Week 1 Assessments
This week:
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit the
Academic Integrity Declaration
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key
Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your
colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
Key Concept Exercise:
Identifying research topics
Choosing a research topic is the first
important step in any research process. The topic needs to be focused and the
overall intended research should be feasible, with clear expectations regarding
the contribution it is expected to make to academia.
For this week's Key Concept Exercise
you present your motivation for doing research by considering your own
interests in a specific research field. In addition, you discuss if/how your
proposed topic has been studied previously by making reference to academic
sources which explore the same, or similar, topics.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the required Learning Resources
for Week 1
Consider your journey through the
programme so far and the topic-problem areas you have encountered during your
study and/or from your professional practice
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In approximately 500 words, describe
the research topic-problem you might be interested in researching, and describe
the reasons why
In formulating your Key Concept
Exercise, consider the following questions:
What would be your interest in
conducting a study on this topic?
Has this topic been discussed in the
academic literature? Identify at least two research papers that motivated your
thoughts
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link provided.
When writing your responses you should
synthesise the theory with real-world experience and use examples of the
theories in action.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Please be aware that the potential Research Topic that you propose and discuss
this week will not be ‘set in stone’ and as you progress through the
class. Indeed, it is expected that this will evolve and be refined as you
achieve the Learning Outcomes of the Module. Please also note that the proposed
Topic should be clearly linked to the specific degree field that you are
studying (Human Resources, Marketing or Management).
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
The Key Concept Exercise for this week
is not graded, but you will receive feedback from your Instructor to help you
improve your work. Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn from your
Instructor’s feedback. Give the assignment your full effort and ask for
clarification on any feedback you do not understand.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 1 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin - FF.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 replies to your classmates’
posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Providing constructive critique on the
scope and significance of proposed research topics
Contributing suggestions on how the
topic might be narrowed as appropriate
Suggesting additional ways in which a
research project on their proposed topic would contribute to knowledge
Highlighting possible ethical issues
and feasibility constraints with a research project in this area
This week’s Collaboration is not
graded, but you will receive feedback from your Instructor to help you improve
your work. Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn from your Instructor’s
feedback – give the assignment your full effort and ask for clarification on
any feedback you do not understand.
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with classmates and serve to meet
the Learning Objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 1 Collaboration Forum" link.
Week 2 Assessments
This
week:
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By
Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
Key Concept Exercise: The purpose and value of academic research
The
most important step in framing and meeting the objectives of your research is
to formulate a set of well-defined research questions or testable hypotheses.
For
this week's Key Concept Exercise, using the two published papers provided in
your field, you will review the motivation behind framing research topics and
choosing specific sets of research questions, evaluate methodologies used
within the context of the main objectives of the research and the wider
literature on the topics, and finally discuss the potential contributions that
the two articles make.
To
prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:
Read
the Required Learning Resources for Week 2
Consider
the two papers from your degree field in the Required Learning Resources, specifically
thinking about how you may evaluate their strengths and weaknesses
To
complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In
approximately 500 words, critically evaluate ONE of the sample research
articles provided from your degree field, addressing its strengths and
weaknesses
In
formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
· What
motivated the research?
· What
research questions were explored?
· What
was the methodology followed by the researcher(s)?
· How
did the findings contribute to academia?
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link
provided.
When
writing your responses you should synthesise the theory with real-world
experience and use examples of the theories in action.
Be
sure to read over your Key Concept Exercise before submitting it to your
Instructor. Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct and the language,
citing and referencing you use when providing your opinion are appropriate for
academic writing.
To
submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin, click the
"View/Complete" link for Week 2 Key Concept Exercise -- Turnitin.
By
Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post
3-5 replies to your classmates’ posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Examining
similarities and differences in your critical evaluations of the content of the
reviewed article
Identifying
lessons from the reviewed articles and how these could be applied to your own
research project and those of colleagues
Proposing
ways in which additional research might be conducted on the same or similar
topics
Asking
insightful questions about colleagues’ interpretations of ideas from the
Learning Resources
Ensure
that you spread your Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of
each week. This will help maximise the value of your Collaboration with
classmates and serve to meet the Learning Objectives for each activity.
To
access the Collaboration Forum, click on the "Week 2 Collaboration
Forum" link.
Week 3 Assessments
This week:
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key
Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your
colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Individual Assignment to Turnitin
Key Concept Exercise:
Methodology and methods
Linking paradigm and methodology and
choosing an appropriate methodology lie at the heart of research.
Whether using a case-study, action
research, research that relies upon grounded theory, or econometrics, the
research design should ensure that the chosen methodological framework meets
the objectives of the research, and helps the researcher answer the research
questions.
