Advanced Certificate in Research and Development

This qualification builds research skills systematically, from Research Project I through to a full thesis in Research Project IV, alongside statistics, technical writing and research ethics. Electives let you add practical skills such as project management, business planning or entrepreneurship. Suitable for those planning a genuine research career or needing strong research skills for further study.

Develop Your Abilities in R & D Research and Development is critical to every industry today. In the past you may have been able to find a way of working, and stuck with it for decades, but the way we do most jobs today is transient. New methods are constantly being developed, as are new products. Everything is constantly under review, and with new ideas, technologies and scientific discoveries, the workplace and the marketplace constantly changes. Research and Development initiatives are a big part of what is driving change. Breakthrough in R & D can result in big jumps in productivity as well as accessibility and quality of services (or products). The most successful enterprises and individuals are those that understand and invest in well conceived, planned and executed R & D. This course is relevant to Research and Development of anything including the following and much more: Science and technology Social Services Agricultural or Industrial Products Environmental Management Health and Wellbeing When you understand how to research and develop; you then know how to improve everything you are involved with, at work of course, but much more than just that. Compulsory Modules These modules provide foundation knowledge for the Advanced Certificate in Research and Development. Please click on the links below for more information. Research Project I BGN102 Ethics BPS217 Research Project II BGN201 Research Project III BGN202 Dissertation BHT330 Research Project IV (Thesis Preparation) BGN301 Statistics BSC304 Technical Writing (Advanced) BWR301 Elective Modules In addition to the above modules, students study any 1 of the following modules. Click on the links below for more information. Industry Project BIP000 Industry Project II BIP001 Workplace Health & Safety VBS103 Workshop I BGN103 Entrepreneurship BBS204 Information Security BIT203 Operations Management VBS201 Physics BSC206 Plant Breeding BHT236 Project Management BBS201 SQL For The Web BIT201 Workshop II BGN203 Business Planning BBS302 Environmental Assessment BEN301 Professional Practice For Consultants BBS301 Workshop III BGN302 Course Duration: 900 hours of self-paced study Do you understand how to Conduct Research Properly? Research isn't just a skill needed by a research scientist or academic. Research skills are critical to every day life -running a business, planning for more success, spending money more effectively. Research involves gathering, sorting and analysing information. It involves determining what is and is not true and useful. To properly undertake research you need to learn about and understand: Ethics in Research - Protection from harm, Debriefing, Consent, Confidentiality, Right to withdraw etc. Asking the question – Writing the hypothesis and aim, What is a hypothesis, Types of hypothesis, What is an aim, Writing aims Selecting Participants - Sampling methods, Opportunity sampling, Snowball sampling, Random sampling, Stratified sampling etc. Experiments - Laboratory experiments, Field experiments, Natural experiments, Strengths and weakness Variables - IV, DV, Extraneous Variables Experimental Design - Repeated measures – definition, strengths and weaknesses, examples; Independent measures – ditto, Matched pairs, Counterbalancing Reliability and validity, correlations, interviews and questionnaires, observations Writing up a report, including referencing If you have any questions at all, our tutors are happy to help. Please click here.