Chevron Left
Back to Understanding Research Methods

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Understanding Research Methods by University of London

4.6
stars
7,184 ratings

About the Course

This MOOC is about demystifying research and research methods. It will outline the fundamentals of doing research, aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at the postgraduate level. It places the student experience at the centre of our endeavours by engaging learners in a range of robust and challenging discussions and exercises befitting SOAS, University of London's status as a research-intensive university and its rich research heritage. The course will appeal to those of you who require an understanding of research approaches and skills, and importantly an ability to deploy them in your studies or in your professional lives. In particular, this course will aid those of you who have to conduct research as part of your postgraduate studies but do not perhaps have access to research methods courses, or for those of you who feel you would like additional support for self-improvement. No prior knowledge or experience in research is required to take this course and as such, the course is for everyone. This MOOC draws on a wealth of existing course material developed to support research training across SOAS, University of London and particularly drawing from the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy (CISD). In 2015, the course was nominated for the prestigious Guardian University Award for its innovative approach to online learning. Participation in or completion of this online course will not confer academic credit for University of London programmes...

Top reviews

CS

May 9, 2022

Really easy to follow and great advice from all the experts! It has helped me organise from the beginning of my dissertation and I feel more comfortable getting started on what is a big project ahead.

A

Jul 26, 2017

This is wonderful course especially for research scholars, one suggestion is instead of giving articles from books, please provide a PPT which will be more effective ! thank you for wonderful session.

Filter by:

51 - 75 of 2,334 Reviews for Understanding Research Methods

By Tom H

May 17, 2020

Great course! I learnt a lot about the processes of planning a piece of research. This course doesn't go into a huge amount of depth (it's only a short, 4 week course) but it gives you a really good introduction and I would recommend it to anyone who is about to begin learning about research. This course gives you free access to about 4 different chapters from different textbooks that are really worth reading and learning from. Also, the interviews with university professors are really useful because they share their first-hand knowledge, experience and advice.

By Linda.Zh

Nov 23, 2016

It is a very good introductory course on research methods. It has deepened my understanding of research methods. It has helped me to understand the role of literature review and research design. I also like its unique way of doing this course. Instead of lengthy lecturing, the course presents a few videos interviewing different researchers, having them talk about a certain topic. I've heard different views on the same topic, each of which makes a point. It has definitely helped me to look at the same issue from different perspectives.

By Sushmitha S

May 14, 2020

This course is well designed with experts sharing their valuable experiences about research. The interviews provides insights which helps us understand every detail to be taken care of while conducting a research. The study material provides an in-depth understanding of every concept and better understanding of the research process as a whole. This MOOC helped me understand research in a better way and the weekly assignments made the concepts learnt more applicable. Overall, this MOOC was a memorable experience.

By Zulkifli M

Apr 26, 2020

I love the flexibility of the course which allows me to pace my learning in accordance with my own situation. What is interesting about this particular course is the sharing of the research community, not just by the instructors. As researchers face their own challenges and have their own perspectives of looking at research aspects, we see diversified opinions and ideas. The fact that we can share our own experience and assess other learners' assignments cultivates a solid constructivist-learning environment.

By SNEHA S S 1

May 27, 2020

This was an interesting and less exhaustive than I thought of it to be in the initial stages while I signed up. There is this construct of how anything concerning "Research" is time consuming and very rigorous. This course surely broke the fourth wall of such a construct and I thoroughly enjoyed each and every video, materials and of course the Peer E-tivity which was new to me and also a process of learning. Thank you so much to both the Course Instructors its been an honor learning from you both.

By Rania M

Jun 12, 2021

I learned a lot from this course. It allowed me to think critically about my research project and question as well as to understand research designs, methods, and approaches. I benefited from the readings provided by the instructors, in particular on conducting a literature review and on research designs. These were very helpful in allowing me to refine my research question and provide an initial outline plan. This was an excellent course that I would recommend to fellow PhD researchers.

By Bharath N k

Jul 26, 2020

good course ,this is just a outline all over for research especially for qualitative thinker i mean who are from social science ,it is some what different from science . they are starting with open ended question .however for science studying people it is converse .since the interviewed researchers are mainly from social ,so they have said in the point of social studies.However this a outline .therefore everything is same to make a research on whatever the thing except few points.

By MD S H

Jul 21, 2020

Evaluators can use a to compare findings from qualitative and quantitative data sources. It involves collecting both types of data at roughly the same time; assessing information using parallel constructs for both types of data; separately analyzing both types of data; and comparing results through procedures such as a side-by-side comparison in a discussion, transforming the qualitative data set into quantitative scores, or jointly displaying both forms of data.

convergent design

By Mark G

Jan 3, 2022

This is what I wrote a year or two ago: "A kind introduction to the formal research process that becomes foundational to further research proposals and dissertations/thesis."

Having gone back to review, the context was deceptively simple and profoundly well-done and useful. The content, insights, and recommendations were right on, and the interview process used exemplified what we would be using at the end of our course during the Dissertation phase. Well done, thanks!

