Advanced Research Methods for Environmental Management and Development

The course is designed for HDR students as an advanced introduction to quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods used by social scientists, to study environment and development issues and problems. The course will increase students' knowledge of how scholarly and applied research is designed and implemented, and will enable them to assess the quality of research required as an input into policy making. The course begins with an introduction to the epistemology and the philosophy of science, and the implications of theoretical stances for the design of research. The course then critically engages with the main features and methods for conducting quantitative and qualitative research. Understandings of ethics in conducting and publishing scholarly research will be integrated throughout the course lectures and discussions. Enhanced critical capabilities in the design, application and evaluation of research methodologies, and an ability to reflect on how the use of different methodologies can shape the production of knowledge will be developed, meeting advanced doctoral research standards and requirements. Active student participation in learning will be promoted through teaching methods that include lectures, class discussions, computer lab sessions, practical assignments in research methods, and an extended essay. There are no statistical pre-requisites for this course. However, some knowledge of the basic concepts of statistics will be useful.