For this week's Key Concept Exercise
you will evaluate the characteristics of the methodologies used in the two
papers from your field and consider whether those align to your own research
plans.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 3.
Revisit the two papers from your degree
field in the Required Learning Resources and consider the paradigms and
methodologies used.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In approximately 500 words, present the
paradigms and methodologies used in the TWO articles
In formulating your Key Concept
Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
What are the
advantages and disadvantages of the methodologies implemented in these studies?
·
Which of these could
(or could not) be used for your research and why?
·
What could be your
feasibility concerns in any case?
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link provided.
When writing your responses you should
synthesise the theory with real-world experience and use examples of the
theories in action.
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 3 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 replies to your classmates’
posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Examining similarities and differences
in your evaluations of different research methodologies and methods and their
potential use in different contexts
Debating the need for clear alignment
between the research topic, question, and methodology/method, and what this
looks like in practice
Identifying lessons from the reviewed
articles, and from the Learning Resources, and how these could be applied to
your own proposed research projects and those of colleagues
Asking insightful questions about your
colleagues’ interpretations of concepts from the Learning Resources
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week.
This will help maximise the value of your Collaboration with classmates and
serve to meet the Learning Objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 3 Collaboration Forum" link.
Individual Assignment:
Planning for your research project
This week, you will complete the first
of two Individual Assignments, the second of which will be completed in Week 7.
The Individual Assignments are designed to develop your skills at applying the
knowledge gained in the module to the development of a potential future
proposal for a research project.
The initial stages of the research
proposal are illustrated in Figure 6.2 of the text book (Collis & Hussey,
2013, p. 100). This week you will present your topic (keeping in mind the
criteria mentioned in your text book Box 6.1 p. 101) research motivation, and
pertinent literature reading so far.
To prepare for this Individual
Assignment:
Revisit Chapter 6 of your core text,
‘Writing your research proposal’ (Collis & Hussey, 2013, pp. 96-128)
Return to your chosen research
topic-problem identified in Week 1 (as subsequently amended) and consider how
you may develop your ideas further including literature, research questions,
your interest and scope, and feasibility
To complete this Individual Assignment:
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Prepare a report of approximately 1,500
words in which you:
Present/discuss your chosen research
topic from your degree field
Discuss the key arguments and findings
from pertinent literature and draft your critical review keeping in mind its
purpose
Formulate the main research question(s)
Describe your interest in the topic and
questions, demonstrating the motivation for your research, plus the link
between your topic/questions and existing research literature
Discuss the feasibility of the study
and explain how you can gain access to the data that you need to collect
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Individual Assignment to the Turnitin Link provided.
Be sure to read over your Individual
Assignment before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
This assignment is graded. See the
rubric for specific grading criteria.
To submit your initial response to
Turnitin, click on the "View/Complete" link for Week 3 Individual
Assignment -- Turnitin.
Week 4 Assessments
This
week:
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By
Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Personal Development Portfolio
Key Concept Exercise: Following quantitative research design
The
data collection process is always a fundamental element in empirical research.
For
this week's Key Concept Exercise you will shape your research idea within the
context of a quantitative research framework, analyse the optimal data
collection process that could align to your research idea, explore the
strengths and weaknesses of the chosen technique, and finally critically
discuss the potential validity and reliability of the data that you plan to
collect.
To
prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:
Read
the required Learning Resources for Week 4
Return
to your chosen research topic-problem identified in Week 1 (as subsequently
amended) and consider a quantitative approach
To
complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In
approximately 500 words, explain how your research ideas could take the shape
of a quantitative research project.
In
formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
What specific methods
would you implement for data collection and analysis?
·
What type of data
would you need to tackle the research question(s)?
·
What are the
strengths and weaknesses of the research design?
·
Can you recommend
ways to maximise the validity and reliability of the data to be collected?
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link
provided.
When
writing your responses you should synthesise the theory with real-world
experience and use examples of the theories in action.
Be
sure to read over your Key Concept Exercise before submitting it to your
Instructor. Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct and the language,
citing and referencing you use when providing your opinion are appropriate for
academic writing.
To
submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin, click the
"View/Complete" link for Week 4 Key Concept Exercise -- Turnitin.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post
3-5 replies to your classmates’ posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Providing
constructive critique on the scope and significance of quantitative research
Identifying
alternative methods that might more effectively enable them to achieve their
aims
Highlighting
possible ethical issues and feasibility constraints with the collection of
primary quantitative data
Ensure
that you spread your Collaboration posts across at least three separate days
of each week. This will help maximise the value of your Collaboration
with classmates and serve to meet the Learning Objectives for each activity.
