TLÜ ÕIS

Research Methods

Course code

IFI7308.DT

old course code

Course title in Estonian

Uurimismeetodid

Course title in English

Research Methods

ECTS credits

6.0

Assessment form

Examination

lecturer of 2023/2024 Spring semester

Nuno Correia (language of instruction:English)

lecturer of 2024/2025 Autumn semester

Not opened for teaching. Click the study programme link below to see the nominal division schedule.

Course aims

To create opportunities for acquiring theoretical knowledge about various research approaches and to support developing the students’ ability to apply as well as to evaluate the effectiveness of different research methods.

Brief description of the course

The course is about how to write a research plan and proposal, how to formulate research questions and choose appropriate methods.
Classification and main features of research approaches/ methodologies and methods.
Overview of research designs for empirical and design research: experiment, survey, grounded theory, case study, action research, evaluation research. The following activities are covered: designing controlled experiments, designing questionnaires, conducting interviews, analyzing verbal data, analyzing transaction logs.
Course consists of seminars where students are expected to be actively involved. In addition every student must submit home assignment, which consists of three parts and covers all methodological aspects of the research project.

Learning outcomes in the course

Upon completing the course the student:
- recognizes and can comparatively differentiate between different types of research designs;
- knows what are the main quality criteria for academic research and can evaluate the quality of a given study according to these criteria;
- can set up research questions and choose the appropriate methodology according to the set questions;
- can design simple instruments for data collection;
- can structure the study while writing up and format the thesis according to the requirements.

Teacher

Nuno Correia

Additional information

Students must participate in 75% of the class sessions.
Students must complete a research proposal as a basis for a research project they are planning.
Students must prepare answers to home assignments and discuss them in class, and participate in the in-class individual and group exercises.

Study programmes containing that course