*

School of European Studies and Communication Management

* This course is a sequel to Introduction to

Research Skills

* We are going to build on what you learned last

year and acquire new skills

* You may want to review the materials from IRS

on your own to refresh your memory

* Things are going to be a little different

* There is less guidance you are on your own now

* Everyone must get a copy of the course manual

and bring it to class, but not necessarily on paper

* Were going to be doing and discussing a lot of

things that require technology (desk research, information processing) so bring your computer if you want

* Tablets and smart phones are welcome (if used

appropriately)

* Later this semester you are going to learn and

practice data analysis

* Well be using spreadsheets so you will want to

familiarise yourself with spreadsheet software (Excel, Numbers, etc.) * There is a separate course on Excel (see Blackboard) this semester

* It is self-study with teacher office hours for questions * It is a separate course with a a separate exam but it will
help you with some of the skills you need for this course

* For an overview of the course and a weekly

programme, consult the manual

* Today we will
* Review what you know about research * Discuss goals for this semester * Get to work on your next big assignment, which
you will work on throughout the semester

* Why another Research Skills course?

* Because research and reasoning are essential survival

skills * Your research skills will help you in studying for other courses * The research methods you learn will assist you in the near future (Projects like Europe@Home and Europe 21) and further ahead (your final paper) * Remember, no matter what career path you choose, you will need to understand research

* You may have to do it for your job * You will have to read, study and analyse it

* Looking back at Introduction to Research Skills

* Discuss what you learned last year
* About research, critical thinking, argumentation and report writing,
for example

* Discuss the challenges of doing research

* What parts aere easy and what parts are hard?

* Discuss what you would do differently next time?

* Because lucky for you, next time is now

* In Introduction to Research Skills you learned

* To create a Research Plan
* Starting with a central question and sub-questions * Chosing and justifying research methods * Gathering and evaluating sources through desk research
and an Annotated Bibliography * Interviewing

* To conduct research
* Critical Thinking

* Analysing information * Avoiding bias and fallacy * Reaching reasonable, logical conclusions usuing
Reasoning Trees and other tools

* To present research

* Writing an APA style report with proper documentation

* This semester youre going to review and repeat

that process

* Step by step * With new methods

* You are going to study and practice questionnaire

design and explore other methods more than three people)

* You are going to work together in small groups (no

* And this time, youre also going to grade each other

* This course consists of

* A mix of informative and interactive lectures/workshops,

feedback sessions and conferences * Check the weekly schedule in the manual * Some lectures will be podcasted afterwards for review purposes

* Throughout the semester you will work on a new research

project

* A feasibility study based on desk research, a questionnaire,

and another method of your own choosing

* There are no required textbooks but students are advised to

* See manual for details

consult Researching Social Life or Research Methods for Business Students for help with their questionnaire and other methods

* This semester, you will hand in

* A Research plan for Feedback * A questionnaire and Pilot test report for 30% of your
final grade * A Final Report including processed data for 70% of your final grade * A peer assessment in which you give your teammates a grade that will count for 10% of the grade for your report

* Details are in your manual and deadlines are

forthcoming. Consult your manual, Blackboard and your teacher regularly

* This course is about feasibility research

* Research where the central question is focused

on whether or not an idea is feasible (practical, likely to succeed, etc.) * It is commonly used in policy development and marketing in both the public and private sector

* Feasibility research will be discussed in more

detail in week 3

* But to get ready, you need to get to work

exploring possible topics

* Semester 3 is all about making decisions and getting things

done

* In the public sector

* In export and business strategy * This theme is present in most of your courses

* In the private sector

* In policy making, etc.

* EPP, Decision-Making in the EU, Export, Negotiating Policy In

English, Policy Argumentation/Argumentatie, etc.

* Informed decision making is essential

* You have to react to the world around you and respond to new

developments, but you cannot react without thinking * If you want your organisation to succeed or survive you need to make informed decisions

* Informed decisions require research and

critical thinking * Governments, NGOs and businesses always do extensive research before taking decisions * Before any new policy, product or strategy is launched, extensive research is done to determine

* The likelihood of success * How the general public (voters, donors,

consumers) and other stakeholders will react

* In the coming weeks, you will learn how to conduct

feasibility research by doing it * You will start by coming up with an idea and designing a research plan to test its feasibility * You will do extensive desk research on your topic (and keep track of it with an annotated bibliography) * You will conduct a questionnaire to determine public opinion (and to practice quantitative methods) * You will choose and implement a third research method * You will write a report documenting your research and determining the feasibility of your idea

* That sounds like a lot of work, but dont worry

* Its a step by step process and were going to go
through it together, step by step

* Right now were just getting started and to do

that, the first thing you need is a topic

* You are free to choose your own topic within certain guidelines
details)

* Here are some examples of acceptable topics (see pg. 11 in the manual for
* Think of a possible government policy meant to solve a social, economic or

* Your research must be about testing the feasibility of an idea (will it succeed?)

cultural problem and test its feasibility * Think of a specific strategy or programme for an NGO to meet a specific need and test its feasibility

* Think of a business plan (a new product or an export plan) and evaluate the

You can use an existing NGO or make one up and try to find out if anyone would support it

* You will need a topic next week so start thinking about it now

likelihood of success

* For now, were going to review some basics and

talk about the first steps in any research

* Discuss the research process as you remember it

* What is the best way to go about the process? * What is the most important thing you can do to
facilitate the process?

