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

4.6
stars
8,170 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

JV

Apr 28, 2021

The readings were excellent, and readable 0 which is a plus for a course such as this.The 1 or zero peer-review rating was 'rough' and maybe 0 to 5 to differentiate effort and results in the e-tivity.

MA

Sep 12, 2019

It was a perfect course for understanding the research methods. It helps me a lot, thanks to the University of London and Coursera for providing this opportunity to enhance our Knowledge in research.

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2376 - 2400 of 2,587 Reviews for Understanding Research Methods

By stellamary

•

Jan 24, 2017

good one

By Akpila R

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Jun 16, 2020

Helpful

By Dorji w

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Nov 12, 2024

great

By B I R

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Feb 21, 2025

Good

By P C .

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Jan 19, 2025

Good

By 2303C 5

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Oct 27, 2023

good

By Mohammed G

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Sep 4, 2023

good

By Ramisetti s k (

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Dec 24, 2021

Good

By Ghazi K

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Jul 8, 2021

good

By Harshad Y

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Apr 7, 2021

good

By Geo J D

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Mar 4, 2021

good

By Mahmoud M A m

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Feb 11, 2021

لطيف

By Happy A

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Nov 4, 2020

good

By Nivetha. G

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Aug 24, 2020

Good

By Ravindra J P

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Jul 22, 2020

Good

By Mostofa K

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Jul 18, 2020

Good

By Rehan N

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Jun 10, 2020

Good

By Ankit G

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May 27, 2020

nice

By Ismail O

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Nov 14, 2019

Good

By Dr. A K

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Oct 14, 2022

👍

By Erick C

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Apr 2, 2017

ok

By Phan T N ( D

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Jan 28, 2025

w

By Ujjawal D

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Jul 22, 2022

t

By Dr. V S

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Oct 4, 2021

O

By Emily W

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Nov 29, 2020

I wanted to give this course 5 stars because the content is really good, all the reading materials were incredibly useful and I enjoyed the videos and was able to take a lot from them. Unfortunately the forums aren't used as discussion forums - instead of any discussion about the materials there are just streams of requests for people to review submissions, which shouldn't be needed as the course is structured so that each time you make one submission you review three others, also because the e-tivities are only peer reviewed the quality and usefulness of the feedback is mostly not good, out of 4 submissions I have had 10 peer reviews so far and only one of them followed the advice to focus on what was good (but didn't give any suggestions for improvement) and the rest have either been single word responses (eg 'good' or 'fantastic'), despite the recommendation being at least 50 words, some had simply given information about tangentially related topics (a bunch of data about elementary school reading interventions, and a summary of some of the information from one of the other articles which I hadn't been responding to as the task clearly and in bold stated 'or'). This lack of meaningful interaction with anyone left me feeling disheartened and that I was working in a void. I think the moderators should be keeping the discussion forums on track, and that some feedback from the course teachers, even if only for the last submission would make a big difference. I didn't but the certificate because I didn't think that the assessment method for the course was rigourous enough to confer any value to having passed.