Introduction to Social Research Methods

How does ‘society’ function? What makes ‘culture’? These are crucially important questions that can help us to understand the most pressing issues that human beings face today – but how do we answer them? This archived course will explore the techniques and approaches used by researchers to answer difficult questions about the social world. 

In this archived course, you’ll explore:

• The kinds of methods researchers tend to adopt
• The contexts in which certain research methods are used
• The benefits, drawbacks and ethical implications of research

This course isn’t a practical or technical guide to doing research. Rather, it offers a way for us to think deeply about what methods are, and what they allow us to achieve.

Please note: this course is now archived on the edX platform. Many edX courses remain available as archived courses after the live course ends. You can view most of the course materials, such as lectures and readings for free. 

In this archived course, you will learn:  

• The kinds of methods researchers tend to adopt
• The contexts in which certain methods are used
• The benefits, drawbacks and ethical implications involved in methods
• Key perspectives on quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques
• How to critically analyse published research on methods 

This archived course is best suited to anyone involved in research, and especially social research, who wants to learn better research methods. 

Introductory: No previous knowledge required