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There are many contrasting ways of conceptualising research. In Methods of Enquiry 1 we start to explore what educational research could look like. To do this we will explore different methodological paradigms associated with a range of research designs and practices. We acknowledge the messiness of the research process and the complexity of transforming your initial ideas into a coherent research proposal. Our aim is to enable you to make an informed choice about research methodology rather than suggest any one as superior to another. We will consider the complicated inter-relationship between existing literature, conceptual frameworks, data collection and analysis through practical examples. We will also consider the ethical issues of educational research, highlighting the importance of your awareness of your own institutional positioning and the ways in which this might frame or limit your research practice.

Aims

• to consider philosophical and sociological conceptions of knowledge;
• to explore the politics and purposes of different types of research in relation to professional practice;
• to develop understanding of a range of methodological approaches to producing research data;
• to understand how different research methods relate to philosophical and sociological conceptions of knowledge; and
• to reflect on ethical, professional and political issues related to the production and dissemination of insider research.

Expected Outcomes

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• evaluate educational research in terms of research methods and methodologies
• make informed choices between methods and methodologies relevant to educational research;
• formulate researchable problems related to an aspect of professional practice;
• develop and write a research proposal, providing justifications for methodological, political and ethical decisions within the research design.

Key Research Skills

The course will seek to develop participants’ abilities to:

• engage critically with a range of forms of research and academic and professional writing;
• develop clear and coherent arguments informed by the issues raised in the course;
• identify research of relevance to their interests;
• reflect analytically on their own professional experience in the light of relevant recent research;
• work effectively with others in the development of ideas and research strategies;
• identify relevant audiences for their work and present and disseminate research effectively; and
• attend to political, ethical and legal issues in the design, conduct and dissemination of research.

Module Sessions

Participants would be expected to attend the first weekend face-to-face. The other two weekends may be attended face-to-face or on-line synchronously.