EQ301

Year 3

Core module for BA Education Studies

All Year

45CATS

10,000 word Dissertation

Not available to outside students

What is this module about?

This module builds on developing a deeper understanding of those module aims from the Research Methods module in Year 2, culminating in a 10,000-word dissertation project in an education topic of your choice. It focuses around understanding the process of formulation of research questions and hypotheses, and the need to match the research questions to appropriate research methodologies. Support will be offered to students to formulate and calibrate their research questions for their own project, and develop the research design that best fits the question and the purpose of their research through discussions around the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of data collection. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabs will be presented, and ways of interpreting and writing up the results will be discussed.

Topics covered:

• Formulation of research questions and development of the research design
• Development of instruments for qualitative and quantitative data collection
• Quantitative analyses using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)
• Use of qualitative software (e.g. NVIVO) for analysis of qualitative data
• Interpretation and writing up of the results
• Purposes of, and processes involved in, reviewing the literature
• Constructing questionnaires, interview schedules and observation materials
• Organise and code data for inputting and analyses

Learning outcomes:

• To describe and apply theoretical and methodological understandings underpinning research, from formulating research questions to data collection and analyses to writing up the results.
• To develop research skills appropriate to the discipline: quantitative, qualitative data collection, coding and analyses
• To analyse and articulate key theoretical and methodological concepts relating to the process of forming research questions, developing appropriate research designs to address them, engaging in the process of data collection, analysis and interpretation
• To develop research skills and methods appropriate to conducting qualitative and quantitative research
• To provide justifications regarding the methods chosen for qualitative and quantitative analyses, and to appropriate this knowledge and understanding to formulating research questions and developing research designs
• To recognise the advantages and disadvantages of certain methods for data collection and analyses
• To develop ICT presentational and research skills

Sample reading list:

Bell, J. (2010) Doing your Research Project: A Guide for First Time Researchers in Education, Health and Social Science. Fifth Edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education, Open University Press.

Bryman, A. (2012) Social Research Methods. Third Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Christensen, P. and James, A. (Eds.) (2008) Research with Children. Perspectives and Practices. London: Routledge.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., and Morrison, K (2011). Research Methods in Education, 7th Ed, London: RoutledgeDenscombe, M. (2010) The Good Research Guide for Small Scale Social Research Projects. 4th Edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education, Open University Press.

Creswell, J. (2013) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 4th Edition. London: Sage

Greig, A., Taylor, J. and MacKay, T. (2012) Doing Research with Children. Third Edition. London: Sage.

Harcourt, D., Perry, B. and Waller, T. (eds.) (2011) Researching Young Children's Perspectives. Debating the Ethics of Educational Research with Children.

Lewis, A. and Lindsay, G. (2000) Researching Children’s Perspectives. Buckingham, Oxford University Press.

Mac Naughton, G., Rolfe, S. A. and Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2010) Doing Early Childhood Research. International Perspectives on Theory and Practice. 2nd Edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education, Open University Press.

Muijs, D (2004). Doing quantitative research in education with SPSS. London: Sage.

Punch, K. (2009) Introduction to Research Methods in Education. London: Sage

Roberts-Holmes, G. (2011) Doing Your Early Years Research Project. A Step-by-Step Guide. 2nd Edition. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education, Open University Press.

Robson, C. (2011) Real World Research. A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers. Third Edition. Oxford: Blackwell.

Scott, D., and Usher, R. (1996). Understanding Educational Research, London: Routledge.