Handbook : Unit informationEdith Cowan University

School: Science

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

• Unit Title

  Research Preparation: Principles and Approaches

• Unit Code

  RES5115

• Year

  2017

• Enrolment Period

  2

• Version

  3

• Credit Points

  20

• Full Year Unit

  N

• Mode of Delivery

  On Campus
  Online

• Unit Coordinator

  A/Prof Mary Christine BOYCE

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Description

The unit introduces the principles underlying the theory of knowledge and how this affects the approaches taken in research, before addressing the principles of research design. Students are exposed to a range of specific research methods, including quantitative and qualitative research methods. The unit considers issues and methods relevant to these forms of research, as well as the gathering, analysis and presentation of findings. The unit provides students with a foundation on which they will be expected to build for their research study.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

1. Apply and interpret simple data analysis processes to quantitative and/or qualitative data.
2. Critically analyse and construct arguments and propositions.
3. Critically analyse quantitative and/or qualitative research studies in the pursuit of academic rigour.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of knowledge and how cultural, social and institutional perspectives influence the construction of knowledge.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the research process, the key concept of sound research design and the construction of research questions, aims and hypotheses.
6. Develop an understanding of how perspectives of knowledge influence research methodology.
7. Identify a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches that can be taken to address research questions and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various methods.

Unit Content

1. Core element
   
   Research Design: research ethics including research benefit and integrity, observational and manipulative experiments; implications for questionnaires and consent; dependent relationships and National Statement special populations.
   Construction and framing of research questions, aims, hypotheses.
   Research process the use and citing of literature; qualitative, quantitative and other approaches; how epistemology influences methodology; different requirements for replication: reliability, validity, transferability, bias, causality, sample size; inference and deduction; strengths and limitations of different methodologies.
   Critical thinking the construction of arguments.
   Ontology, Epistemology and theoretical frameworks: The nature of knowledge; different forms of knowledge, truth and the perception of reality; cultural, social and institutional influences on the construction of knowledge.
   Communicating research; audience; integrity; the nature of 'publication'; peer-review
2. Qualitative Stream
   
   Conceptual/theoretical frameworks for interpretation and analysis in qualitative research.
   Analyses in qualitative research data.
   Methods of qualitative inquiry: grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, historical research, case study methodology and action research.
   
3. Quantitative Stream
   
   Data mining.
   Estimating error.
   Inferential statistics: parametric confidence intervals, null hypothesis, Type I and II errors, hypothesis testing; comparison of means.
   Descriptive statistics: levels of measurement, frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and variability, correlation & regression, risk.
   Developing research questions, aims and hypotheses using a quantitative framework.
   Criteria for evaluating a quantitative research study.
   Criteria for evaluating a qualitative research study. Quantitative Research
   

Additional Learning Experience Information

On-campus students A combination of some or all of the following:- Seminars, lectures, discussion groups, debates. Online students study modules and learning guide including e-reserve and Workshops.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant Board of Examiners.

Core Reading(s)

• John W. Creswell, C. N. P. (2018). Qualitative inquiry & research design : choosing among five approaches (Fourth edition.). Los Angeles: SAGE.
• Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks,CA: Sage.

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