of Social Research: Vol. Fourteenth editon. Cengage Learning.
• Halperin, S. (DE-588)171616154, (DE-627)061837849, (DE-576)177909633, aut. (2012). Political research methods and practical skills Sandra Halperin and Oliver Heath.
• Katja Mielke, & Anna-Katharina Hornidge. (2017). Area Studies at the Crossroads : Knowledge Production After the Mobility Turn. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Wang, G. T., & Park, K. (2016). Student Research and Report Writing : From Topic Selection to the Complete Paper. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1108252

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Baylis, J. (DE-588)139834338, (DE-576)160207436. (2011). The globalization of world politics : an introduction to international relations / John Baylis; Steve Smith; Patricia Owens. Oxford [u.a.]: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edswao&AN=edswao.335482058
• Foot, R., Ravenhill, J., & Pekkanen, S. M. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of the International Relations of Asia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=817325
• Jakobs, E.-M., & Perrin, D. (2013). Handbook of writing and text production. De Gruyter.
• Klieman, A. S. (2015). Great Powers and Geopolitics : International Affairs in a Rebalancing World. Cham: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=975365
• Mansfield, E. D., & Goldstein, A. (2012). The Nexus of Economics, Security, and International Relations in East Asia. Stanford Security Studies.
• Remaking area studies teaching and learning across Asia and the Pacific ed. by Terence Wesley-Smith and Jon Goss. (2010).
• Shambaugh, D. L., & Yahuda, M. B. (2014). International Relations of Asia (Vol. Second edition). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=726076
• Totawar, A., & Prasad, M. (2016). Research Methodology: A Step-by-step Guide for Beginners. South Asian Journal of Management, 23(3), 210–213.

Authors

• SIZOVA ALEKSANDRA ALEKSANDROVNA
• Базарова Евгения Сергеевна