To
access the Collaboration Forum, click on the "Week 4 Collaboration
Forum" link.
Personal Development Portfolio: Becoming a researcher
The
Personal Development Portfolio (PDP) provides the framework to help you expand
your academic, professional and career development; build and sustain a
personal learning network; articulate your professional goals; and reflect on
your skills through various strategies and assessments.
In
this module there are two PDP submissions. The first PDP Assignment is due
for submission here in Week 4, and the second PDP Assignment is due for
submission in the final week of the module, Week 8.
Conducting
research and exploring a research topic means dealing with the unknown. Collis
and Hussey (2013) make a good point for students in the early stages of their
research, maintaining that, apart from gaining a reasonable understanding of
your topic, you also need specific skills to overcome the difficulties related
to your research.
To
prepare for this PDP Assignment:
Reflect
on the readings you have encountered in the first 4 weeks of this module.
To
complete this PDP Assignment:
By
Day 7 (Wednesday)
Write
a critically reflective paper (500 words) considering the following:
How
has the information that you have discussed in class, researched and read
helped you to understand the practice of academic research and the type of
research skills that you have developed over your previous modules?
·
Have your ideas and
views of academic research changed?
·
How has your
understanding of academic research and your own ability to conduct research
developed?
·
How will you apply
what you have learnt so far when conducting future research?
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Personal Development Portfolio to the Turnitin
Link provided.
This
Assignment is not graded, but you will receive feedback from your Instructor to
help you improve your work. Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn
from your Instructor's feedback. Give the Assignment your full effort and ask
for clarification on any feedback you do not understand.
To
submit your initial response to Turnitin, click on the
"View/Complete" link for Week 4 Personal Development Portfolio --
Turnitin - FF.
Week 5 Assessments
This week:
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key
Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your
colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
Key Concept Exercise:
Review of quantitative research design
Inferential statistical methods are
widely used in research in order to conduct tests of differences for dependent
or independent samples, analyse associations between different types of
variables and establish relationships using models between dependent and
independent variable(s).
For this week's Key Concept Exercise
you will evaluate examples of inferential statistical analysis by discussing
empirical results and the strengths, weakness and suitability of different
statistical estimation and hypothesis testing procedures.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 5.
It is strongly recommended that you
work through the Week 5 Test Your Knowledge Questions and while undertaking
your reading. These are located with the Week 5 Learning Resources.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In approximately 500 words, answer TWO
of the FOUR questions in the file provided here on Inferential Statistical
Analysis:
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link provided.
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 5 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: Conducting inferential statistical
analysis
In your Collaboration you will further
discuss statistical analysis with your classmates.
In examining the different inferential
statistical methods, consider their fundamental characteristics, underlying
assumptions, strengths, weakness and suitability for producing generalisations
regarding an unbeknown population.
To prepare for this Collaboration:
Review the required Learning Resources
and your Key Concept Exercise from Week 5
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 5 to the Collaboration Forum.
Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 replies to your classmates’
posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Providing constructive critique on your
classmates’ submissions by analysing further the fundamental characteristics of
the inferential statistical methods.
Discussing critically the purposes and
wider issues when conducting statistical analyses.
Analysing the suitability of the
inferential statistical methods by highlighting their strengths and limitations,
with emphasis put on your research plans.
Ensure that you spread your
collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week.
This will help maximise the value of your collaboration with classmates and
serve to meet the learning objectives for each activity.
Week 6 Assessments
This
week:
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By
Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
Key Concept Exercise: Following qualitative research design
For
this Key Concept Exercise, you will recommend a qualitative research design.
In
the previous two weeks, you tailored your original research topic specifically
to consider a quantitative design.
Following
this week’s introduction and further reading exercises on qualitative research,
return back to these initial ideas and recommend a qualitative research design
that aligns with the topic under investigation, taking into account the main
advantages and disadvantages as well as the main feasibility constraints and
your own personal skills.
To
prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:
Read
the required Learning Resources for Week 6
Return
to your chosen research topic-problem identified in Week 1 (as subsequently
amended) and consider a qualitative approach
To
complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In
approximately 500 words, explain how your research ideas could take the shape
of a qualitative research project.
In
formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
Which
qualitative methodology would be most suited to your research paradigm?
·
In
what way could you contextualise your research from a qualitative perspective?
·
Which
sampling methods would be most valuable for your data collection?
·
What
are the key differences in planning your research from a quantitative and
qualitative perspective?
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link
provided.
