MSc Research Methods with Planning and Environmental Management

This course unit develops students’ knowledge and understanding of research design to view research in terms of processes of knowledge production. It provides an overview of key research methods and methodological approaches considered in relation to conceptual, epistemological, and ontological viewpoints. While doing so it takes a practical approach that aims to support students in their development as researchers and in the design of their own future research projects. Students are introduced to more advanced ways of searching, reading, and managing literature.  Students will have opportunities to produce an academic poster and to critique a research proposal, along with developing an alternative research design. The course unit is built on an active learning pedagogy and so sessions will include activities, along with an element of flipped learning.

The aim of this unit is to develop students’ research literacy skills, skills for literature review and practical skills of academic critique and research proposal writing in the context of developing a deeper understanding of research design and its relation to epistemology, ontology and the process of knowledge production. The aim is for students to understand the breadth of social science methods extending beyond the qualitative/quantitative binary to i) make informed choices about their research design (current and future); and ii) engage critically with papers/research outside their discipline during their MSc, doctoral training and throughout their career.

This unit will involve a variety of lessons and learning methods such as interactive lectures, exposition, reflective group work, tutorials, as well as online forums and independent learning resources. This means that there are synchronous and asynchronous elements of the unit.

Throughout the unit students will engage in practical tasks before, during and after the sessions. The pre-task is an individual activity such as a reading, watching a video, working through some specially prepared independent learning resources. The after-task involves further individual work in which students are provided with a range of resources that can be engaged with to gain greater depth on the topic of the in-person session.  

The in-person lecture sessions build on the pre-tasks set, so that there is a degree of flipped-learning in-built to the pedagogy of the unit, although the in-person sessions provide additional content input alongside a chance to reflect and consolidate. The unit also draws on SEED PGR research training provisions, particularly using some of the recorded lectures to give further context (either as part of the pre-task or after task activities) to the main unit sessions as agreed in the programme approval process.

Small group online tutorials are also provided to help support students with addressing their questions and to help guide them through the analysis tasks. 
 

• critically discuss the s purpose of selected research methods and why they might be appropriate or not.
• critically discuss the philosophical and methodological issues underpinning their choice of research method.
• identify limitations in their research, biases in results, generalisability, validity and reliability.

• synthesise relevant academic literature underpinning a research design.
• critique their researcher positionality and axiology through reflexive engagement.
• critically assess published work to assess validity and rigour in the design and interpretation of data collection and analysis.
• evaluate, process and present a critical analysis of an academic research proposal based on a range of different methodologies and in an appropriate format.
• frame problems and construct research questions that are amenable to investigation.

• design robust research solutions in an efficient and effective manner using appropriate methodologies.

Via VLE

Maxwell, J. A. (2012) Qualitative Research Design. 3rd Revised edition. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc.

Willig C. Introducing Qualitative Research in Psychology . Fourth edition. Open University Press; 2022.

Indicative examples of recommended books:

Bergman Max, ed. (2008). Advances in Mixed Methods Research : Theories and Applications . Sage Publications.

Boland A, Cherry MG, Dickson R, (eds) (2017). Doing a Systematic Review : A Student’s Guide . Second edition. Sage Publications..

Creswell JW. (2009) Research Design : Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Approaches . 3rd ed. Sage Publications.

Crotty M. (1998) The Foundations of Social Research : Meaning and Perspective in the Research Process . SAGE Publications; Askews and Holts.

Morwenna-Whitaker, E & Atkinson, P (2021) Reflexivity in Social Research. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Punch KF (2004). Introduction to Social Research. 2nd Revised edition. Sage Publications.

Robson, C. (2011) Real World Research. 3rd Edition. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Wallace, M., & Wray, A. (2016). Critical reading and writing for postgraduates (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications.

Examples of papers used in the unit:
Anfara, V.A., Brown, K.M. & Mangione, T.L. (2002) Qualitative Analysis on Stage: Making the Research Process More Public. Educational researcher. 31 (7), 28–38. doi:10.3102/0013189X031007028.

Connelly, F.M. & Clandinin, D.J. (1990) Stories of Experience and Narrative Inquiry. Educational researcher. 19 (5), 2–14. doi:10.2307/1176100.

Evans, A. (2016) The Decline of the Male Breadwinner and Persistence of the Female Carer: Exposure, Interests, and Micro-Macro Interactions. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 106 (5), 1135–1151. doi:10.1080/24694452.2016.1184557.

Nind, M. & Wearmouth, J. (2006) Including children with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms: implications for pedagogy from a systematic review. Journal of research in special educational needs. 6 (3), 116–124. doi:10.1111/j.1471-3802.2006.00069.x.

Prevett, P.S., Black, L., Hernandez-Martinez, P., Pampaka, M. & Williams, J. (2021) Integrating thematic analysis with cluster analysis of unstructured interview datasets: an evaluative case study of an inquiry into values and approaches to learning mathematics. International journal of research & method in education. 44 (3), 273–286. doi:10.1080/1743727X.2020.1785416.

Wrigley, T. (2018) The power of ‘evidence’: Reliable science or a set of blunt tools? British educational research journal. 44 (3), 359–376. doi:10.1002/berj.3338.