‘It feels more important than other classes I have done’: an ‘authentic’ undergraduate research experience in sociology

This article reports on research into the development, teaching and student experiences of a one-semester subject designed to provide an undergraduate research experience in the social sciences. The subject was offered for the first time in 2009 in a large sociology program at a major research-intensive Australian university. Our findings are significant because they confirm findings from research with students engaged in undergraduate research experiences from the science, technology, engineering and medical disciplines, and add a much-needed social science perspective to the important international conversation on undergraduate research in higher education. We conclude by suggesting that whether or not a subject of this kind is successful in motivating students to pursue research careers, it is clearly successful in raising levels of research literacy.