DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality :TMA02 Marked and Returned

Just returned from a few days away without access to the internet to find that my TMA has been returned over the Christmas period. A couple more marks than last time so just slipped in to the Pass1 bracket. Doesn't make a lot of difference at the end of the course, but a couple of marks one way or the other does make a big difference to the motivation for the next TMA.

So with the next TMA due on the 17th January best get caught up with the reading to answer the next question,

"To what extent is politics in the United Kingdom ‘completely dominated’ by the government of the day?"

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Stay on track

After a fairly good start with an introduction and some definitions, I then started writing about the comparative study of different electoral systems, and if that had been the question it would have been a great paragraph or two towards the essay.

However, the essay is not asking you to critique the examples you use to explain the advantages of using a comparative, but just stick to the advantages of a comparative approach...... it has been very easy to stray off track.

I also wasted some time over analysing the question and worrying if the use of the phrase 'empirical examples' would exclude certain examples or tie up with inductive or deductive methods - but I'm sure this is not the case and that was just further wasted time.

I keep having to check the date..... we have until tomorrow night..... so that is a late end tonight, early start, lunch hour and no evening meal until it is finished.......

Oh, and I'm doing this course for 'fun', I must keep reminding myself of this.

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Need to find some motivation

Too many far more exciting things happening elsewhere to be motivated to write this TMA.

This has been a real drudge, partly because it appears to be a fairly pedestrian exercise of ploughing through the set text and identifying the advantages and disadvantages of two examples using the competitive approach.

So to pull out some quotes and references for the definition of the comparative approach to politics, and the choose two examples and sprinkle with more references regarding functionalism and institutionalism, and inductive / deductive. I suppose the only part of it that allows you to add your own thoughts and personality is what you choose as advantages and disadvantages and why you feel this is so.

As I wrote previously, the bones of this are in Chapter 5 - it is the key.

The task tonight is to get about 1200 words down in a rough skeleton of an essay, and then to refine it tomorrow into something that reads properly.

This is a real wake up that I need to get further ahead in the next Chapter and quickly.

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Week 9

1 Dec

TMA week

• Study Guide Week 9 URL
• Assessment Guidance Repea
• TMA 02 Repeat

Events

• Assignment: TMA 02 (cut-off date 6 th Dec)

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Chapter 5 is the key.

What a difference Chapter 5 is.

Easy to read, easy to follow and most imprtantly makes instant sense.

This chapter is the key for the TMA, which asks,

"What are the advantages of using a comparative approach to the study of contemporary politics? Please illustrate your answers making use of two empirical examples drawn from the module material"

So there will be a lot of summarising from chapter 5 to pull out the advantages etc. and then I think the two examples will be low voter turn out and different democratic voting systems in some European counties.

The TMA deadline is looming soon, so I need to crack-on. 

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Looking towards the TMA

There is a children's counting rhyme which says "one, two, miss a few, ninety nine, one hundred".

This is effectively my approach to Books 2 as I'm jumping Chapter 4 and going on to the audio and the Chapter 5.

I will then try and pick out two examples, one will probably be different voting systems, and grind out an essay for the TMA.

This has been pretty hard going, partly due to how difficult some of the chapters are to read. I hope Book 3 is a lot better......

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Week 7

17 Nov

• Study Guide Week 7 URL
• Activity: Book 2: Chapter 3, 'Taking part in politics'; Chapter 4, 'Common citizenship and plural identities'

Two chapters !!! I think I am seriously falling behind...... my motivation mojo is failing and the TMA is due in about 3 weeks and the question is....

"What are the advantages of using a comparative approach to the study of contemporary politics? Please illustrate your answers making use of two empirical examples drawn from the module material."

 Firstly, I think that TMA questions should have a strick word count limit, and this question has breached thast limit.

Secondly, on the reasding so afr I am struggling with the advantages of using comparitive or indeed any approach.

