HOW TO DO YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT
I have tried to respond to colleagues’, students’, and reviewers’
comments on things they would like more (or less) of in this article. I’ve
included new material on using the internet and social media, literature
searching, methods of data gathering and analysis, and writing up. I’ve
kept to my maximum that I will try to keep things straightforward, to use
a conversational approach, and where there was a choice between a
simple word and a hard one, to use the simple one.
Research is useful and it is exciting to do, and the expectation for
students to do a research project is becoming more and more common in
almost every area of applied social science: education, health sciences,
social work, criminology, and so on. And this is happening at every stage
in higher education: foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate. It is
right that this should be the case- that students should be learning by
doing research- for research project teaches skills that no lecture can
teach. Not only does it enable learning about the particular topic chosen
for research; but it also teaches students about having a questioning
disposition, about evidence and the frailty of knowledge, and about
methods of research and their strengths and weaknesses. It helps you to
learn independently and to organize your time. With the skills and the
I have tried to respond to colleagues’, students’, and reviewers’
comments on things they would like more (or less) of in this article. I’ve
included new material on using the internet and social media, literature
searching, methods of data gathering and analysis, and writing up. I’ve
kept to my maximum that I will try to keep things straightforward, to use
a conversational approach, and where there was a choice between a
simple word and a hard one, to use the simple one.
Research is useful and it is exciting to do, and the expectation for
students to do a research project is becoming more and more common in
almost every area of applied social science: education, health sciences,
social work, criminology, and so on. And this is happening at every stage
in higher education: foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate. It is
right that this should be the case- that students should be learning by
doing research- for research project teaches skills that no lecture can
teach. Not only does it enable learning about the particular topic chosen
for research; but it also teaches students about having a questioning
disposition, about evidence and the frailty of knowledge, and about
methods of research and their strengths and weaknesses. It helps you to
learn independently and to organize your time. With the skills and the
