MAT-15806 Research Methods 1

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Contents:

Note: This course is part of the BSc Tourism, a joint degree programme of Wageningen University and NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. This course is open to students from other programmes. The course is not delivered at Wageningen University, however, but at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. You can register for the course by contacting the course coordinator before the start of the course. The schedule for the academic year at NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences differs from the schedule of Wageningen University. The periods mentioned are the periods of Wageningen University.

The final goal of this course is that students learn to develop a research proposal for a research project. The course takes off with a proper discussion on the essence of doing scientific research. What is scientific research and what is not? Using a practical sociological problem related to tourism that needs to be solved the students first learns to formulate a research objective and appropriate research questions. Then they learn to set up the research project. At the end of the course the students have to submit a complete research proposal. Students will be asked to critically assess each others research proposal. The course will not only focus on the research design, but will also address different basic data collection techniques. One of them, in-depth interviewing, will be trained more extensively. Each student will conduct several in-depth interviews in the field, related to a given research design and interview protocol.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- explain the differences between a conceptual and technical research design;
- describe the defining features of and experimental, cross sectional, longitudinal and case study design;
- discuss the operationalization of one- and multidimensional concepts;
- clarify what random and non-random sampling is about;
- describe the pros and cons of different data collection methods;
- reflect critically on the assessment of causality;
- discuss the reliability and validity of measurements;
- craft elaborate research designs in environmental sciences and evaluate such designs in terms of internal and external validity.

Activities:

- lectures;
- tutorials (research proposal);
- workshops (interview training).

Examination:

- written examination with open questions (50%);
- assignments (50%).

Literature:

Singleton, R.A.; Straits, B.C. (2005). Approaches tot social research. 4th ed. New York, Oxford University Press.