Core Courses
PADM7009A - Introduction and Orientation
This is a compulsory course for all candidates. This course introduces candidates to the world of study. It prepares them how to balance the demands of work, studying and private life. The course is structured to allow degree convenors to discuss the design and overall learning outcomes of a particular degree programme and how it impacts their work and career. This module - which has no credits - introduces candidates to the Wits Computer and Library Systems. The course also introduces candidates to group dynamics and how to avoid plagiarism.
PADM7213A - Research Report
A candidate for the degree of master must submit for examination an electronic copy of her/ his dissertation or research report via email or any other electronic platform designated by the faculty office. In exceptional circumstances the examiner may request a hard copy of the dissertation or research report. In such a case, the candidate will be required to provide a bound hard copy or copies, together with the electronic version. Copies must be in a format that, in the opinion of the Senate, is suitable for submission to the examiners. Prior to graduation, a candidate must submit a final, corrected electronic copy of her/his dissertation or research report via email or any other electronic platform designated by the faculty office.
PADM7214A - Qualitative Research Methods
The course introduces participants to various approaches to designing and conducting qualitative research and analysing qualitative data. It focuses on selected research approaches to prepare participants to undertake qualitative research. Key topics include qualitative research paradigm assumptions, qualitative research designs/methods, various qualitative data gathering techniques, approaches and techniques for qualitative data analysis, ethics in conducting qualitative research and evaluating qualitative research.
PADM7215A - Quantitative Research Methods
This course will introduce you to quantitative research methods as they are used in the social sciences. It takes its starting point in the learnings achieved on the Analytical Methods course and moves into quantitative survey methods, including survey design, questionnaire construction, sampling, and analysis of survey data. The course focuses on hypothesis testing using multivariate regression analysis. It also covers the formulation of research questions and hypotheses in the context of quantitative research methods. Emphasis will be placed on application, which means we will practice our skills on real data using statistical software.
PADM7216A - Governance and Policy
Governance is a “contested concept” and the ideas that emerge from this engagement serve as a foundation for an analysis of the policy making and implementation. The role of governance, in whatever form, will be used a heuristic for engaging with “wicked problems”. Are conventional approaches to governance and policy adequate for addressing complex multi-dimensional social issues? New thinking on governance and policy in relation to wicked problems will result in alternative approaches to governance and policy respectively, with a focus on “learning governance” and “policy design” respectively. Outcome: understand the limits and challenges of governance and through critical thinking engage alternative models of governance and modes of policy making.
PADM7248A - Research Proposal
This research proposal course provides a theoretical and conceptual understanding of research paradigms and processes and applies such an understanding to a real life research problem which forms the basis of a preliminary research proposal which will lead to a completed research report. The course explores how a research topic is developed, and how a knowledge gap is identified within the selected subject field. The course also explains how a well-developed research proposal should also include sampling techniques, design, methodology, limitations, and logistics.
Fundamental Courses
In addition a candidate must complete the following fundamental courses based on the student's stream of interest.
PADM7224A - Public Service Ethics
There is little consensus on the meaning and implications of ethics. This course will begin by outlining the differing perspectives in ethical theory which will be normative and philosophical in nature. With this foundation in place, the ethics of public service coupled to the ethical conduct of public servants will be examined and discussed. Outcome: The course will engage appointed and elected public officials on concepts and techniques for thinking and acting ethically in their professional environments.
PADM7225A - Decision Making in Public Institutions
Public Institutions, despite the organisational hierarchy, are remarkably complex in their inner workings. Within and across department at all tiers of government, managers have to build consensus and cooperation within teams constituted of officials who are accountable to others. Budgets and performance are managed by those “home” departments placing an added burden on the managers of interdepartmental working committees. This course will outline the architecture of such bureaucratic systems and then examine models of rational decision making or choice in this environment as they relate to “bounded rationality” and the ongoing need to negotiate modes of cooperation in a fragmented and sometimes competitive environment. Outcome: Understand the context and interests of public actors and apply models of rational choice and game theory to conflict and cooperation dynamics in public institutions.
Elective courses
A candidate must also complete one elective course from the list below:
PADM7232A - Economics and Public Policy
This course is a critical examination of the interplay between economics and public policy. It includes the following topics: Economics teaching vs. Economics Policy; Debunking the notion that Economics is a Science – quantitative analysis vs. mathematical modelling; market failure vs. government failure; the complementarity (or lack of) in macroeconomic policy; the labour market and the minimum wage; poverty and inequality; industrialisation policy.
PADM7239A - Impact Evaluation
This course introduces candidates to a variety of tools for verifying and improving effectiveness, relevance, sustainability, and efficiency of development interventions. Development interventions are those which intend to bring about change, and whether or not such change is achieved is a crucial developmental and public policy question that should be answered. Technically, this means going beyond accounting for inputs, overseeing activities, and producing outputs to assessing outcomes and impact. Among others, figures from impact evaluations provides for evidence-based policy.
PADM7247A New Tools for Complex Public Policy Challenges
This course covers alternative approaches to thinking about economic problems by exploring how the challenges faced by governments have grown in complexity and how the current economic public policy tools are increasingly proving to be incapable of addressing the intricate and interconnected nature of economic problems. The course explores the need to create new public policy tools to understand these economic problems and reviews the critiques of conventional economic theory and methods. The course also examines the historical roots of heterodox traditions and introduces the framework of ‘complex adaptive systems’. It expands on the current traditional economic tools and critically examines whether these are relevant to the South African context.
