Teaching Research Methods:
Online resources for college HE practitioners
This online toolkit and information resource has been
designed for those teaching Higher Education (HE)
courses with a research methods component, and is
suitable for staff delivering HE within Further
Education (FE) colleges and universities. This toolkit
focuses mainly on the social sciences, but includes
examples and useful websites on teaching research
methods in other disciplines, e.g. in the sciences.
It has been created by a team at Plymouth University, facilitated by a grant in 2013
from the Higher Education Academy (Teaching Research Methods in the Social
Sciences Strategic Project Grant) for a project entitled Mapping, Understanding, and
Supporting Research Teaching within College HE networks. This project identified a
number of strengths as well as gaps in the teaching of research methods within FE
colleges. The project report will be available via the HEA website (link to be
confirmed).
This site provides information and links to resources in
multiple formats (documents, online videos, powerpoint
presentations, etc.) on a range of topics relating to
teaching and learning of research methods, including:
1
-
introductions to conducting research;
quantitative and qualitative research methods (data collection and analysis);
tips on engaging students on research methods;
research projects;
research approaches and paradigms;
active learning;
participatory and action research;
opportunities for training / further professional development; and
current relevant research projects.
Also included are examples of practitioner perspectives from staff teaching research
methods in UK HE on how they have approached teaching particular aspects, such
as research projects and research paradigms. These may be useful in informing
(further) development of HE courses on research methods.
The results of the project surveys showed that increased
sharing of information and creation of a community of
staff around research and the development of research
methods teaching, along with greater access to training /
continuing professional development (CPD), is likely to
yield benefits in terms of both teaching of research
methods competencies and an increased institutional
research culture. These could lead to improved student outcomes at departmental /
college level and enable students to be better equipped for the employment market
on completion of their studies.
As part of this, departments and colleges may benefit from auditing / evaluation
processes to identify existing staff expertise and gaps on research methods as well
as student outcomes in this area.
Your college or university may already provide training or CPD opportunities;
information on other institutions offering suitable courses is also provided (see
below).
General online resources on research methods
The following sites include general resources on a
range of research methods and provide a good
starting point for staff teaching students at different
levels.
2
Learning from WOeRK – Plymouth University’s Open Educational Resources
on Research Methods.
http://cpdoer.net/collections/research-methods/
This site includes multimedia teaching and learning resources (documents,
powerpoint presentations, online videos) on both quantitative and qualitative
research methods, academic/professional writing, preparing research proposals,
completing a research project, etc. – these are tailored to different levels, from level
4 (1st year undergraduate) up to Master’s level, and are also suitable for work-based
/ vocational teaching and learning.
Existing Plymouth University website on scholarship and research for HE
providers in FE colleges (site currently under development):
http://www.studywithplymouth.ac.uk/scholarly/
Social Research Methods Knowledge Base
This is an online resource on research methods and the underpinning principles by
Prof. William Trochim, Cornell University. It includes guidance on conducting all
stages of both quantitative and qualitative social research (it contains more on
quantitative analysis than qualitative).
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/index.php
e-Learning Research Methods (Southampton University)
This is an online module covering a range of aspects of research methods (research
design, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, research paradigms,
etc.), aimed primarily at postgraduate level but may be useful at other levels:
http://www.erm.ecs.soton.ac.uk/module/index.htm
3
Ten tips to develop engaging undergraduate research methods teaching
(Political Studies Association)
http://www.psa.ac.uk/political-insight/blog/ten-tips-develop-engaging-undergraduateresearch-methods-teaching
Undergraduate research as teaching practice: Open access resources on
teaching research to undergraduates in the Geosciences (Carleton University,
Canada).
Includes tips on how to incorporate research- and inquiry-based learning into the HE
curriculum:
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/undergraduate_research/index.html
Resources on Quantitative Methods
Several of the above general websites cover a
range of aspects of quantitative research methods
at a number of levels; in addition to the above the
following offer more in-depth information and
resources on quantitative methods:
ESRC Quantitative Methods Initiative
Teaching and learning resources including online tutorials, e.g. on quantitative
data analysis:
http://www.quantitativemethods.ac.uk/learning/WhyStudyQM/
Web resources of interest to those teaching quantitative research methods /
data analysis at undergraduate level to social science students (by John
MacInnes, Edinburgh University and ESRC)
http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/779/1/ESRC_UGQM_information_resources.pdf
4
Resources on Qualitative Methods
The Plymouth University Learning from WOeRK website
(http://cpdoer.net/collections/research-methods/ ) provides information on qualitative
research methods (including guides to the different methods of data collection and
analysis) at a range of levels from introductory (level 4) to more advanced (Master’s
level)).
