How to Research- Short Course

Sneak Peek

Sharpen your Research Skills

At one level, research is something that is done by academics, scientists and business, to discover and process information; then come to deductions or decisions based  upon that information.  On another level, we all undertake research every time we consider choices we need to make in our daily life; from buying something to choosing how to spend our time.

This course provides a foundation for building (or refreshing) our capabilities in research.

What's Covered In This Course?

LESSON 1 WHY WE DO RESEARCH
What is Research?
Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed methods research
Reliability and validity in research
Using Case Studies
Review what you have been learning

LESSON 2 DESIGNING RESEARCH – RATIONALE, AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS
What Is a Rationale?
Review what you have been learning

LESSON 3 DESIGNING RESEARCH - CONDUCTING LITERATURE REVIEWS
Importance of Literature Reviews
Conducting a Literature Review
Bias in Literature Reviews
Writing a Literature Review
Different Types of Literature Review
Lesson 3 additional reading
Review what you have been learning

LESSON 4 DESIGNING RESEARCH - DATA COLLECTION
Primary And Secondary Data
Simulation Experiments
Selecting Participants
Types of Samples
Why do we need samples?
Experimental Designs
Independent measures
Repeated measures
Matched Pairs Design
Ethics Committees
Psychology
Horticulture and Agriculture
Scientific Responsibility
Animal Research
Action Research Vs Design-Based Research
Data Collection
Ontology, Epistemology, Axiology, Research Paradigm
Qualitative Research Methods
Mixed Methods Design
Lesson 4 additional reading
Review what you have been learning

LESSON 5 DATA ANALYSIS
Using Statistics – Why Are Statistics Important?
Continuous and discrete data
Variance
Advanced Statistics
ANOVA
Lesson 5 additional reading
Review what you have been learning

LESSON 6 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
Describing Your Findings
Access To Information
Lesson 6 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 7 LEGAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH
Intellectual Property
Legal Issues
Lesson 7 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
Final Assessment