MODULE CODE AND NAME: 5YYD0010 - Approaches to Researching Development: Qualitative & Quantitative Methods
MODULE ASSESSMENT PATTERN (Term 1):
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Component(s)
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Duration/length:
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% of final grade
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Due Date:
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CW1 - Portfolio of Research
Development Tasks
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3,000 words
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50
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Tuesday, 10
December 2024 by 15:00PM
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ASSESSMENT SPECIFICATIONS & OUTLINES
CW1 - 3,000 Word Portfolio of Research Development Tasks (50% of total module mark)
This part of the module is assessed via a 3,000-word Portfolio (50% of the marks for the module).
The Portfolio is divided into 5 tasks.
Task 1 - Participant Observation Fieldnotes (250 words)
a. Carry out participant observation in any setting of your choice.
b. Write up your fieldnotes.
c. Submit a photo of your fieldnotes and a reflection on the experience of doing participant observation (what went well, what didn’t go so well, what you learned, what you’d do differently next time and what you think this method might be useful for in development research) of approx. 250 words. Iam assuming that everyone has a phone or an iPad with a camera, but if you don’t, please bring this to my attention in the first class.
Task 2 - Interview Questions (250 words)
a. Put together awritten list of questions relevant to your topic of choice.
b. Pre-test your questions by doing a mock interview with a classmate or friend.
c. Submit a photo of your interview questions and a reflection on the experience of doing the interview (what went well, what didn’t go so well, what you learned, what you’d do differently next time and what you think this method might be useful for in development research) of approx. 250 words.
Task 3 - Participatory Method (250 words)
a. Pick a participatory visualisation method and form a group with at least two and no more than three other students.
b. Try it out either with a group of students in social areas in the university or a group of fellow students or classmates who you invite to join in a discussion. You could, for example, evaluate places to eat in the area using a matrix ranking, or do a social map of the KCL campus.
c. Submit a photo of the picture produced in your participatory methods experiment and a reflection on the experience of using a participatory method (what went well, what didn’t go so well, what you learned, what you’d do differently next time and what you think this method might be useful for in development research) of approx. 250 words.
Task 4 - Image Analysis (250 words)
a. Pick a picture from a printed source, find an online picture or take a digital picture that speaks to a topic you’d like to explore.
b. On the screen or on a piece of paper (depending on where you get the picture from) annotate the picture with analysis, reflections, thoughts about what the picture tells you about your topic.
c. Submit a photo of the annotated picture and a reflection on the experience of using image analysis (what went well, what didn’t go so well, what you learned, what you’d do differently next time and what you think this method might be useful for in development research) of approx. 250 words.
Task 5 - Making the Case for Qualitative Research (1,500 words)
Imagine you are the only qualitative researcher in a team of economists. You are working together on an evaluation of a development project. They are proposing to use only quantitative methods. Write a 1,500-word brief that makes the case for using qualitative methods in the evaluation alongside the quantitative methods that are being proposed, setting out the advantages and strong points of qualitative methods, along with their shortcomings and how these shortcomings might be overcome.
Task 6 - Reflection (500 words)
This last task is to write a personal reflection on what you learnt about using these methods. Was there anything that surprised you? Did you enjoy using these methods? What was their most problematic aspect(s)? Of what were you most critical? What insights do you think you’ve gained that might be useful to you in future, including reading research based on qualitative methods or commissioning research if you go into a job in the international development sector?