By EHSAN N

Jul 1, 2023

It is an amazing course for those looking for into making their debut into academic research as newbie. I had a chance to learn from scratch about research methods while it was from amazing people as well. The content of this course is comprehensive and covers all the steps to get a research question into a comprehensive research publication. The sources shares during the course are valuable. I would love to learn advance research methods from the same faculty !

By Steph M

Jun 11, 2022

I enjoyed this short, entry-level course. Although I have had some (not much!) experience with research, I felt the course a) offered something to people with experience and b) was also great for new researchers or people starting to think about conducting research. The speakers were insightful and the readings were relevant and useful. I enjoyed the 'assessments' and felt that the activities added to the course, without taking hours upon hours to complete.

By HEENABA J

Mar 14, 2021

By attending this course of Coursera, Understanding research methodology it provides very useful knowledge about the research activities such as plagiarism, bibliography, content of research work, sampling methods to be used and mamy more, it's a fabulous course for the Research scholar students specially to understand the importance of all the do and don't of the Research work in a very easy and comfortable way , thanks for providing such a online course.

By Tangina A

Apr 23, 2020

I am happy in participating the course as it helps me to think critically about the problem around my society,around the world.I also became able to know how others are thinking .I have learned from the course that it takes time to commit research so how better your thinking actually does little matter,you must give your time in this work efficiently.And how can i systematically doing my research is most important one that i have learned from the course.

By Hanif S

Aug 25, 2020

This course while short is very informative and useful for those who are starting to do research be it undergraduate, postgraduate or doctorate, or even to those who are engaging or have completed one and doing another. It provides an overview of research methodology. Ideas were given from students and researchers giving students different perspectives on research skills. Highly recommend to those who are in higher education.

By XMNX

Aug 5, 2021

what a great way to learn about a topic that is useful both for professional reasons and for self-improvement. I enjoyed the video portion of this course where professionals are discussing the variety of ways to learn about research and it's importance. Moreover, the time flexibility is what really made this course work - with life's many obligations, learning this course in my own time helped greatly. Totally recommended.

By Jayesh K

May 21, 2020

I was totally unaware about the research methods. So, after going through the course I understood about need for choosing and framing most useful research question, how to design it , deciding about research methodology , approach and time management skill. This will be useful for further study. Thank you all connected with course , university authority , co-students and all those involve with this programme. God bless you

By Charisse T

Oct 29, 2020

I'm so thankful of this course, it gave me courage and motivation to keep going to my dream to be a Researcher. I'm currently doing my revision of my thesis and it helps me to have a better approach on writing an article/thesis. I highly recommended this to those into research - in any kind of field. Sometimes, we need to hear an advice from someone, an actual experience to gain our confidence and self esteem. Thank you!

By khulood s

Aug 26, 2020

Hello...I'm so blessed to have this platform ,it really helped me alot in my learning phase as well as in my research .Thank you for the coursera team to provide this opportunity to me .I really thanks to my online teachers who worked very effectively and prepared such an informative videos for our betterment.I will stay in contact with this platform and very special thanks to University of London ,SOAS for this course.

By Mohamed E

May 25, 2022

It is a very good course for those who seek to get started with the idea of scientific research, this serves as an activation and paves the way for them, and answers some of the initial questions that the researcher faces at the beginning of his field, and opens up a wide field for you to choose from in which you write, but you need more courses And books and education to write excellently next to this course.

By Kavita N

Oct 15, 2020

Thanks to this course I am now able to appreciate and understand the three research methods and approach to research design. I liked the way the course has been designed and put together. It would be helpful if we had more readings suggestions. I am especially grateful to the team of professors/researchers that put this course together. Please consider offering a specialization on each of the Research Methods.

By FRANCE A N

Aug 28, 2019

I am glad to have finished this course in a short span of time and have learned so many things about research. Thank you so much to all my generous classmates who have shown their interest in helping me gain knowledge through their feedback to my submitted tasks. Kudos to all the researchers around the world! Together let's contribute to build a better society for the future generation through our researches.

By Muhammad H

Sep 18, 2023

I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation to Coursera and the University of London for providing me with the opportunity to complete the "Understanding of Research Methods" certificate. This prestigious course has enriched my knowledge and skills in research methods, and I am truly grateful for the invaluable learning experience. Thank you for your commitment to accessible and high-quality education.

By Tran T T

Jun 18, 2020

Very useful course. I'm sure this course have improved my understanding about research methods and will support me a lot in my future tasks. Thank you SOAS very much for offering this to us. Regarding assignments, they are all very helpful, but it would be great if you can review and make some further clarification for E-tivity 3, to ensure all learners have common understanding about what to do. Thank you!

By ANTONIO M

Apr 10, 2020

The course, although it is basic has tips that can help you a lot in the development of a good investigation, there are phrases that stay in your head, some cold like "You must be able to stop your investigation if you evaluate that it does not have any sense and that it does not go anywhere. That must be the hardest thing for a researcher who has spent a lot of time and even sleepless nights on a job.

By D K J

May 27, 2020

The course is extremely useful for all the intending researchers. Although, students learn many things from their supervisors and colleagues, the learning is not structured and eventually they waste more time and sometimes fails to recognize if their research is not meaningful. This course provides clear guidelines for a systematic and meaningful research. I recommend this course to every researcher.