Be
sure to read over your Key Concept Exercise before submitting it to your
Instructor. Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct and the language,
citing and referencing you use when providing your opinion are appropriate for
academic writing.
To
submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin, click the
"View/Complete" link for Week 6 Key Concept Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: The pros and cons of qualitative research
The
emphasis of this week’s Collaboration is on the importance of qualitative
research and your ability to select the appropriate methodologies for the
collection of the necessary data.
It
is important that you highlight the main issues involved in qualitative
methodologies. Furthermore, you will try to tease out the strengths and
weaknesses of different methods of data collection and sample selection.
To
prepare for this Collaboration:
Review
the relevant required Learning Resources and your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 6.
To
complete this Collaboration:
Day
3 (Saturday)
Post
your Key Concept Exercise from Week 6 to the Collaboration Forum.
By
Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post
3-5 replies to your classmates’ posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Providing
constructive critique on the scope and significance of qualitative research
Identifying
alternative methods that might more effectively enable them to achieve their
aims
Discussing
the role of the researcher in qualitative research design and method selection
Ensure
that you spread your collaboration posts across at least three separate days
of each week. This will help maximise the value of your collaboration
with classmates and serve to meet the learning objectives for each activity.
To
access the Collaboration Forum, click on the "Week 6 Collaboration
Forum" link.
Week 7 Assessments
This week:
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key
Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your
colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Individual Assignment to Turnitin
Key Concept Exercise:
Review of qualitative research design
While neither quantitative nor
qualitative approaches can be considered completely without bias, qualitative
methodologies and methods are, by far, the more subjective of the two.
In all research, the presence of the
researcher, their choices and their interpretations, have a bearing on the work
undertaken and data collection methods chosen.
Qualitative researchers have a greater
level of involvement drawing on their own backgrounds, experiences and
perceptions in their interpretation of the data collected. Qualitative
research, therefore, has a degree of ‘built-in’ bias which should be
acknowledged in a research study.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 7
Return to your qualitative research
designs from last week
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In approximately 500 words
· Critically
reflect on the types of qualitative data collection methods that you could use
in your research, considering their benefits and limitations.
· Consider
how you might overcome the challenges that you may encounter when
implementing research using qualitative methodology, including the management
and analysis of data.
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link provided.
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 7 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: Conducting
qualitative analysis
This week you will discuss the
different qualitative data analysis techniques recognising potential weaknesses
as well as the main validity and reliability concerns.
To prepare for this Collaboration:
Review the Required Learning Resources
and your Key Concept Exercise from Week 7.
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 7 to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 replies to your classmates’
posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Discussing critically the purposes and
key issues when conducting qualitative data analyses
Exploring the main data quality issues
related to validity, reliability, and generalisability
Proposing ways to overcome data quality
issues
Highlighting possible ethical issues
and feasibility constraints with the collection of primary qualitative data
Ensure that you spread your
collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week.
This will help maximise the value of your collaboration with classmates and
serve to meet the learning objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 7 Collaboration Forum" link.
Individual Assignment:
Progressing with your research project
This week, you will complete the second
of two Individual Assignments, the first of which was undertaken in Week 3. The
Individual Assignments are designed to develop your skills at applying the
knowledge gained in the module to the development of a potential future
proposal for a research project.
Once you have established the research
topic and framed your research question(s) you will need to consider how you
will tackle these questions. This involves taking decisions related to the
methodology to be followed as well as the chosen methods for data collection
and analysis (quantitative or qualitative).
To prepare for this Individual
Assignment:
Review your Week 3 Individual
Assignment and Instructor feedback.
Consider how you may develop your ideas
further, including epistemological stance, methodology, validity and
reliability of the research design, data collection methods, sampling
techniques, participant profile, data access, and ethics.
To complete this Individual Assignment:
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Prepare a report of approximately 1,500
words in which you:
Discuss your chosen methodology and
method for the collection of your data
Indicate which methodology (such as
survey, case study, action research) you wish to employ and why
Explain how this is consistent with
your epistemological stance
Discuss the threats to validity and
reliability contained in this research design
Describe the data collection method(s)
you will use (such as questionnaire, interviews, focus groups), and justify how
these will be sufficient to answer your research question
Describe your sampling technique and
the reasons for the profile of your respondents when collecting primary data
What are the problems that you may
encounter in gaining access to your data? Provide strategies that can be useful
to help you solve these problems
Are there any ethical issues that you
need to consider?
Provide a brief discussion on how you
plan to analyse your data and the tools that you may need for a proper analysis
based on your method
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Individual Assignment to the Turnitin Link provided.
