Postgraduate Courses
SOSC
Social Science
a) Under a policy approved by the Senate, exceptions to the general University policy stating that English is the medium of instruction will be permitted when the courses are related to the area of Chinese studies and are approved by the School of Humanities and Social Science. Courses approved to be taught in Chinese carry a [PU] or [CA] notation in the course description, which indicates the spoken language used in teaching: [PU] stands for Putonghua; and [CA] for Cantonese.
b) Courses marked with a [C] in the course description are not taught in Chinese but may require students to read materials in Chinese. Students who have difficulty reading materials in Chinese should consult the instructor concerned prior to enrolling in these courses. For undergraduate courses, alternative English reading materials may be provided.
c) Some courses may use different medium of instruction/materials, either in Chinese or English, for different sections. They will be denoted by a combination of [CA], [PU], [C] and [EN]. Students will need to check the medium of instruction/materials to be used before course enrollment.
- SOSC 5090Statistics in Social Science[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 509Exclusion(s)MGCS 5010, SSMA 5020BackgroundKnowledge in Social ScienceDescriptionAn introduction to statistics at an advanced level. Necessary to understand much of social science literature and topics in research methods. Focuses on applicability to students' own research and includes computer exercises. Enrollment by students from outside the Division of Social Science by instructor permission.
- SOSC 5110Social Science Research Design and Methods[2-1-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 511Exclusion(s)SSMA 5010BackgroundKnowledge in Social ScienceDescriptionTo answer the question "how do we translate concepts and theories about human interactions and institutions into empirically testable propositions?" The primary objectives of the course are: (1) to familiarize students with canons of contemporary social research, and (2) to enable students to initiate and execute their own research projects. Enrollment by students from outside the Division of Social Science by instructor permission.
- SOSC 5140Seminar on Chinese Society[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 514Exclusion(s)MGCS 5022DescriptionContemporary Chinese institutions; the historical context of social change and institutional factors that retard and/or buttress the process of modernization.
- SOSC 5170Systematic Methods in Qualitative Research[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 517Prerequisite(s)SOSC 5110BackgroundKnowledge in Social ScienceDescriptionThis course explores links between theory and practice in qualitative research. It combines learning about selected methods of qualitative inquiry (participant-observation, in-depth interview, oral history) and analysis (grounded theory, ethnography, and discourse analysis). Enrollment by students from outside the Division of Social Science by instructor permission.
- SOSC 5230Human Resources and Economics[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 523, SOSC 602IDescriptionThis course discusses a set of fundamental issues involved in human resources management. These issues include the decisions of recruiting and hiring, training, different schemes of payments, benefits, performance evaluations, job promotion, and team production. We will provide the economic rationalities behind some of the common practices. Through the review of some empirical papers, we will see how well economic theories explain the reality. For SOSC PG students and MA (China Studies) students only.
- SOSC 5240Ethnicity: Social Science Perspectives[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 524, SOSC 601ODescriptionContrary to the expectations of liberal and socialist thinkers, ethnicity and modernity have continued to be compatible. Ethnicity has in fact become an increasingly important social and political cleavage in the post-Cold War world, as much in Asia as elsewhere. Concepts and theories of ethnicity and ethnic identity, the relationship of ethnicity to race, nation, language, religion, class and gender, ethnic conflict, and interface of ethnicity, nationalism and multiculturalism will be examined, with special emphasis on ethnicity in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong.
- SOSC 5250Chinese Capitalism: Historical and Comparative Perspectives[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 6030GDescriptionThis course examines the development of capitalism in post-Mao China through the lens of comparisons with capitalist practices in pre-1949 China and non-PRC Chinese economies and with select capitalist systems elsewhere. Through reading and discussing scholarly works focusing on contractual governance, students will be guided to explore the forces that shape the evolution of internal organization, inter-firm interactions, and business-government relations in different historical and social contexts. The objective is to help students deepen their understanding of China's economic transformation and broaden their perspectives on capitalist economic organizations and institutions.
