Admission requirements
Not applicable
Description
Applied research methodology bridges theoretical methodology courses and the master thesis research. The course is geared towards empirical studies in ICT-related settings.
During the lectures and assignments, a research problem is addressed with the purpose of increasing hand-on experience with working on research problems. Generally, a research objective (including associated research questions) is decided on in the first session. Then, two sessions are spent on development of the measurement instrument (in past years we used a grounded theory approach in combination with interviews and, e.g., a survey). The two last sessions are used for testing of the measurement instrument by gathering data and integrating the results.
All sessions contain lectures on theoretical foundations of the applied scientific methods as well as group debates regarding implementation-specific challenges. Literature consist of a variety of scientific articles. The objective is to become better prepared for the master thesis project.
Course objectives
Students will be able to
1. develop a research questions suitable for an MSc. thesis
2. identify literature relevant to their topic of inquiry
3. prepare and hold interviews
4. apply the grounded theory to interview transcripts
5. identify concepts in interview transcripts
6. visualize concepts and their interrelationships
At the end of this course, students are able to apply a qualitative data analysis method on data obtained chiefly by the interview method.
Timetable
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
8 lectures (2 hours each) spread over one semester. All sessions contain lectures as well as group debates.
Assessment method
The course assessment consists of five assignments:
Assignments 1 and 2 take the form of short papers. Each is graded on a scale of 1 to 10 and each counts towards 20% of your final grade.
Assignments 3a and 3b take the form of interview transcripts. These are graded pass or fail. You need to pass handing in these two assignments as they form the basis for assignment 4.
Assignment 4 takes the form of annotated and enhanced interview transcripts (3a and 3b). The assignment is graded on a scale of 1 to 10 and counts towards 40% of your final grade.
Assignment 5 takes the form of a short presentation. The presentation is graded on a scale of 1 to 10 and counts towards 20% of your final grade.
All assignments can be redone once.
Reading list
Literature (scientific papers) is handed out during the course.
Book: Gary Thomas "How to do your research project" (4th Ed), Sage
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Contact
Programme Co-ordinator: ms. Esme Caubo
Remarks
Also register for every course in Brightspace. Important information about the course is posted here.
There is only limited capacity for external students. Please contact the programme Co-ordinator
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.