Advanced Research Methods

Course Description:

This is an advanced-level course in Research Methods designed to provide doctoral learners with the holistic guidance needed to undertake scholarly research in a chosen discipline. The focus of the course is on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Learners will move beyond conducting literature reviews at the methodological level and will focus on research design specific to reliability and threats to validity while developing their own research proposals. Learners also will explore the meaning of content and process gaps, problems, and opportunities uncovered during the literature review process. The course also offers learners the opportunity to begin research on their dissertation by providing clear and holistic guidance on how to refine a research idea into a clear topic with SMART objectives or research questions that can be supported by appropriate methodology.

Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students should be able to:

1.      Analyze research designs:

• Describe the key characteristics and purpose of common research designs.
• Critique the key design elements, methods, and procedures used within common research designs.
• Apply knowledge about various types of validity and reliability to the critique of research designs, sampling procedures, and data collection methods and instruments.

2.      Design a comprehensive research plan:

• Identify content-related and methodologically related gaps in the literature, and construct a conceptual/theoretical framework.
• Articulate problem and purpose statements, and develop research questions that match that statement of the problem.
• Select an appropriate methodological approach and research design.
• Develop data collection and analysis methods appropriate for the overall approach and research questions.

3.      Plan for ethical research:

• Identify ethical issues related to your research study.
• Identify research methods that address ethical issues.

4.      Communicate effectively through writing:

• Adhere to APA formatting styles.
• Introduce, cite, and discuss research in varied ways and levels of depth.
• Support your claims with your analysis and synthesis of peer-reviewed journal articles.