- SOSC 5300Critical Perspectives on Global Development[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 530Reading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionFocuses on three perspectives of development, and discusses issues such as historical and contemporary development, the role of the state, social movements, and revolutions, with special focus on the socialist and post-socialist development of China.
- SOSC 5340Quantitative Analysis in Social Science[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 534Prerequisite(s)SOSC 5090Exclusion(s)MGCS 5011BackgroundKnowledge in Social ScienceDescriptionManagement and analysis of multivariate data sets, including simple and multiple regression analysis. Enrollment by students from outside the Division of Social Science by instructor permission.
- SOSC 5420Economic Change in Rural China[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 542Exclusion(s)SSMA 5170Reading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionSalient topical issues pertaining to the development process of China's (village) economy. Emphasis on the economic analysis of institutional change.
- SOSC 5430The Chinese Economy[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 543Exclusion(s)MGCS 5022DescriptionProvides a comprehensive overview of the Chinese economy. Covers six distinct topics: economic geography, the question of why China did not industrialize earlier, the concept of central planning and China's transition away from a planned economy, economic development since 1949, economic decision-making, and the implications of China's economic rise. Students benefit from an economics background.
- SOSC 5440Economics of Development[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 544BackgroundECON 5110 OR ECON 5130, ECON 5280 OR ECON 5300 OR SOSC 5090DescriptionThis course covers the microeconomics of development, focusing on empirical applications. Topics include household models, human resource issues (health and education), intrahousehold economics, rural institutions in land, labor, and credit markets, technology adoption, risk-coping strategies, and evaluation of development projects. Lectures will concentrate on theoretical models and rigorous application of empirical methods, discussing important journal articles.
- SOSC 5480Issues in Contemporary Chinese Politics[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 548Exclusion(s)MGCS 5021, MGCS 5022, SSMA 5060DescriptionMajor political events and basic patterns of political interaction in contemporary China since 1949. Strategic choices of elites and ordinary people. The structural conditions will also be studied in terms of how they would affect political actors' preference and constrain their choices.
- SOSC 5520International Aspects of China's Reforms[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 552DescriptionA study of the impact of China's international opening on China's economic, political and cultural development.
- SOSC 5620Sustainable Development[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 562Exclusion(s)SOSC 301EDescriptionThis course is designed to give students an understanding of how government and business professionals formulate policies related to the foundations of sustainable development. The course begins with an exploration into the concept of prosperity and conventional view of development in the context of environmental limitations. From that basis we will consider the economic, political and social ramifications of sustainable development and investigate the need for rejuvenation and innovation.
- SOSC 5660Migration and Globalization[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 566, SOSC 602PExclusion(s)SSMA 5180DescriptionThis course aims to explore the interrelationship between migration and economic development in the era of globalization. Special attention is given to the role of human capital circulation between China/HKSAR and the outside world.
- SOSC 5680Democracy and Democratization[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 568, SOSC 603BDescriptionDrawing from single-country and cross-national research, this course covers the following: i) basic features of democracy: its definitions, causes of emergence, strengths and problems; ii) global expansion of democracies since the late twentieth century; iii) research on whether democracy can promote human rights, whether there is a basic conflict between Asian values and democracy, and whether democracy is favourable or unfavourable to economic development; iv) causes of global democratization.
- SOSC 5700Categorical Data Analysis[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 570, SOSC 602QPrerequisite(s)SOSC 5090DescriptionThis seminar will focus on sociological (and other social scientific) applications of limited-dependent and qualitative variables. A family of statistical models, including logit/probit models, log-linear models, one-dimensional and multidimensional association models, multinomial logistic and probit models, ordered logit and probit models, and models with sample selection and truncation. The only prerequisite of the class is that students must have already taken courses on multiple regression (SOSC 5090) or its equivalent.