Additional sites focusing primarily on qualitative research methods that may be
useful include the following:
Resources for research methods teachers and supervisors teaching
qualitative research (University of Manchester)
Includes toolkits on carrying out and using evidence from phone interviews, diaries,
participatory mapping, email interviews, etc., and a section on mixed methodology:
http://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/morgancentre/realities/teaching/
Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS (CAQDAS)
CAQDAS is the acronym given to a family of software programmes used for
organising and analysing qualitative data (e.g. NVivo, Atlas.ti, QDA Miner, etc.). This
type of software has been in existence since the late 1980s. There are a number of
examples on the market, and while they have some differences they all work on the
same basic principles of coding of qualitative data.
Some of the benefits of using CAQDAS software are reported as follows:
•
Helps to speed up the coding process;
•
Provides a more complex way of looking at the relationships in the data;
•
Provides a formal structure for writing and storing memos to develop
the analysis;
•
Aids more conceptual and theoretical thinking about the data.
For further information see Plymouth University Open Educational Resources on
research methods - CAQDAS: http://uplace.org.uk:8080/dspace/handle/10293/1302 ; and
on coding of qualitative data (resource for Master’s level):
http://hdl.handle.net/10293/1301 .
5
See also the CAQDAS Networking Project at the University of Surrey – resources
page: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/sociology/research/researchcentres/caqdas/resources/
Further materials on specific topics
Research projects
General information on research projects is provided in the online resources above.
The following is an example of how one Faculty of Science and Engineering staff
member at one of the larger UK FE colleges implements research projects, drawn
from data from the 2013 Plymouth University HEA-funded research methods project:
I align my teaching of research methods with students’ ability to assimilate wider
situations and contexts, and I often set them tasks, like a design task for a particular
electronic circuit. I start off by getting them to search on the internet for things like
component specifications and performance and then they design the required circuit
from first principles. For the electronics side of teaching circuit design we use an
industrial software simulation package: you can place virtual components on the
virtual circuit board which simulate actual components that you can buy off the shelf.
I think this method really does get them to engage in finding out the characteristics
and performances of many of the most common electronic and electrical
components available today; about what they can actually buy when they’re
hopefully working in industry later on.
I don’t give them too much detail, I don’t give a list of the specifications before I start
these exercises, I tell them to go away and find out and recommend what sort of
devices, or even the family of devices they’ll need; whether they’re metal oxide,
semi-conductor technology or transistor technology, I let them find that out. I try to
also give a very supportive portal for my modules on the college portal so that they
can view all the support materials, including a list of links to encourage them to go
further outside the college to find out more. I also try to get them to consult books
and e-books from the library, not just the internet. The trick is to get them to
understand what is complete and utter rubbish, and what is absolutely useful and
up-to-date and true, and I think that’s one of the biggest challenges now for teaching
research.
I also do something unusual: each week I log into engineering.com and I show all
my classes a video called, ‘This Week in Engineering’. It’s a four and a half minute
piece on the latest developments, the latest innovations and technology, and I show
them that just to get them up to date and make them appreciate what the latest
developments are. Often I find that the items relate to something they’ve been
taught in the past or will be taught in the future and this gives me a good opportunity
to broaden concepts or synthesise new ideas. I’ve also put a section on the portal
called ‘innovations’ which I copy from a British print source (The Engineer
[theengineer@opsmail.theengineer.co.uk]). This has really up-to-the-minute
innovations; the next big things I think will be the creation of opportunities from 3D
printing, graphene and spintronics. I believe these will be the major game changers
that the world should be grasping now. So, yes, I do try and expose them to these
types of things on my own initiative.
6
Approaches to research and research paradigms
This section includes guidance and resources about the
different approaches to carrying out research and why a
consideration of research paradigms is important when
carrying out a piece of research.
The following is an example from a staff member in a
UK FE college on how they approach teaching research
paradigms:
Before we talk about their findings I do a lesson on Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn and the
Theory of Knowledge. Well, when I say a lesson, not a full hour and a half because
they’ve had enough before then, but I do a bite-size lesson: that to some extent what we
know is all tentative. We cover the Black Swans argument, that sort of thing. What I'm
trying to do is to alert them to the nature of Western knowledge; scientific knowledge;
where does knowledge come from compared to in other cultures? I do touch on East
versus West because we have a lot of international students from different cultures.
