Course objective and expected outcomes:

The objectives are to:
- Give the trainees the ability to use qualitative research in public policy and child rights.
-Identify the concepts of qualitative and quantitative research and its importance in the area of public policy and child rights.
-Distinguish between qualitative research and quantitative research.
-Recognize the research design in public policy and child rights.
- Identify research methods which can be employed in public policy and child rights.
- Identify the importance of ethical considerations in children’s rights research.

Subject content:

This course offers a study of the concepts and the techniques of conducting scientific research in social studies in the field of public policies and child rights. It analyses the tools used in intellectual and field research related to children (i.e. the design of poverty maps, strategies to develop general policies adapted to children’s rights such as the negotiation and argumentation to adopt plans to defend children’s rights). Tools used in surveys and methods of assessment and monitoring, as well as rules used to draw conclusions and to disseminate the results will be analyzed. This course also aims to equip students with skills on how to read and understand research papers and on how to conduct scientific research. At the end of the first semester, students will choose a topic to research on. The research papers will have to be submitted in the second semester as a requirement for graduation. A discussion session, held in public and assessed by three faculty members specialized in children’s rights, will take place. The best research papers will be chosen and published as well as a prize awarded to the successful candidates.