M3009 Research Methodologies

M3009 Research Methodologies places its focus on types of research methods, sampling approaches, and data collection and analysis. The course will begin with explaining what research is and why research methodology is so important while introducing two common research methodology types, namely qualitative and quantitative research methods. It will define what is qualitative and quantitative research respectively. The course will also explore the process of crafting a qualitative research project, looking at various data collection tools, such as interviews, focus groups, observations, document analysis, etc. During this time, the process of sampling design and its approaches will also be addressed, including probability and nonprobability sampling approaches. Similarly, the course will go through a quantitative research project, looking at common questions such as, how to design a survey, how to make observation, and how to collect data from experiments. Finally, the course will demonstrate data analysis methods for the two research methods.

General Course Infromation

Course Details

Course Staff

Course Instructor: Mark Wilding

Course Timetable

Students will be noticed when the course is open.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Understand the key features of quantitative and qualitative research methods.
2. Explain the sampling design process and discuss different sampling techniques.
3. Describe probability and nonprobability sampling approaches.
4. Describe various data collection tools for quantitative research, such as surveys and experiments.
5. Describe various data collection tools for qualitative research, such as interviews, focus groups, and participant observation.

Learning Resouces

This course may include additional learning materials from the instructor. You may find them attached alongside your lesson videos.

Assessment

Policy on course assessment is based on the following four principles:

1. Assessment must encourage learning activities and improve learning methods.
2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable.
4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Detail

Assessment 1: Attendance

Credit: 25

Assessment on attendance is determined by the total viewing duration in a lesson. For example, to get 25 credits, a 40-minute long lesson video requires a minimum viewing duration of 160 minutes.

Assessment 2: Assignments

Credit: 50

Task: You need to complete a total of 10 questions which come in various forms, including but not limited to cloze, multiple choice, or TRUE/FALSE questions. You will have 3 opportunities to answer each question before your final submission.

Assessment 3: Quiz

Credit: 25

Task: You need to complete a total of 20 questions that are either standalone or under reading material(s). You will not have additional opportunities before your final submission.

Submission

• Failure to submit: Failure to fufill course attendance requirements, or unable to submit an assignment or quiz on time may incur a fail grade.
• Resubmission: of an assignment or a quiz after reworking it to obtain a better mark will not normally be accepted. Approval for resubmission will only be granted on medical or compassionate grounds.
• Appealing a mark or grade: If you are dissatisfied with your mark or grade, you may request for a review from your program coordinator. There must be academic or procedural reasons for your request, so you can’t simply request a re-mark because you are disappointed with your result.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme: