SED7023 - Research Methods for Childhood, Education and Family Support

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Critically examine research literature and scholarship in the substantive field in order to situate a planned research approach in relation to the existing field of enquiry.
Critically evaluate the particular methodological, ethical and practical issues involved in addressing a particular research idea.
Formulate and justify a research approach for undertaking a specific piece of social research.

Content:

Identifying and developing a focus for research;
Qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection, and mixed methods approaches in social research as appropriate;
Approaches to the analysis of data such as phenomenological and hermeneutic approaches, and descriptive statistics;
The principles of ethical inquiry in social contexts and applying for ethical clearance;
Formulating and justifying an approach for pursuing enquiry that takes account of different epistemological and methodological traditions of research.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Learning will include lectures, small group discussion workshops, seminars, independent study and tutorials. Participants will be expected to draw on their own professional experiences and personal contexts in order to contribute to, and lead, group activities.

Lectures
Hours: 30
Intended Group Size: Cohort

Tutorials and Review Tutorials
Hours: 10
Intended Group Size: 5-10

Guided independent study
Hours: 260

Further details relating to assessment
All students will prepare a research proposal for empirical study that they could undertake in the final phase of the programme. All students will be required to consider the ethical implications of their planned research and will complete the LTU Research Ethics Self-Assessment form as part of their formal submission. Students who identify as needing to obtain ethical approval, or who are planning to undertake empirical research, will be required to complete a full ethical clearance application prior to commencing any data collection involving human participants (or human tissue, animals etc), as required under the LTU Research Ethics Policy.

Assessment:

001 Research proposal portfolio; 6,000 words; end of Term 1 100%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - PRS_CODE=
Level - 7
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 7T3

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