社会科学研究方法

1國際暨區域研究方法林欽明Areastudiesstudentsacquiretransferableskillsthatarevaluableinmanyaspectsofwork.Arecentsurveyofgraduatesgivessomeideaoftherangeofemploymentopportunitiesthatexist,withstudentsfindingjobsinartsandthemedia,includingradio,television,film,museums,andtheatre;inpublishingandjournalism,includingwritingfornewspapersandmagazines,production,editorial,andmanagement;inbusiness,lawandfinancialservices,includingmanagementandmarketinginsmallandlargeconcerns;inadministrationandcivilservice,includinginternational,diplomatic,nationalandlocalgovernmentwork,andemploymentinnon-governmentalorganisations;inallsectorsofteaching;andinmanyothercareerpaths.2Areastudiesgraduatesprovidearepositoryofregionalknowledgeandtheintellectualskillstoapplyitusingvariousmethodologies.Thisspecialistexpertiseisimportanttogovernment,businessandcitizenryinaworldwhereinternationalawarenessisincreasinglynecessary.Areastudiesprogrammesencourageintheirgraduatesastrongsenseofperspectiveandflexibilityinthinking,andtheyareattunedtodiversity.Allofthesefeatureshavestrongemployerappealinamulticulturalsociety.3Thereisasynthesisingimpulseinareastudieswhichcanworkacross,aswellasinterrogate,traditionaldisciplineboundariesininnovativeways.Areastudiesiswellpositionedtorespondtonewissuesandacademicdebateswithbothtriedandemergingmethodologies.Thesearemajorstrengthsofthefield,givingitavitalitythatmustnotbeconstrainedbythebenchmarkingprocess.QAA,“SubjectbenchmarkstatementsAcademicstandards-AreaStudies”()4國際∕區域研究的界定5何為區域研究？區域研究是一個探討特定地理、國/聯邦、或文化區域的跨學門(interdisciplinary)研究與學術領域它包含了社會與人文科學各種不同的領域相較於文化研究而言，它通常會觸及從探討區域流出在外的人與物6國際研究國際研究並無一共同的學術定義，通常是指國際關係(譬如國際研究學會ISA主要是由國際關係學者所參加)，或是國際教育國際研究與區域研究重疊，不過兩者各有其獨特的探討領域7學科與跨學門(DisciplineandInterdisciplinary)主題(subject)是一知識基礎(knowledgebase)學門則是一個部落(tribe)、文化(culture)與行業(guild)，有其專屬的語言(language)與文獻(literature)，而非只是一堆知識而已國際與區域研究需採跨學門/多學門(interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary)的探討，而跨學門還是要以學門本身為基礎[下面以地理為例來探討修習某一學門所需要的技巧、能力與特質。見QAA(2000)]8IntellectualskillsGeographyenhancesarangeofintellectualskillsandabilitiesthatareacquiredthroughuseofitslearningresources,frequentpracticeofitsmethodsandimmersioninappropriateresearchcontexts.Throughtheseexperiences,studentsshoulddevelopcompetencein:assessingthemeritsofcontrastingtheories,explanationsandpoliciesanalysingandproblem-solvingdecision-makingcriticallyjudgingandevaluatingevidencecriticallyinterpretingdataandtextabstractingandsynthesisinginformationdevelopingareasonedargumenttakingresponsibilityfortheirownlearning,anddevelopinghabitsofreflectionuponthatlearning9Discipline-specificskillsTherangeofdiscipline-specificskillsdevelopedthroughageographicaleducationshouldnormallyinclude:planning,designingandexecutingapieceofrigorousresearchorenquiry,includingtheproductionofafinalreportundertakingeffectivefieldwork(withdueregardforsafetyandriskassessment)workingsafelyinascientificlaboratory,withawarenessofstandardprocedurespreparingeffectivemapsanddiagramsusingarangeofappropriatetechnologiesemployingavarietyofsocialsurveyandinterpretativemethodsforthecollection,analysisandunderstandingofinformationfromthehumanworld10(Continued)employingavarietyoftechnicalandlaboratory-basedmethodsforthecollectionandanalysisofspatialandenvironmentalinformation(egGIS,remotesensingandmathematicalmodelling)combiningandinterpretingdifferenttypesofgeographicalevidence(egtexts,imagery,maps,digitisedandlaboratorydata)recognisingthemoralandethicalissuesinvolvedindebatesandenquiries11KeyskillsAsaresultoftakingtheirdegree,Geographystudentsshoulddevelopskillsinthefollowingareas:learningandstudywrittencommunicationverbalpresentationnumeracyandcomputationspatialawarenessandobservationfieldandlaboratorystudies(bothscientificandcomputational)informationtechnology(includingspreadsheets,databases,wordprocessing,emailand)12(Continued)informationhandlingandretrieval(includingtheuseofonlinecomputersearches);identifying,retrieving,sortingandexchanginginformation;investigatingawiderangeofsourcesinterpersonalsituations,includingworkingwithgroups/teamsandrecognisingandrespectingtheviewpointsofothers13PersonalattributesandsocialskillsInaddition,Geographyfostersthedevelopmentofarangeofpersonalattributesthatareimportantintheworldofwork,andwillstrengthenthegraduate'sabilitytoengageinlifelonglearningandcontributetothewidercommunity.Theseinclude:Motivationabilitytoworkautonomouslyandwithothersself-awarenessandself-managementempathyandinsightintellectualintegrityawarenessofresponsibilityasalocal,nationalandinternationalcitizeninterestinlifelonglearningflexibilityandadaptabilitycreativity14如何解決跨學門學習的困境問題：一門科目可能是屬於單一學門(譬如經濟學)，也可能是跨學門(譬如區域研究)，其內容或學習評定上有何不同？基本上不應該不同，不過又必須有所不同！主修經濟學的學生不能沒有數理分析與量化探討的能力，不過主修區域研究而修習經濟的學生，就不能過於要求其具備數理能力，而應該設計較為特殊的教學內容解決途徑：議題探討—邊界、移民、物質文化等等次學門—經濟學：捨計量經濟，偏向勞工經濟、區域經濟；地理學：捨地球科學，偏向區域與人文地理跨部門的協調與合作15政治經濟學、經濟社會學與政治社會學16經濟社會學(EconomicSociology)探討各種經濟現象的社會效果與社會起因，可分為古典時期以及近代的經濟社會學古典時期主要關注於現代性(mod