Course outline

Course content covers:

• designing effective research questions


• choosing your methodology
  
  • types of data
  
  
  • choosing your data unit
  
  
  • deciding the time frame
  
  
  • choosing between different methods of data collection
• sampling in qualitative research


• ethics in research design


• combining qualitative and quantitative research approaches


• establishing quality in research design.

Who is it aimed at?

This is an intermediate level course. A general familiarity with qualitative research methods is assumed, but it is not necessary to have experience of using these methods.

You will find the course useful if:

• you are new to qualitative research


• you are intending to begin designing qualitative research studies for the first time


• you commission or manage qualitative research in central or local government, health or other applied policy sectors.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module participants will be able to:

• identify and describe different stages in the qualitative research process


• construct meaningful and appropriate research questions for qualitative studies


• describe a range of qualitative research methods (relating to sampling approaches and data collection tools)


• be able to recognise the advantages and disadvantages associated with different approaches to qualitative research


• make informed choices about qualitative research design


• recognise the factors which influence the type of research which can be done


• better appraise the quality and feasibility of research designs, and (where appropriate) write higher quality research specifications for qualitative studies


• demonstrate an awareness of the implications of design choices for timetables and the resources required for qualitative research studies.