Be sure to read over your Individual
Assignment before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
This assignment is graded. See the
rubric for specific grading criteria.
To submit your Individual Assignment to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 7 Individual
Assignment -- Turnitin.
Week 8 Assessments
This
week:
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin
By
Day 3 (Saturday), post your Key Concept Exercise to the Collaboration Forum
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), respond to your colleagues’ in the Collaboration Forum
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Personal Development Portfolio
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your UoL Satisfaction Survey
Key Concept Exercise: Following mixed methods research design
Mixed
methods research provides a new way for some researchers to tackle a
complicated research problem.
The
key purpose is to investigate the problem by using the advantages of both
quantitative and qualitative methods to enrich the approach. However, at the
same time, it requires knowledge of both methods of data collection and
analysis and a good reason for the choices made.
For
this week’s Key Concept Exercise, you will consider whether a mixed method
would fit (or not) your research topic-problem and the anticipated barriers to
data integration.
To
prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:
Read
the Required Learning Resources for Week 8.
Return
to your chosen research topic-problem identified in Week 1 (as subsequently
amended) and consider whether a mixed methods approach would be
appropriate and why
To
complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In
approximately 500 words, explain why mixed methods might fit (or not) your
research project.
In
formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
What
are the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen method?
Critically
analyse the reasons why you would proceed (or not) with the adoption of mixed
methods
What
are the barriers to data integration which you would expect at this stage of
the research?
What
are the potential limitations and problems associated with adopting a mixed
methods approach for a relatively short research project – for example, a
dissertation of 9 months’ duration?
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to the Turnitin Link
provided.
Be
sure to read over your Key Concept Exercise before submitting it to your
Instructor. Make sure the spelling and grammar are correct and the language,
citing and referencing you use when providing your opinion are appropriate for
academic writing.
To
submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin, click the
"View/Complete" link for Week 8 Key Concept Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: Integrating qualitative and quantitative data
For
your Collaboration, you further discuss mixed methods with your classmates.
In
examining the suitability of mixed methods for your research project, consider
the type and sources of data that would be needed and the benefits, if any, as
well as the expected limitations related mainly to the additional resources,
skills and robust data integration that are required.
To
prepare for this Collaboration:
Review
the Required Learning Resources and your Key Concept Exercise from Week 8.
To
complete this Collaboration:
By
Day 3 (Saturday)
Post
your Key Concept Exercis fie from Week 8 to the Collaboration Forum.
By
Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post
3-5 replies to your classmates’ posts in the Collaboration Forum by:
Providing
constructive critique on the scope and significance of mixed methods designs
Highlighting
possible ethical issues and feasibility constraints with the collection of
mixed methods data
Explaining
the most important barriers to integration of qualitative and quantitative data
Ensure
that you spread your collaboration posts across at least three separate days
of each week. This will help maximise the value of your collaboration
with classmates and serve to meet the learning objectives for each activity.
To
access the Collaboration Forum, click on the "Week 8 Collaboration
Forum" link.
Personal Development Portfolio: Reflective paper
How
has your understanding of your research study changed since this module
started? This week, you will reflect on the basic research principles and
knowledge that you have acquired in this module.
This
final PDP Assignment aims to build on the knowledge from the module and apply
this to the real world.
This
Research Methods module has provided you with an understanding of the
principles and skills needed in order to design and conduct business management
research.
This
week’s Personal Development Portfolio activity will enable you to reflect on
your learning and experiences. You will consider how these concepts will apply
to the next step, whether this is relating to academic research project or any
other research that you may undertake for the investigation of a business
problem in your professional context.
To
prepare for this PDP Assignment:
Reflect
on the readings you have encountered in the 8 weeks of this module
Revisit
your PDP submission in Week 4
To
complete this PDP Assignment:
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Write
a critically reflective paper (1,000 words):
In
completing the PDP, now in Week 8 reconsider the questions posed in Week 4:
·
How
has the information that you have discussed across the entire class, researched
and read helped you to understand the practice of academic research and the
type of research skills that you have developed over your previous modules?
·
Have
your ideas and views of academic research now changed?
·
How
has your understanding of academic research and your own ability to conduct
research developed?
·
How
will you apply what you have learnt so far and overall when conducting future
research?
Additionally, consider:
·
What
is the importance of ethical conduct in research, and how might this influence
any potential, future research projects that you undertake?
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Personal Development Portfolio to the Turnitin
Link provided.
This
assignment is graded. See the rubric for specific grading criteria.
To
submit your initial response to Turnitin, click on the
"View/Complete" link for Week 8 Personal Development Portfolio --
Turnitin.
No comments:
Post a Comment