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Development Research Design & Assessment (DEVT90041)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
Overview
Availability | March |
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Fees | Look up fees |
This subject will focus on understanding development research design and a variety of research methods for investigating development problems. The subject will also seek to build skills in assessing the evidence produced from development research, and identifying the strengths/weaknesses and validity of development research designs. The subject will give attention to the challenges of designing and ethically conducting research in developing contexts, and understanding of the various stages of research, particularly in identifying the most appropriate and feasible approaches for data collection and analysis. It will include sessions on qualitative research techniques, and a basic introduction to understanding and collecting quantitative data as well as mixed research methods. Students will gain insights into the debates between different disciplines on methodological approaches, and understanding the politics of knowledge in development research.
Intended learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this subject should:
- Be familiar with various research strategies, methods and ethics in social research design and evaluation for development research purposes
- Be able to formulate a research design for investigating development issues, in a manner that is sensitive to different contexts, topics, and the needs of human subjects
- Acquire knowledge of how to select, analyse and synthesise relevant information
- Be able to understand and identify the strengths and weaknesses of different research approaches and related empirical findings
- Assess and compare different methodological foundations of different pieces of research on a given issue.
Generic skills
Students who successfully complete this subject should:
- demonstrate relevance of the topic to broader development debates;
- gain and understanding of field methods appropriate for development.
Last updated: 3 November 2022