The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University
MA in Sustainable International Development Program
HS244f.10 Interdisciplinary Applied Research Design for Development
Fall of 2016, Module 2
Room TBA Weds 9:00-11:50am
Prof. Cristina Espinosa –
Office: Heller 159 -
Description
Research is usually misunderstood as an exclusively scholarly activity that has no role in the life of a development professional. This perceived divorce between research and praxis is detrimental to the critical action required to make development work for social change. A development professional is basically an agent of change and her/his actions need to be guided by good strategies and sound analysis and part of this is the ability to conduct applied research (as we will see in the course, there are many different types of research). On the other hand, some development professionals consider that applied research has no protocol and requires no training, compromising the quality of the research they do, and the validity of their results.
SID and Heller curriculum offer some great courses on methods but none on research design, which is precisely the most challenging issue for SID students and for any development professional without a strong background in social sciences. Research Design is about defining a problem, exploring what has been studied about it, what the gaps are, what new knowledge is required and once the research question is defined, it is about choosing specific methods to gather and analyze the evidence required to solve the research question. Issues of relevance, scope, representation, consistency and validity need to be addressed as they are important aspects of the research design.
This course is aimed at helping SID students to bridge the gap between academic research and professional practice by making students familiar with the basic elements of development research design. Applied Research for Development has specific challenges and characteristics, different from the typical scholar research –for which most teaching materials are designed.
Because of the nature of the topic this module will be basically a hands-on module. Most of the supporting learning materials will be provided by the instructor and the sessions will consist of a short lecture followed by exercises to apply and further explore the topics presented in the lecture. While students are not expected in this module to read heavily before class, they are expected to review the handouts before class and to complete individual and/or group exercises and assignments started in class. In this regard, this class will heavily rely on students’ participation (asking questions during the lecture and engaging in individual and/or group exercises and completing them as assignments to be submitted in the following session). The sessions and exercises planned for this course build on the different components of the final assignment: a research proposal on a topic chosen by each student. While this module will not make students experts in research design it will provide a good foundation for students to understand and be competent in the basic steps of applied research design and to further acquire expertise in this area.
Learning objectives:
By the end of this module, students will be able to:
· Understand the importance of research design for development and its key challenges
· Become familiar with different types of research design and most common research methods
· Understand the process of research design and its basic steps
· Be able to identify a problem and formulate a good research question in a relatively short time
· Be able to draft a sound research proposal
· Understand the importance and apply the criteria to assess relevance, consistency and validity of the research they propose to conduct
Course Requirements
Full and timely attendance is required for students enrolled in this class. The final grade will be calculated based on class participation in discussion (20%), individual/group assignments (40%) and final research proposal (40%). Students are expected to maintain cordial and collegial interactions in class. Originality, seriousness and academic honesty are expected during class discussion and when preparing assignments.
A separate assignment will be designated for PhD students interested in taking this course. Considering the applied nature of this class, doctoral students will be required to develop for their final assignment a more comprehensive research proposal on their topic of specialization about their region or country of interest and a Power Point presentation on this proposal –applying the concepts and tools presented in class.
Academic honesty
You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The university policy on academic honesty is presented in section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty are subject to judicial action and might lead to failure of the course and/or suspension from the University if the offense is repeated. Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person –be it a world-class philosopher or your roommate –without proper acknowledge; you must use footnotes and quotations marks to indicate the source of phrases, sentences, paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, internet or expressed by another student. Consult SID Handbook or the instructor if you need clarification on this topic.
Supporting learning materials for each session are available at LATTE as electronic files. Since this course is designed as a practical hands-on course, there are no required academic readings before class to discuss. However, since we will not be able to cover all material presented in the slides, students need to read the slides before class and come prepared to raise questions for clarification. Some recommended readings are presented at the end of this syllabus for those students who want to further explore this topic.
This class will meet on October 26, November 2, 9, 16 and 30 and Dec 7 and 14 of 2016
Content of the sessions
Session 1: Introduction: What is research? Why is research important for Development as Change? What is the difference between research design or methodology and research methods for collecting data? What is Research Design and why is important? Fix/quantitative and Flexible/qualitative research design types: What characterize each type and which is more suitable for specific research questions and types? Using specific examples of Fix/Quantitative and Flexible/Qualitative to understand these different research designs. What is Mixed Methods?
Different types of research (theory-driven vs. problem-driven); what is the relation between the researcher and the “researched”? (research-controlled vs. participatory research). Is it the same using participatory methods for collecting data than adopting a participatory research design? What is Applied Development Research? Basic characteristics of development research, main dilemmas and advantages. What is the relation between theoretical frameworks, the research question and the methods for collecting evidence or data? Group Exercise to apply these notions.
