Research Methodology
Design, conduct and publish credible research, from a sharp research question to a journal-ready manuscript.
Starts
Saturday, 5 December 2026
Saturdays, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Course overview
A practical course on how good research is done. You will move step by step through the full research cycle: framing a question, reviewing the literature, choosing a design, collecting and analysing data, and writing it up for publication.
Every session combines short lectures with hands-on exercises, and you will finish with your own research proposal reviewed by BCRP researchers.
What you will learn
- Turn a broad topic into a focused, answerable research question
- Choose between quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods designs
- Design samples, questionnaires and interview guides
- Analyse data with SPSS or R and interpret the results
- Apply research ethics and avoid plagiarism
- Write and submit a paper to a peer-reviewed journal
Syllabus
8 modules · 8 sessions · 24 hours
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Week 1 Foundations of research
- What research is and is not
- Research paradigms and approaches
- The research process
- Identifying a research problem
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Week 2 Literature review and referencing
- Searching Google Scholar, Scopus and open databases
- Critical reading and synthesis
- Systematic and narrative reviews
- APA and Harvard referencing with Zotero
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Week 3 Research design
- Quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods
- Variables, hypotheses and conceptual frameworks
- Validity and reliability
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Week 4 Sampling and data collection
- Probability and non-probability sampling
- Calculating sample size
- Questionnaires, interviews and focus groups
- Digital data collection with KoboToolbox
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Week 5 Quantitative data analysis
- Cleaning and coding data
- Descriptive statistics
- Hypothesis tests and correlation
- Introduction to regression in SPSS and R
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Week 6 Qualitative data analysis
- Transcription and coding
- Thematic analysis
- Overview of NVivo
- Presenting qualitative findings
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Week 7 Research ethics and integrity
- Informed consent and ethical review
- Plagiarism and how to avoid it
- Data protection and management
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Week 8 Writing and publishing
- Structure of a research paper
- Choosing the right journal
- Responding to peer review
- Final proposal presentations
Who should attend
Undergraduate and postgraduate students, early-career researchers, and professionals in government, NGOs and development organisations who commission or use research.
Prerequisites
None. Bring a laptop for the data-analysis sessions.