MN60684: Methods and methodology for higher education research
[Page last updated: 23 August 2022]
| Academic Year: | 2022/23 |
| Owning Department/School: | School of Management |
| Credits: | 15 [equivalent to 30 CATS credits] |
| Notional Study Hours: | 300 |
| Level: | Doctoral (FHEQ level 8) |
| Period: |
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| Assessment Summary: | CW 100% |
| Assessment Detail: |
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| Supplementary Assessment: |
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| Requisites: | |
| Learning Outcomes: | * Understanding of research key research concepts (e.g. epistemology, ontology) and inductive and deductive reasoning process * Familiarity with different research approaches (e.g. case study and mixed methods designs) * Awareness of types of data used in social research and methods for collecting data * Knowledge of methods of data analysis and the ability to apply these methods to a given source of data * Familiarity with methods of data collection and analysis commonly used in the higher education sector, and outlets for peer-reviewed publication * A critical understanding of validity, reliability and trustworthiness concerns in social research * Understanding of the peer review process and academic publications * Preparation for and reflection upon the design of a significant and advanced original academic research project. * Understanding of research ethics and governance. |
| Aims: | The aim of the unit is to provide a comprehensive understanding of social research methods and methodologies with the accompanying skills and abilities that will prepare students to undertake doctoral research in the field of higher education management. |
| Skills: | * Ability to analyse research design, identifying underlying assumptions and limitations of a given research design * Ability to formulate research questions and to develop a research design appropriate to a set of research questions * Familiarity with methods of data analysis and software necessary to conduct data analysis, and ability to specify appropriate methods and analysis in a research proposal * Ability to identify and analyse the ethical applications of research, applying relevant standards and frameworks * Writing skills appropriate to doctoral level research, and the knowledge of how to submit research for publication as appropriate * Development of papers for publication in peer-reviewed journals, including the submission process and interpreting peer-reviews * Project management for a doctoral level research project * Writing skills for the development of a doctoral thesis. All skills are initially taught/delivered in seminars, and then facilitated through further discussion and individual work. All skills should also be evident in the final assessed work. |
| Content: | Typical content covered in the unit includes:
* Social research philosophy: Ontology, Epistemology * Concepts and terminology in social research: validity, reliability and trustworthiness * Research questions * Qualitative data collection: interviews, focus groups and ethnography * Qualitative data analysis: thematic coding, discourse analysis, narrative analysis * Quantitative data collection: questionnaires, secondary data * Quantitative data analysis: types of variable, hypothesis testing and significance, statistical tests (regression and analysis of variance) * Research ethics and ethical approval * Mixed-methods research design * Case-study research design * Thesis structure and project management |
| Programme availability: |
MN60684 is Compulsory on the following programmes:School of Management
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