- SOSC 5710Social Stratification in China[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 571, SOSC 635, SOSC 602DExclusion(s)MGCS 5020BackgroundPrior knowledge about social stratification theories and intermediate social statisticsReading Material[C] Require Chinese readingDescriptionThis course will guide students to read and discuss a set of most important research articles on China's social stratification and mobility. Students must have prior knowledge about social stratification theories and intermediate social statistic in order to understand and appreciate the reading materials and to engage in class discussion.
- SOSC 5720Economic Development in China[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 6030A, SOSC 603LDescriptionThis course focuses on economic reforms and development in China, especially since 1978. It will be a combination of institutional details and comprehensive empirical evidence. Basic knowledge in statistics or economics will benefit.
- SOSC 5730Comparative Social Stratification[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 603CPrerequisite(s)SOSC 5090DescriptionThis course is an introduction to the modern research literature on social stratification and social mobility, as represented by journal articles and research monographs. While this is not a course on Chinese stratification, the discussion of the general materials is expected to stimulate ideas and finally lead to empirical research papers on China. This course is combined with SOSC 5710 (“Chinese Social Stratification”) to provide RPG students a strong training in the field of social stratification and mobility.
- SOSC 5740Empirical Analysis in China Studies[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 603DPrerequisite(s)SOSC 5340DescriptionThe primary goal of this course is to provide advanced research students the rare opportunity of learning how to conduct theoretically-guided empirical research on the study of China from a social science perspective. The instructor will, through presentation of his various research projects, show how a solid piece of research work is conducted from its inception to the final stage of publications. Students taking this course are expected to present their own work following the methodological format as required by the instructor, and to critically discuss the work of their peers. It is hoped that, by taking this course students who are keen on developing a research career will be able to sharpen their research skills and ideas as a result. To be able to perform solid empirical analysis, students are required to have taken SOSC 5340 prior to taking this course. The instructor assumes that students taking the proposed course have acquired most of the necessary skills required for understanding the course materials and for conducting their own research project.
- SOSC 5750International Political Economy[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 6030BDescriptionThis course explores some of the important topics in international political economy. Specifically, if focuses on the politics of international economic relations by examining international trade and finance, foreign direct investment, international organizations, and development.
- SOSC 5760Structural Equation Modeling[3-0-0:3]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 602MPrerequisite(s)SOSC 5090DescriptionThis course focuses on sociological (and other social-scientific) applications of path analysis and structural equation models. Following a review of basic ideas about the structure, interpretation, estimation, and inference in recursive causal models, the course will work through problems of specification and identification in latent-variable models and non-recursive models, using published examples where possible. A wide variety of models will be reviewed, they include: factor models, MIMIC models, recursive and non-recursive models with and without latent variables, multiple group models (with or without latent mean structures), models of repeated measurement, models with missing data, nonlinear and interactive models, the specification of latent structural models for ordinal data, and latent growth curve modeling.
- SOSC 6000-6090Special Topics[1-3 credits]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 600-609DescriptionCoherent collection of topics selected from the humanities/social science. A student may repeat the course for credit if the topics studied are different each time.
- SOSC 6100Independent Study[1-3 credits]Previous Course Code(s)SOSC 610DescriptionIndependent study in a designated subject under the supervision of a faculty member; may require readings, tutorial discussions, and submission of research paper(s); may be repeated for credit if different topics are studied. Regular students are required to enroll in 3-credit course. Enrollment in course below 3 credits require the Division's approval.
- SOSC 6990MPhil Thesis ResearchPrevious Course Code(s)SOSC 699DescriptionMaster's thesis research supervised by a faculty member. A successful defense of the thesis leads to the grade Pass. No course credit is assigned.
- SOSC 7990Doctoral Thesis ResearchPrevious Course Code(s)SOSC 799DescriptionOriginal and independent doctoral thesis research. A successful defense of the thesis leads to the grade Pass. No course credit is assigned.
