Learning objectives
It is expected that upon successful completion of the course, students should be able to;
- Demonstrate understanding of the different roles of applied research
- Critically reflect upon different epistemological stances and be able to compare and argue for/against different research methodological approaches (quantitative - qualitative)
- Demonstrate understanding of causality and validity issues in both quantitative and qualitative research
- Apply various forms statistics in research
- Practice writing proposal and research report
1. Epistemology and Ontology of Research
- The Logic and conduct of social science research
- Positivist (quantitative) versus hermeneutic (qualitative) research methodologies.
- Validity issues in qualitative and quantitative research
2. The Qualitative Research Tradition
- An overview of the qualitative research traditions
- Qualitative research approaches
- Qualitative Research Tools
3. The Quantitative Research Tradition
- Principles of Quantitative research: Causality and Causal Inference
- Types of Quantitative research
- Numerical Descriptive Statistics
- Graphical Descriptive Statistics
- Probability Concepts
4. Mixed Methods
- The logic of mixed methods
- Using mixed methods
- Analysis mixed methods data
5. Working With Data
- Participatory practical session(s) on how to generate, analyze, and interpret data from credible secondary datasets
- Qualitative Data Analysis Methods and software
- Quantitative Data Analysis and software tools (Excel and SPSS)
- Generating data from secondary datasets
- Analyzing and interpreting secondary data
6. Field Research
- Fundamentals of research ethics
- Research design
- Sampling Methods
- Designing research tools
- Interpretation of field research findings
7. Dissertation Writing Process
- An overview of a research proposal
- Research report and academic writing skills
- The steps in completing your research thesis
Prescribed Readings
Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research Design: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Kothari, C.R (2004) Research Methodology. New Age International Publishers
Neil Weiss, 2004. Introductory Statistics. 7th Edition. Addison-Wesley.
Tashakkori, A., and Teddlie, C., (1998) Mixed methodology: Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Recommended Readings
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, Nancy L. Leech and Kathleen M. T. Collins, ‘Innovative Data Collection Strategies in Qualitative Research,’ The Qualitative Report Volume 15 Number 3 May 2010 696-726
Pat Bazeley, Analysing Qualitative Data: More Than ‘Identifying Themes, Malaysian Journal of Qualitative Research, 2009, 2, 6-22.
Nancy L. Leech, Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie, An Array of Qualitative Data Analysis Tools: A Call for Data Analysis Triangulation, School Psychology Quarterly, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 4, 557–584
Anthony J. Onwuegbuzie and Nancy L. Leech, Validity and Qualitative Research: An Oxymoron? Quality & Quantity (2007) 41:233–249
Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, Putting the MIXED back into quantitative and qualitative research in educational research and beyond: Moving toward the radical middle,” International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches (2012) 6(3): 192–219.
Gary King, Robert O. Keohane, and Sidney Verba. 1994. Designing Social Inquiry,
Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Henry E. Brady and David Collier, eds. Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared
Standards. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2004.
Barbara Geddes. 1990. “How the Cases you Choose Affect the Answers you Get: Selection
Bias in Comparative Politics.” Political Analysis 2: 131-50.
Larry Gonick, and Smith Woollcott. 1993. The Cartoon Guide to Statistics. Harper Collins Publisher.
Greener, S (2008) Business Research Methods. Ventus Publishers.