* Many people say

* Getting started, picking a topic, finding good
sources

* The best way to make research easy (and possibly

fun) is to work on a topic youre interested in

* Remember: it all starts with a topic

* You start with something that interests you,
formulate a question you want to answer, choose the right methods and apply them, documenting and analysing what you find along the way

* When you have enough information, you answer

your question

* Consider this simple diagram

* The process is a lot like the science experiments you

might have done in high school

* Start with a question At what temperature does water boil? * Break that question down into its core elements (subquestions and key terms) * Decide how best to answer the question(s) (i.e. choose a method) * Implement your method and Observe (record the results) * Analyse the results, looking for important developments, patterns, connections between observations or data * Reach some conclusions using logical reasoning and evidence

* The answer is xxxxx because.

questions Feedback * Methods an explanation of what methods were chosen to answer Topic questions and why * Results a straightforward report of what you found, without analysis * Discussion/Analysis a critical look at the results that finds Research Conclusions / relationships, important developments and leads to questions Discussion * Conclusions What you know now the answer to your question(s) Desk * Recommendations What should happen next (further study, etc.) often included in Key with terms the conclusions Research * In short, what should we do with the knowledge we have now?
Qualitative Research

* Following this process leads to a natural way of structuring a report * An introduction which lays out the central question and sub-

Quantitative Research

Results

Results

* In a nutshell, research involves:

* 1. Figuring out what you want to know * 2. Deciding on the best way to get the information you
need * 3. Getting the information and analysing it * 4. Checking to see if you know what you wanted to know * 5. Deciding what to do next now that you have an answer

* Its that simple, and it all depends on one thing: a good

central question * One that is either descriptive, explanatory, exploratory or aimed
at testing a hypothesis

* The Central question is the focus of the whole

project

* The main thing you want to know

* In this course, the central question is about
feasibility

* Sub-questions

* Break the main topic down into smaller elements

* Answering each sub-question should provide an

answer to the central question

* Do not include new elements

* Once you have clear questions, you can choose methods

that will help you answer them * Qualitative Research aiming for in-depth, quality of information

* Desk Research required in every case * Interviews an option in this course * Focus Groups an option in this course

* Quantitative Research Information that can be gathered,

expressed and analysed in terms of numbers

* Surveys required in this course * Statistical Analysis required in this course

* Each has advantages and disadvantages

* Thats why you select them carefully depending on the question

Remember the criteria for research and research methods:

* Reliability: when the research is done twice, it should

lead to the same results measure?

* Validity: does the research measure what it intends to

* Generalization: can these results be generalized to
other cases? study?

* Checkability: is the report clear enough to evaluate the

* We will discuss other methods in the coming weeks,

but well start with a refresher on Desk Research

* What do you remember about

* Its purpose * The methods * The risks * Tips for effective desk research

* What do you remember about evaluating credibility

and identifying argumentation?

* How can you guarantee that your sources are

trustworthy?

* Bias, for example

* Desk Research is usually done first

*

* Most research projects start with a Literature Review * General sources are usually consulted first * Stakeholders (experts or organisations involved with the
To find out what is already known, to find theories to test or to identify knowledge gaps

* It should
* *

subject of your research) are considered and investigated

* Have theoretical relevance * Have practical relevance

*
Filling in gaps in (your) scientific knowledge It should answer a lot of questions
About stakeholders, policy, etc.

* When doing desk research, you must remember to

use APA style to document your sources because

* Otherwise, you could be accused of plagiarism * Its important that a reader be able to easily find the

* Many of you still need to work on this

source for themselves * It helps you keep track of your information

* Review the Introduction to Research Skills manual

and podcasts * Study the APA manual on Blackboard

* Tips

* Remember that books are not your enemy * Catalogs and indexes are your friends, too * Be careful about narrowing down topics to clear search terms
and key words * Consult multiple sources not just the first links on Google! * Be critical because there are..

* Risks

* You cannot always control the quality of information available

and if youre not skeptical, you might trust an untrustworthy source * If your search is too broad, you may find too much information and struggle to sift through it all

* Lets do some desk research together

* Whats something you want to know about?
* Give me a central question * Well break it into search terms

* Heres one to start us off:

* What is the most successful music album of all
time?

* Take a guess first for fun

* Whatever youre researching, remember:

* Google is not always the answer
* Remember: they are in the advertising business, not
the information business

* You should always consult multiple sources and be

careful about credibility by the evidence

* Make sure your conclusion is logical and backed up

* Use a Reasoning Tree if you remember how
* XXXX is the best-selling of all time because/according to.

* Research is a simple process

* Ask a clear question, choose the best ways to find answers,
gather information, analyse it (being careful about credibility) and reach a logical answer through reasoning

* Review your Introduction to Research Skills manual if you need to

* Most research starts with preliminary desk research

* To get familiar with the topic and stakeholders and to refine research
questions

* Desk research looks easy, but it requires caution and care

* You need to go beyond Google and use multiple sources * You need to be careful who you trust * You need to document everything carefully in APA Style

* Next week, we will partner up and get started on your

feasibility research. To do that, everyone must

* Come up with 1-3 ideas

* * * *

* Do some preliminary research on your topic ideas

Identify important issues, stakeholders, etc.

Review the directions in the manual and pick something that meets the criteria, but make sure its something that interests you Feel free to look at your other courses for inspiration you are welcome to use a topic youre working on in another course

* Be prepared to explain your research methods and to present

your findings

* Please note that this is an individual assignment

* We wont be forming groups until next week

Use at least one source you did not get from Google

* Questions? * Comments? * Criticism?