Thirdly, I have no idea what empirical examples I have to choose from - I hope these become apparent in the next couple of chapters.

Better get reading......

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : End of Week 6

This has been a struggle, although Chapter 2 is mildly better than Chapter 1.

The main problem is that the author is using far too many words to describe what appears to be fairly simple ideas. The same point is also hammered home over and over again, to the point when you think you are re-reading something you have already read.

I hope Chapter 3 is better, otherwise it is going to be a struggle to get through this and write the TMA ........and this is supposed to be fun :-(

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : TMA 1 Marked and Returned

The long wait is over, and I have had TMA 1 marked and returned. A pretty good Pass2, not far from a Pass1 so pretty encouraging really.

The tutors comments were pretty much onthe ball - and I could not argue with any of them, so perhaps room for improvement  next TMA.

However, Chapter 1 of Book 2 is proving to be fairly impentrable. I have tried to finish it, but the words just swim in front of my eyes and my mind wanders off. At least the Audio for this weeks study seems far more interesting, so I may rush through the last part of Chapter 1 in the hope that Chapter 2 ingintes my interest again.

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Week 6

10 Nov

• Study Guide Week 6 URL
• Activity: Audio Feature 2, 'Dissenting voices'; Book 2: Chapter 2, 'Framing politics'
  
  At least there is only one chapter this week, especially as I have still to finish last weeks chapter :-)

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : End of Week 5

Difficult week to study, far too many distractions,

i. American Election - Thank goodness it went to Obama, I woke up pretty early to see how the election was going only to see Romney was in the lead - it was a bit worrying for a while.

ii. European Football - What a Wednesday night, Celtic, Man Unt and Chelsea all coming home winners with a lot of late drama.

iii. But most problematic is that other people have been receiving their TMAs back since almost the day after the submission date, and I always find it really difficult to move on to the next block of study until I have the TMA results back. Now just into the second week and there is supposed to be a tutorial at the weekend, so fingers crossed for tonight/this weekend.


The study I have done is read about 3/4 of the Chapter 1, it is not too hard going. I also did Exercise 1 but felt somewhat underwhelmed at the end as there was no online marking - it just left you with some questions.

If I have missed something on this exercise please let me know, but it just basically showed the depth of information available and the many ways in which the same issue can be (mis)represented.

So a bit of catching up to do on the reading front next week, at least it should be quite on the football front.

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : Advice for TMA02

I have just listened to the audio at the start of the study for book 1, there is nothing that startling in it except for at the end of the discussion when it turns to what is needed for the TMA.

"Well the TMA for this part of the course is explicitly designed to test understanding and use of competing evidence. So, evidence from across the different elements of the part and different kinds of evidence that serve to support or disprove certain kinds of arguments. So obviously comparative narrative would be an important part of this in terms of understanding and using competing evidence. "

 

"Well one of the five themes people will note quite easily is that of evidence and argument and that provides some kind of pointer I think to its relevance to this particular TMA which is the theme developed in Chapter 5 of the book. But it is equally important to draw on material from across the parts in this respect in order to assemble a range of competing evidence in order to support or disprove a certain kind of argument. So a focus there, but also drawing on a whole range of material to provide a really good answer. "

 

So, that is pretty clear, evidence is needed from all chapters, all exercises and all audios - that gonna be a lot of referencing.

 

The next TMA question is,

 

What are the advantages of using a comparative approach to the study of contemporary politics? Please illustrate your answers making use of two empirical examples drawn from the module material.  

DD203 - Power, Dissent, Equality : On to book 2

TMA 1 has been submitted, so I thought I'd make a quick start on Book 2 "Exploring Political Worlds", but I have have been put off by just picking up the book - it just seems so much heavier than Book 1.

I have read somewhere that it is best to start the book by reading Chapter 5, and once that is finished continue reading from the beginning.

I'll give this a try tomorrow, still getting over the shock of how heavy this book feels......