What is Research?
Full course description
During this course, you will learn about the nature of academic research, especially about how to turn a general area of interest into a researchable question. You will further develop your skills in researching and writing. Particularly, you will learn to craft two key elements of an academic research paper: the introduction and the literature review section. These academic research skills are crucial for the whole programme. For example, being able to summarise someone else’s academic argument, referencing it correctly, and relating this argument to your own research question are key skills for a university student. In this course, you will put some of these skills together by writing the beginning of a full academic paper.
Course objectives
The objective of this course is to learn about research by doing research
We will practice analysing and writing:
- an introduction to a research paper
- a literature review section for a research paper
In the process of doing this, you will improve your skills in:
1. formulating a research question
2. Searching for sources in a systematic way
3. Building on other scholars’ research by correctly paraphrasing and citing
4. Evaluating sources of information for your research
5. Using correct referencing in your writing (according to American Psychological Association, APA7).
Prerequisites
none/not applicable
Recommended reading
Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G., & Williams (2016). The craft of research (3th ed.). The University of Chicago Press