Learning outcomes

• discuss the nature of research and its relationship to professional practice; its development to date; identify and search of information about research, and evaluate published research;
• describe the research process and identify the sections of a research proposal;
• design a simple survey and be able to use a range of basic descriptive statistics;
• consider other relevant quantitative research methods such as the case study and the comparative method;
• analyse information and data gathered during the course of a project, be able to write a report, and consider ways of disseminating the results;
• understand how to estimate the resources required to carry out the investigation and manage a project

Aims

• provide a basic introduction to research methods which can be used within information and library services;
• help students carry out small scale in-house investigations;
• assist students lay a foundation of personal research such as their dissertation

Transferable skills

• independent project work;
• IT and information handling;
• use/analysis of numerical information;
• writing in academic context;
• oral disucssion/presentation;
• career needs awareness;
• self management;
• group actinity

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6