Security and insecurity What role does the search for security play in the international system and is this changing?

Security and insecurity What role does the search for security play in the international system and is this changing?
1.Specify your interpretation of the question
A key task for your project will be to specify the scope of the research and your definition of the question. This is a key skill in any research exercise. Provide an account, early in the Essay, of the way you are interpreting the question.
Key guidance has been given in Block 5 (Week 23), on how to define the scope and identify your interpretation of a broad research question. .
Further key guidance is given in Block 6 (Week 26).
2.Choose a case study (or case studies)
You must focus your project on a particular case study or studies. Cases can vary in how they are defined (e.g. how broad or narrow they are, their time span etc.), but making a choice of case is the main way in which you specify the empirical focus of your project. You will also need to give a brief account of your choice why you have chosen it, its relevance to the question and how you are using the case in relation to the question set.
Key guidance on how to choose and use a case study was given in Block 4 (Week 16). You also practised choosing a case and accounting for your choice in TMA 04 and you should review the feedback you received on that assignment. There is also further work on choosing a case study in relation to this independent project in Block 6 (Weeks 25 and 26) and you should work through that material carefully.
3.Draw from across the module
In your independent project, you need to demonstrate that you understand a range of concepts, ideas and theories drawn from across the module and ways in which they can be used to develop analysis. The empirical, conceptual and theoretical material you draw on will depend on your interpretation of the question you chose.
Key guidance on drawing across the module is given in Chapter 18 The same old melodrama? Continuity and change in international relations in relation to each of the five topic areas and in Block 6 (Week 25).
4.Apply and/or evaluate at least two theoretical approaches in international relations
In your independent project, you will need to show that you can explain key issues arising in international relations associated with your chosen topic by applying and/or critically evaluating at least two of the main theoretical approaches in international relations covered in this module. You can draw from any of the approaches covered in the theoretical reflections chapters and Theory bites material or any of the other major approaches (such as constructivism or game theory) covered in the module. Key guidance on theories and their uses is given in Chapter 19 Analysing international relations: theories, choices and pictures. There is further work on this area in Block 6 (Weeks 25 and 26) and you should work through that material carefully.
5.Research independently
You should demonstrate in your independent project that you have carried out research independently on your topic by drawing on non-module material. Draw on the skills you have developed in finding, evaluating and using a variety of sources.
Key guidance on this was provided in Block 2 on finding eJournals (Week 5) and up-to-date information about a subject (Week 8) as well as in Block 3 (Weeks 10 and 11) on searching for additional sources. You have also been asked to incorporate non-module sources in your TMAs and should review feedback given by your tutor. Some further advice is provided in Block 6 (Week 26) and there are a host of Library resources accessible via the module website that you can draw on in this respect.
6.Critical analysis
Your project should demonstrate that you can engage in critical analysis, develop arguments, evaluate perspectives and synthesise a range of ideas, sources and evidence. These are all skills you will have been developing throughout this module. The quality of your analysis and the argument you develop in response to the question will be one of the main criteria determining the mark you receive for this essay
Key guidance can be found on evaluating theories and approaches in the Counterpoint and critique audios in each block and in Chapter 19 Analysing international relations: theories, choices and pictures, providing various frameworks for evaluating theories and approaches. Most importantly, critical analysis should be done by using analytical concepts to good effect in getting to grips with the substance of your Essay In doing this you need to make assumptions clear and reflect on the limitations of different approaches.
7.Identify real-world implications of your analysis