Department Education Studies

Level Undergraduate Level 3

Module leader Sarah Dahl

Credit Value 45

Module duration 24 weeks

Assessment 100% Coursework

Study location University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

Introduction

This module builds on developing a deeper understanding of those module aims from the Research Methods module in Year 2, culminating in a 10,000-word dissertation project in an education topic of your choice. It focuses around understanding the process of formulation of research questions and hypotheses, and the need to match the research questions to appropriate research methodologies.

Support will be offered to students to formulate and calibrate their research questions for their own project, and develop the research design that best fits the question and the purpose of their research through discussions around the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of data collection. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabs will be presented, and ways of interpreting and writing up the results will be discussed.

Principal Module Aims and Outcomes

The module aims build on developing a deeper understanding of those module aims from the Research Methods module at level 5:

• To understand the process of formulation of research questions and hypotheses.
• To appreciate the need to match the research questions to appropriate research methodologies.
• To introduce students to SPSS for statistical analyses, e.g., descriptive statistics, cross-tabs, and the rationale for choosing them.
• To introduce students to NVIVO software for the purpose of qualitative analyses, or thematic analyses of qualitative data.
• Development of instruments for qualitative and quantitative data collection (e.g. questionnaires; interview schedules, observation schedules).

Study Time

Type	Required	Optional
Lectures	7 sessions of 1 hour (70%)
Project supervision	6 sessions of 30 minutes (30%)	4 sessions of 30 minutes
Total	10 hours

Assessment

	Weighting
Dissertation (10,000 words)	100%
You will complete 10,000-word dissertation project in an education topic of your choice. This will enable you to demonstrate your understanding of the research process, from formulating research questions, through design and implementation, to presenting results and providing conclusions to your study.