For example, sometimes we’re teaching people with strong Islamic faith and I use
examples about, for example, the, creation theory, and use this to talk about what is
testable and what is not testable. To show the limits of knowing and the difference
between knowledge and faith, if you like. And I modify this for the particular group. So as
well it’s all about weighing up where the students are at in their own development. But the
main thing is really to ensure that once they get to their third year they’re prepared. But
also it is to encourage independent study, that they do need to read around the subject;
they need to spend time thinking and working out how research applies to their own
practice.
And also, one of the things I stress to students is that, to some extent, they’re building on
achievements of the past. You’re not coming from outer space! And you’re not William
Blake, coming from a different dimension. You are, to some extent, building on what’s
gone before, what’s been established, and you might want to criticise it but you have to
refer to it. Because that’s part of your institutional justification for your existence, if you like.
And you have to remember that we’re often dealing with students who are not from the
typical middle-class family. And they’re being introduced into institutions which may well
have been a bit of a surprise to them or to their parents—that they ever even came to this
sort of institution. And we’re trying to get them to learn the culture of these institutions so
they can survive in them. Their educational background is very different—they won’t have
done GCSEs or A Levels. We also have mature students; some may not even have been
in a college building for twenty years. For a lot of my students, especially for Early Years,
their Level 3 will be NVQ-based, so they won’t perhaps have ever even written an essay or
used references in their written work. So we have two years to get these students up to
third year undergraduate level and it’s hard work: study skills, research skills, the whole
package of learning and independent study. So we’ll put a research article on Moodle and
they have to read it in their own time.
But I think the rewards at the end are just amazing. Looking at what they’re handing in
now compared to two years ago is incredible: the course has just completely changed
their whole outlook.
7
Online resource on research paradigms (Southampton University)
Resources for postgraduate level about what a paradigm is, the different types of
research paradigms, and the importance of considering research paradigms when
carrying out research:
http://www.erm.ecs.soton.ac.uk/theme2/what_is_your_paradigm.html
Description of research paradigms (Penn State University)
Resource suitable for undergraduate teaching (e.g. levels 5 and 6)
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxh139/paradigm.htm
Module: Selection of the Research Paradigm and Methodology
(Manchester Metropolitan University)
http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/researchmethods/Modules/Selection_of_methodology/
Active learning
There is strong evidence that students learn better if
they are actively engaged in their learning, rather than
being passive recipients of information provided by a
teacher/lecturer. A description of active learning
activities and the rationale behind these is provided on
the links below (for referencing of the Wikipedia site use
the external links and references sections):
Active Learning website (University of Minnesota)
http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/tutorials/active/what/index.html
Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_learning
8
Participatory and action research
Action research is action-oriented research, often
initiated to solve a specific problem, and involves
a reflective process of problem solving (a cyclical
process of planning, action, monitoring and
reflection). It is often carried out by a team of
people who work or who are actively engaged in
the setting (a “community of practice”),
sometimes guided by an external researcher. It
has also been used widely in education and the
social sciences:
Participatory research is based on the idea of conducting
research with and for research subjects, and therefore it seeks to challenge the
power relationships and imbalances normally inherent in research on or about
specific research subjects.
Where the participatory research involves an explicit intention to co-produce change,
it may be termed participatory action research. (Participatory learning and action is
the term for the broad family of approaches.)
Participatory (action) research has been used across the social sciences including in
education and in international development. There are a number of different
participatory tools and methods that can be used as part of this approach, such as
participatory mapping, social surveys, collaborative construction of diagrams,
participatory video, drama, etc. These tools can also be used to make conventional
research and learning situations more engaging and fun, and in this case may not
challenge underlying power relations. For an introduction to the approach, see for
example the links below:
Action Research in Education (Plymouth University)
http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/actionresearch/arhome.htm
Participatory Research online resource (Lancaster University)
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/researchethics/5-2-outlook.html
-------------------
9
Information on institutions carrying out and advising on social
research
There are a number of organisations that advise on and/or carry out social research;
and these may offer suitable grant funding opportunities as well as information and
guidance for teaching and learning on research methods. For a comprehensive list
see the link below:
HEA Research and Scholarly activity resource - guidance for staff delivering
HE in FE:
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/heinfe/Research_and_Scholarly_Activity_Res
ource_Maggie_Greenwood
----------------------------
Training opportunities on research methods:
Check local opportunities: your college / group of
colleges / university may offer opportunities for
continuing professional development (CPD) relating
to research methods in the form of grant funding,
opportunities to attend courses, external speakers,
etc. Your college or department may already have a
thriving information-sharing / CPD culture that you
could use to discuss matters relating to research
and the teaching of research.
