How To Do Your First Research Project

A beginner's guide to planning, conducting and describing a qualitative research study

What you'll learn
How to plan and conduct a qualitative research study!
The difference between a research idea, research aim and research question
What a paradigm, epistemology and ontology are
The link between research paradigms, research questions and research methods
Different participant recruitment techniques and know how many participants are enough in a research study
The difference between research design, research methodology and research methods
Different research designs, methodologies and methods
The aims of qualitative data analysis
Similarities and differences between different approaches to qualitative data analysis
Inductive, deductive and abductive reasoning
Different forms of bias and know how to address them
How to increase validity of the findings
The importance of piloting a research study
What to put in the limitations, results and conclusions sections
Requirements
No research skills or experience are required
Description
This course is an essential resource for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students, as well as anyone else undertaking a qualitative research project. Using practical examples, I take you through what should happen at various stages in the project's schedule, starting with developing your research idea, research aims and research questions, and ending with a discussion of what to put in the Conclusions chapter.I also explain the general research designs (e.g. Quantitative vs Qualitative research) and research methodologies (narrative research, ethnography, case study, grounded theory and phenomenology), as well as methods of data collection and analysis. I discuss a range of other elements of a qualitative research study (have a look at the course structure to explore it further) and provide down-to-earth explanations of the most confusing and complex terminology and issues related to research (e.g. how many participants/research methods are enough in a research study, what is, and how to increase validity, or what are philosophical worldviews and why are they so important).This relaxed, but also clear and professional approach is in fact what my students (both those virtual and real-life) like most about my instruction. Take a minute to explore the course content, and join me in the course - I have a feeling that you will like it!

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 What is "research" and who needs it? Introduction to the course

Lecture 2 Differences between qualitative and quantitative research

Section 2: Thinking of your research questions

Lecture 3 Research idea, research aim and research questions

Lecture 4 Characteristics of "good" and "bad" research questions

Lecture 5 What do research questions say about the researcher and the design of the study?

Section 3: Considering worldviews, paradigms and philosophies

Lecture 6 What the %&^$ are you talking about? Introduction to paradigms and philosophies

Lecture 7 Positivism, Interpretivism, Pragmatism, Epistemology & Ontology

Lecture 8 Why are philosophical worldviews important in practice

Section 4: Recruiting the participants for your study

Lecture 9 Sampling techniques

Lecture 10 Recruitment criteria, homogenous and heterogenous samples

Lecture 11 How many participants are enough in a qualitative study?

Lecture 12 Friends or Participants? Recruiting friends and acquaintaces

Section 5: Considering your research methodology

Lecture 13 Defining research design, research methodologies and research methods

Lecture 14 Narrative inquiry

Lecture 15 Phenomenology

Lecture 16 Grounded Theory

Lecture 17 Ethnography

Lecture 18 Case study research

Section 6: Thinking of different data sources

Lecture 19 Introduction to data collection methods

Lecture 20 Unstructured, semi-structured and structured interviews

Lecture 21 Group interviews and focus groups

Lecture 22 Observation

Lecture 23 Diaries/Journals

Lecture 24 Various forms of documents

Lecture 25 Open-ended questionnaire responses

Lecture 26 Collecting Art for your research

Lecture 27 How many data collection methods should you have?

Section 7: What to do with the data that you have gathered - Qualitative Data Analysis

Lecture 28 Introduction to Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA)

Lecture 29 Overview of common approaches to data analysis (and certain problems with them)

Lecture 30 More general approaches to QDA

Lecture 31 A practical, 3-step guide to analyzing qualitative data

Lecture 32 Using software for QDA - is it worth it and which one to use?

Lecture 33 Deductive and Inductive approaches, the role of theory in qualitative research

Section 8: Other important considerations

Lecture 34 Ensuring that the findings are convincing and trustworthy - Validity in research

Lecture 35 To pilot or not to pilot? A final rehearsal before your main study

Lecture 36 Avoiding mistakes from the past - considering the ethics in research

Section 9: The write-up

Lecture 37 Considering the limitations of your study … and learning to love them

Lecture 38 Describing the results of your study

Lecture 39 The big finale, or writing the Conclusion chapter

Section 10: Conclusions

Lecture 40 Congratulations and the final word

Lecture 41 BONUS LECTURE

Students who want to learn about qualitative research,Professionals who want to conduct research in their workplace,Teachers who want to have a clear resource for teaching about qualitative research,Anyone interested in qualitative research