Required readings:
· ESPINOSA SLIDES for Session # 1 (POSTED IN LATTE)
· Examples to be used in session 5 to compare the use of different research designs – students must have read them before that session using as a guide Table 2 and 3 included in SLIDES for session 5
o Stromquist Nelly .P. 1999. “The impact of structural adjustment programmes in Africa and Latin America.” IN: Heward Christine and Sheila Bunwaree (Eds.). 1999. Gender, education and development: Beyond Access to Empowerment . Zed Books : London-New York (focus on the first pages up to page 23 where she compares data on education for countries with different types of structural adjustment programs in Africa)
o Chatterjee, Esha, Desai Sonalde and Reeve Vanneman. 2014. “Growing Economy and Declining Female Employment: An Indian Paradox.” Princeton Papers
o Molyneaux, Maxine. 2006. “Mothers at the Sercie of the New Poverty Agenda: Progresa/OIportunidades, Mexico’s Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.” Social Policy and Administration Vol 40 No. 4: 425-449. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK. August 2006
o Molyneaux Maxine and Marilyn Thomson. 2011. “Cash Transfers, gender equity and women’s empowerment in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.” Gender and Development Vol. 19 No. 2 July of 2011. Oxfam GB:
Session 2: Introduction to Fix/Quantitative Research Design: empiricist methodology adapted to social science research (mostly focused on quantitative research but linked to contextual analysis and ethnographic methods). Comparing non-experimental, quasi-experimental and experimental quantitative research design – review of examples. What is a variable? Different types of variables (ex: uni/multi-dimensional; dichotomist/continuous) Difference between dependent and independent variable; what is the relation between concepts, variables, indicators and data? What is an instrument and the process of operationalization? Different types of measurements. Units of analysis, sampling and types of samples. When is this type of research design more useful? What are some of its restrictions and requirements?
Required readings (examples to be used in class):
· ESPINOSA SLIDES FOR SESSION 2 (POSTED IN LATTE)
· Exercise for Session 2
Session 3: Introduction to Flexible/Qualitative Research Design. What is the aim and the characteristics of a Flexible Design. What is the difference between a case study and an ethnographic study. What is a Case Study. What are Ethnographic methods, their value and limitations: participant information, informal, semi-structured and structured interviews, focus groups, piles sorting and taxonomic trees, participatory mapping; gender participatory tools. Issues of validity and skills required –basic rules and stages; identifying and selecting key informants; unstructured, semi structured and structured interviews. Exercises preparing different types of hypothetical interviews. Examples and exercises. Ethical issues involved in field work and explaining IRB
Required readings:
· ESPINOSA SLIDES FOR SESSION 3 (posted in LATTE)
· Exercise for Session 3
Session 4: What criteria are used to test the instruments, data, analysis and explanation (Validity –Reliability- Precision – Accuracy)? What is a research question? Why is important the research question? What is the difference between a development issue, a problem statement and a research question? What are the characteristics of a good research question for flexible/qualitative and for fix/quantitative research designs? Examples and exercises. How do we know our research results are valid? Some criteria to test sound research (relevance, scope, representation, consistency, validity). Exercises
Required readings (posted in LATTE):
· ESPINOSA SLIDES FOR SESSION 4 –includes class exercise & home assignment for session 5
Session 5: Comparing Flexible/Qualitative & Fix/Quantitative Research Designs in more details and using examples for Non-experimental, Quasi-experimental, Case Study and Ethnographic Study (references provided in Session 1 at LATTE). Compatibility between methods -research question & theoretical framework.
Required readings (posted in LATTE):
· ESPINOSA SLIDES FOR SESSION 5 (INCLUDES CLASS EXERCISE & HOME ASSIGNMENT FOR SESSION 6 –
· Stromquist Nelly .P. 1999. “The impact of structural adjustment programmes in Africa and Latin America.” IN: Heward Christine and Sheila Bunwaree (Eds.). 1999. Gender, education and development: Beyond Access to Empowerment . Zed Books : London-New York (focus on the first pages up to page 23 where she compares data on education for countries with different types of structural adjustment programs in Africa)
· Chatterjee, Esha, Desai Sonalde and Reeve Vanneman. 2014. “Growing Economy and Declining Female Employment: An Indian Paradox.” Princeton Papers
· Molyneaux, Maxine. 2006. “Mothers at the Sercie of the New Poverty Agenda: Progresa/OIportunidades, Mexico’s Conditional Cash Transfer Programme.” Social Policy and Administration Vol 40 No. 4: 425-449. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK. August 2006
· Molyneaux Maxine and Marilyn Thomson. 2011. “Cash Transfers, gender equity and women’s empowerment in Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia.” Gender and Development Vol. 19 No. 2 July of 2011. Oxfam GB:
Session 6: Putting all the steps together for applied development research design. Review of Draft Individual Research Proposals – each student will present in class their draft proposal and receive feedback from the class and from the instructor.
Required readings (posted in LATTE)
· Guidelines for the proposal
· Template for a graduate research proposal from the Depart of Sociology/U. of South Africa.
Session 7: Final submission of individual project proposals. No class session
Additional readings:
Russell B. H.. 1995. Research Methods in Anthropology. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Second Edition. Altamire Press/SAGE (http://www.antropocaos.com.ar/Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology.pdf)
Creswell, JW. 2013. Research Design. Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. “Qualitative and Quantitative Research Design.” Chapter 6. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks-London-New Delhi (LATTE)
Slocum, R., Rocheleau D. B. Thomas-Slayter. 1995. Power, Process and Participation. Tools for Change. IT Publications: London.( http://www.worldcat.org/title/power-process-and-participation-tools-for-change/oclc/476302118?referer=di&ht=edition) Available at Brandeis Library (HC49.C6 P694 1995)
Flyvbjerg, B. 2010. “Five misunderstandings about Case studies.” Qualitative Inquire Vol 12 No. 2 Sage (LATTE)
Abbott, A. (2004). Methods of Discovery: Heuristics for the Social Sciences (http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=Abbott%2C+A.+%282004%29.+Methods+of+Discovery%3A+Heuristics+for+the+Social+Sciences+%28Contemporary+Societies+Series%29.&qt=owc_search Brandeis Library (H61.15 .A23 2004)