FE colleges and universities are increasingly concerned about demonstrating
positive outcomes and impact; research and evaluation are likely to be an integral
part of the strategy to improve these at departmental or college level. An audit of
current research methods skills in your department / college could also help in
identifying both untapped expertise that could be utilised and gaps in specific areas
relating to research methods teaching.
Also check your affiliated university and other HEIs for courses, training and CPD
opportunities; there may already be a research community there that you could draw
on and get involved with (see below for a list of established training centres on
research methods).
10
The following is a list of additional research methods training opportunities at
institutions with well-established research methods training programmes:
Plymouth University – training in quantitative and qualitative research
methods for staff in FE colleges.
Staff at Plymouth University have extensive
experience of delivering tailored short courses for
staff teaching HE in FE colleges (with or without
accreditation). These complement the Plymouth
University Learning from WOeRK Open
Educational Resources on research methods.
For further details contact Claire Gray, Partnerships Development Coordinator, Academic
Partnerships, email: Claire.Gray@plymouth.ac.uk
The Centre for Methodological Innovations at Plymouth University hosts an
annual conference and web journal:
Journal: http://www.pbs.plym.ac.uk/mi/
Web site: http://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/research/cmi/Pages/default.aspx
Surrey University, Guildford – day courses (at introductory and more
advanced levels) in social research methods training (including NVivo, Atlas.ti,
etc.) in the following areas:





Qualitative Research Methods
Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS (CAQDAS) training
Quantitative Research Methods
Managing and Disseminating Research
Methodological Seminars
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/sociology/study/daycourses/
11
ESRC Quantitative Methods (QM) Initiative
Details of forthcoming one-day QM training workshops as well as slides of
past workshops are available here:
http://www.sociology.ox.ac.uk/index.php/qmteachers/oxford-qm-teachers-project.html
------------------
Other current projects on research methods:
HEA Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences project:
Engaging students in quantitative research methods: An evaluation of
assessment for Learning (AfL) strategies on an undergraduate social research
methods module (University of Ulster)
http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/social-sciences/2013/03/13/teaching-research-methods-inthe-social-sciences-funded-projects/
HEA Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences project:
LSE100: An innovative, multi-disciplinary approach to assessing research
methods learning on a large scale
http://www.lse.ac.uk/intranet/students/LSE100/HEA/Home.aspx
HEA Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences project:
Innovating the independence in the independent study: creating a pedagogical
tool to enhance student engagement in research activity (University of Derby)
http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/social-sciences/2013/06/24/innovating-the-independence-inthe-independent-study-creating-a-pedagogical-tool-to-enhance-student-engagement-inresearch-activity/
HEA Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences project:
Visualisation and teaching quantitative research methods to Sociology and
Criminology students (Loughborough University)
http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/social-sciences/2013/06/24/visualisation-and-teachingquantitative-research-methods-to-sociology-and-criminology-students/
12
HEA Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences project:
Qualitative and ethnographic research (QER): Sharing and shaping
pedagogies – learning through doing (Exeter University)
http://blogs.heacademy.ac.uk/social-sciences/2013/06/14/qualitative-and-ethnographicresearch-qer-sharing-and-shaping-pedagogies-learning-through-doing/
The Research Design Basis for Undergraduate Quantitative Methods (QM)
Teaching (University of Birmingham)
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/education/projects/quantitativemethods/index.aspx
ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme (resources currently
under development):
http://www.tlrp.org/rcbn/resources.html
-----------------------This online resource was created in September 2013 by Carolyn Petersen, the research
assistant for the project <Carolyn.petersen@plymouth.ac.uk>. For further information on the
project or the information contained in this toolkit, including if you have any suggestions for
suitable links that could be added, please contact either myself or the project lead Claire
Gray on Claire.Gray@plymouth.ac.uk .
13