Research Methods in Education (including Laboratory of Qualitative Research Methods)

Code:

E404

Acronym:

MIE

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Research Methodologies in Education

Instance: 2010/2011 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Education Sciences
Course/CS Responsible:	First degree in Educational Sciences

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LCED	64	Official Curricular Structure	2	-	9	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

This curricular unit aims at providing students with the necessary knowledge to research social and educational phenomena, integrating theoretical, methodological and analytical concerns.
This unit also provides a space for exercising theoretical and methodological knowledge. Ethical and technical research issues will be discussed based on the students' own experience.
At the end of the curricular unit, students should know how to:
- characterize different theoretical and methodological research devices;
- analyze different devices for collecting and treating data, connecting them with wider theoretical concerns;
- recognise the production of different types of knowledge about one phenomenon;
- demonstrate critical analytical and reading skills.
At the end of the curricular unit, students should have acquired the following competencies:
- the ability to identify and analyse problems, situations and behaviours;
- the ability to adapt to different situations and contexts;
- the ability to develop a research project in different contexts, with the aim of social-educational interventions.

Program

1. Planning a research project: theoretical, methodological and practical issues. The various stages of a research process. Validating research.
2. Gathering and treating data: methods and instruments. Qualitative research: ethnography; interviews; biographical methods; focus groups; content analysis.
3. The research dynamics and the four-poles model: methods (phenomenology, symbolic interactionism and grounded theory); frameworks (verstehen); types of research (case studies, interpretive studies and comparative studies); analytical frameworks (ideal-types and typologies).

Mandatory literature

Bardin Laurence; Análise de conteúdo. ISBN: 972-44-0898-1
Silva Augusto Santos 570; Metodologia das ciências sociais
Bogdan Robert C.; Investigação qualitativa em educação. ISBN: 972-0-34112-2
Bruyne Paul de; Dynamique de la recherche en sciences sociales
Ghiglione Rodolphe; O^inquérito
Morgan David L.; Focus groups as qualitative research. ISBN: ISBN 0-7619-0343-7
Quivy Raimond; Manual de investigaçao em ciencias sociais. ISBN: 972-662-275-1
Plummer Ken; Documents of life. ISBN: 0-04-321030-9
Silverman David; Interpreting qualitative data. ISBN: 0-8039-8758-7
Atkinson Paul 340; Handbook of ethnography. ISBN: 0-7619-5824-X

Teaching methods and learning activities

Lecture, debates, group work, field work.

keywords

Social sciences > Educational sciences > Research methodology

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Attendance (estimated)	Participação presencial	138,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Eligibility for exams

Students need to obtain grade 10 in the following evaluation moments:
a) written test (worth 40% of the mark);
b) group field work (worth 60% of the mark)

Calculation formula of final grade

Written test (40%) + Group field work (60%).
The group field work is evaluated in 3 stages: two oral presentations (10% each) and the final report, with a maximum of 20 pages (40%).

Examinations or Special Assignments

Any student with a mark below 8 in any of the evaluation components will have to reformulate that component in order to remain in the continuous evaluation process.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Students which by law are not obliged to attend classes will have to do an extra oral examination.

Classification improvement

The mark obtained may be improved either by a written exam or the reformulation of the research project. In each case the new mark - if higher - will replace, in the defined proportion, the mark previously obtained in that component.