PREST in Open and Distance Learning: Getting and Analysing Qualitative Data (A4 Module)

Abstract

In this module I take the view that research methodology is primarily concerned with questions of judgement in the use and application of skills in relation to opportunities. In practice there are almost always several viable options at any point in a research study and so the task you face involves deciding on the best way of doing research in a particular circumstance at a particular time.The decisions you make are partly about feasibility (and so are essentially technical) but they also involve searching for creative solutions and making judgements about what it is best to do next. Improving your capacity for making judgements about research projects while they are being carried out is not easily encapsulated in terms of objectives (see below). Because of the limitations created by specifying objectives in behavioural terms, this module adopts a style and approach that is processoriented rather than outcomes-driven. Faced with decisions, questions, opportunities or difficulties as you conduct your study, you will need to have a set of possible responses to hand, and some sense of their likely consequences. As you gain experience and as you discuss your research activities with others, the range of options you will be able to draw on will extend.This module will help you to get started in increasing your repertoire of research responses to problems.