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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Understanding Research Methods by University of London

4.6
stars
7,850 ratings

About the Course

This MOOC is about demystifying research and research methods. It will outline the fundamentals of doing research, aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at the postgraduate level. It places the student experience at the centre of our endeavours by engaging learners in a range of robust and challenging discussions and exercises befitting SOAS, University of London's status as a research-intensive university and its rich research heritage. The course will appeal to those of you who require an understanding of research approaches and skills, and importantly an ability to deploy them in your studies or in your professional lives. In particular, this course will aid those of you who have to conduct research as part of your postgraduate studies but do not perhaps have access to research methods courses, or for those of you who feel you would like additional support for self-improvement. No prior knowledge or experience in research is required to take this course and as such, the course is for everyone. This MOOC draws on a wealth of existing course material developed to support research training across SOAS, University of London and particularly drawing from the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD). In 2015, the course was nominated for the prestigious Guardian University Award for its innovative approach to online learning. Participation in or completion of this online course will not confer academic credit for University of London programmes...

Top reviews

A

Jul 26, 2017

This is wonderful course especially for research scholars, one suggestion is instead of giving articles from books, please provide a PPT which will be more effective ! thank you for wonderful session.

CS

May 9, 2022

Really easy to follow and great advice from all the experts! It has helped me organise from the beginning of my dissertation and I feel more comfortable getting started on what is a big project ahead.

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1926 - 1950 of 2,499 Reviews for Understanding Research Methods

By Anuj K T

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Jan 28, 2021

I find this course very uniquely and practical oriented. Its really very interesting and provides an opportunity to think and write your ideas of research. The peer-review concept is also very interesting and gives you a different exposer while you are going through others writ-ups. So thank you the team.

By Aswan G

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May 1, 2020

Understanding Research Methods MOOC by University of London helped me out to get extensive knowledge on the basic fundamentals that a researcher should have and should look into. I thank the Course Instructors Dr.J.Simon Rofe and Dr.Yenn Lee, SOAS,University of London for preparing this informative MOOC.

By Ana C

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Sep 7, 2021

Great overview of the research methodologies employed in higher Education. The articles and readings offer a wide scope of general knowledge. I would have expected more in depth explanations when coming up with questions, qualitative and quantitative methodologies and online platforms (google scholar).

By Hilary W

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Nov 24, 2020

I have really enjoyed this course but I have been a little disappointed by some of the submissions I have been asked to review and some of the comments I have had. I don't think people have taken it as seriously as I have (!!!)

But thank you for making this material available, I intend to continue.

By Erica M V

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Nov 30, 2015

This course was basic yet covered many important elements for research design. It helped me to better understand the parts of design. The readings were relevant and the assignments were thorough enough to solidify main ideas. The videos were interesting. I would recommend the course for beginners.

By Kakhangchung P

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Aug 7, 2017

Was really helpful for me especially in peer reviewing others works. Enables us to indirectly or directly share ideas. I found the week on the importance of literature review most helpful for me as this is the area if done properly will generate proper and relevant ideas of your research.

By Emmanuel D

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Dec 5, 2017

This is an interesting course about some aspects of research methods. The lessons are really "light" (and for me, a bit too general), but I learned a number of practical tips and tricks about the necessity to carefully review the existing literature and about the writing of a report.

By Amber G

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Jun 3, 2017

this is a great course for those people who are new to research because most of people don't know how to manage their work or what methods are followed in research .This course will help you to start on a research project as you'll understand how to do research in a correct way.

By Kwabena M

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Jun 20, 2020

I had never thought I would enjoy a class in research methods again after a horrible introduction in my undergraduate study and I was scared this would limit my ability to undertake a Masters' study yet, here I was glued to my screen every week enjoying it! Thank you, Coursera!

By Rakesh G

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May 14, 2021

Thank you for the course. It was very helpful and easy to understand. I will definitely use this methods in my research work and hope to get further more advanced courses to learn in future. Once again Thank you to the Instructors and the entire team for your support.

By ANAS E

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Jul 7, 2022

I think that is a good course. Maybe you need more videos explaining the research method with schema, examples in different fields ... etc. And not just a discussion with an expert and a lot of reading.

Thank you very much for all the stuff, hoping to see you soon !!

By Islam A E

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Jul 22, 2020

It was such a helpful course, even though the syllabus was concentrating on researching Social Studies and I am a researcher in Civil Engineering. The session concerning time management need to be modified to suite its title as the content and the title didn't match.

By Phuoc V H

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Oct 5, 2021

Overall an easy and light course. 2 hours per week, 4 weeks, and you're done!

However, the discussion theme from week to week seem discrete to me. Or maybe I expected differently.

I also expected more responses/discussions from the lecturers rather than just learners.

By Sanaullah S

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Apr 10, 2020

This is an interesting course for beginners in the field of research. The most amazing thing about this course is that it is light, will help you understand what is the research question, how to undertake literature review and how to plan your overall research work.

By Katherine M

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Jun 7, 2017

Overall, great class! I learned a lot about research methods as a process. However, I wish there was a way for the course to be more academic. I am took this course as a means to help me apply to a PhD program, and I am not sure it will count in an academic setting.

By Jason A E

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Dec 12, 2020

Overall very good. The peer review assignments were helpful. The readings and videos were pretty good. As an occasional peer reviewer for a journal, I enjoyed the content and review exercises. I found it helpful to watch the videos at a faster speed, x1.25 - x1.50.

By HJ

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Dec 31, 2020

It is a good course in terms of the e-tivity exercises, and majority of the videos are just interviews so if you actually read the suggested material, and really put an effort into the peer assignments, you can really learn a lot. I'd recommend doing the course/

By Samin M K

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May 8, 2020

Could've shown real life examples of a few research works as well as add a few more weeks and spare a bit more knowledge and let us do more practical work. It was a good course anyways because i learnt something new. Thank you Coursera and University of London.

By Monika v

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Mar 24, 2020

The course was overall very informative and effective. However, it will be more enriched if there will be more readings and powerpoint presentations. Peer reviewing should also be taken seriously. Personally for me, the experience was satisfactory. Thank You.

By Rajshekhar I

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Oct 18, 2015

Good course for anyone starting the journey of research. The course gives you an overview of the whole process in simple and easy way. Research work is challenging, however, this introductory course gives you some comfort when you hear the research scholars.

By Anika P

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Nov 12, 2018

This course helped me understand how to direct my research and write useful feedback, as well as explore different research methods. it also helped me understand how to write a literature review effectively and definitely inspired me to begin researching.

By Juliana

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Feb 10, 2018

It is a good course, but if you already have a scientific background it may be too basic to you. I really liked the videos, especially the one talking about how you can deal with critics - this is something nobody teaches you. I would recommend it.

By María V R

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Apr 27, 2020

It´s a really clear course with excellent reading material. The videos are very clear and straight to the point. Unlukily, I've found out that some students do not answer consiously the activities and the forums are not used with its real purpose.

By Sean C

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Aug 28, 2020

The course gives an outline of the main steps to consider when doing research. The only way to practice these steps is to do research, but after this course I feel more comfortable planning out and executing the different steps of research.

By N N R

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Apr 13, 2020

Interersting and important inputs received from the instructers in the form of interviews provided, however some giudence in the lecture mode would be appreciated especially for writing research proposal or conducting literature review