Blurb:

• Principles of choosing your research approach and methodology

o What does your methodology involve?
o What assumptions does it make theoretically and practically?
o How do you relate to your chosen methodology?
o How does your chosen methodology relate to your research purposes and data?
o How contextualised is your methodology in terms of people, time and space?
o How methodical is your methodology? How coherent is it?

• Sampling procedures: which informants and participants to choose

o Questions of where and when (access, convenience, suitability, etc.)
o Questions of who (availability, demographics, specific characteristics, etc.)
o Questions of numbers (experimental studies, surveys, case studies)
o Thinking of ethical issues. How might the research study affect participants? How should issues such as consent and confidentiality be addressed?

• Selecting and warranting the appropriate tools of data collection

o What are potential data collection tools for quantitatively-oriented research
o What are potential data collection tools for qualitatively-oriented research
o What are potential data collection tools for mixed-methods research

• Getting engaged with the data and selecting the appropriate procedures of data analysis
o Choosing appropriate quantitative data analysis procedures
o Choosing appropriate qualitative data analysis procedures

Reflective Tasks