Research Project II

This course follows on from Research Project I, covering how to identify research issues and acquire technical information relevant to your field. You'll learn specialised research techniques and how to plan and design a research project properly before carrying it out. The course finishes with applying statistics and conducting your own research. Suitable for those progressing from introductory research study into more specialised research.

Your research makes a difference in the real world Improve your ability to undertake better research Develop skills for better career or business opportunities Build on past studies, or past experience. The better your research, the greater the value of your findings to any industry. Your data can actually help to optimise the activities of businesses and even entire industries. Improve your research techniques, find out how to plan your project more effectively and gather data that can prove valuable in informing the current operations or future planning of a business. COURSE AIM To monitor, analyse and evaluate a common process (or processes) relevant to their stream studies. (For the purpose of this unit, a "process" is defined as any distinct series of events or changes over a period of time, and which is directly related to the area of study). COURSE STRUCTURE There are 6 lessons in this module as follows: 1. Identifying research issues The nature of research Finding research ideas Experience Literature Requests for research Curiosity and imagination Considering all options Formulating a research project Is the research topic feasible Terminology Types of questions: descriptive, rational, causal Units of analysis Validity Conclusion validity Internal validity Construct validity External validity Fallacies Variables Structure of a research project Components of a research project Nature of a relationship Patterns in relationships Timing of research Ethics in research 2. Acquisition of technical information Literature review Research methods Methods of collecting information Experimental methods Correlation methods Questionnaires, surveys, tests Interviews Document reviews Focus groups Case Studies 3. Specialised research techniques Specialised research 4. Research planning and designing Introduction The scientific method Testing hypotheses Common mistakes when applying the scientific method Hypotheses, models, theories and laws 5. Statistics Types of data: quantitative vs qualitative Overview of statistics for research Sources of statistics Statistical data (Plural sense) Statistical Method (Singular sense) 6. Conducting research Analyzing and interpreting information Start with research goals Analysis of quantitative information Analysis of qualitative information Interpreting information Example of a report Pitfalls to avoid Evaluation Evaluation strategies Types of evaluation Evaluation questions and methods WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE Evidence of your ability to collect, collate and interpret data and prepare reports in ways relevant to the work environment; Ability to monitor and evaluate one’s own work in order to develop a responsible attitude to workplace performance and quality assurance; Awareness of areas where there is a valid need for research which are relevant to area of study; Ability to explain research methods, including experimental techniques, commonly used in the learner's area of study; Understanding of the basic statistical methods used for research; Ability to locate, collect and evaluate information for a specific research purpose; Ability to prepare a research report in a format which conforms to normal industry procedures. Set Yourself Goals and Plan to Achieve them To create effective goals to work towards, you need to write them out clearly, create a time scale of when you will achieve them and preferably tell someone about them. For example. ‘I am studying carpentry and I will finish my course by the end of this year’. When you have personal accountability to someone else, they will ask you regularly how you are going with it. Now this is done, brainstorm how you can do it. If you have planned the steps and journey to the goal it will be easy to achieve it. How will you build the time for study and developing your career into your current work and social timetable? Who will help you and encourage you? What tools and resources do you need to achieve this? Remember smaller steps with rewards built in for successes and steps will make it easier to teach your goals. Be determined about your study goals, to get there and achieve them! Decide on some motivators that will keep you going. For some it is a matter of visualising the changes you will see in yourself or the way your life will change when you have completed your course. You can even work at visualising how you will feel and what others will think about you when you achieve your goal. “Walk the talk” as they say, begin to see yourself as having completed the course and acts accordingly, even before you have completed your course. Build in daily and weekly small rewards for yourself to keep you motivated. Be determined not to be discouraged even if you do not understand something, ask your teacher, recheck your notes and practice positive self-talk statements such as ‘I know I can do it’, “This is not wrong, this is just a refinement to the goal path I am on”,” this is a lesson I will learn and something great will come out of it”, “this is a tiny hiccup, look what I have achieved so far and I can reach my goal”. Remember everyone has good and bad days and time when something seems to not be working well. Remember you have a CHOICE how you respond to what seems to be set backs. Go OUT and do something you like for a while, take a walk, change you pace, talk a little time out for a while and you can come back to your studies refreshed and renewed! “I break my day up into mini goals. When I have a big deadline to meet I put in place a goal at the end of the timeline I have also set (often a delicious cappuccino- which also involves a timed walk to get there, so I get some exercise too from my sedentary job). This helps wonderfully. If I did not set goals with times of day in them and days with goals attached to them I would soon find months had slipped past achieving very little.” WHAT NEXT? Register to Study -Go to panel toward top of this page (right column) or Get Advice -Use our FREE COUNSELLING SERVICE to contact a tutor CLICK TO CONTACT US