Structure and content

This course on practice-oriented research provides an introduction to several practice oriented research methods. The primary focus is on the process of writing a research proposal or research plan. The main steps in writing a research plan are discussed, including: (1) the decisions that need to be made; (2) the critical questions that should be asked; (3) how to identify the research problems that are present in the early phases of the project; and (4) how to prevent those problems.

Four phases

In four meetings, the main phases of a research project will be discussed on the basis of the literature and cases from the participants. In the first meeting, the research problem and its formulation will be discussed: the research goal, research question and the relevance of the study are central topics. In the subsequent meetings, we will focus on several methods of data gathering, data analysis and drawing conclusions. The participants will analyse the relationship between those conclusions and the research goal that was formulated at the start.

Perspective of lecturers

This course gives an overview of the most relevant dilemmas and questions from the perspective of the lecturer, including: (1) what problems are common in the research projects of students and junior researchers and how can lecturers help them to design a study that is feasible, realistic and useful? and (2) how can lecturers supervise research in a way that achieves the best results? The course is offered three times a year in Dutch, and once a year in English.