Research Design and Methods
Research Design and Methods
Methodological Stance? (Qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods?)
Methods adopted?
Details about numbers how many interviews, how may potential questionnaires, etc. In this section of the proposal, the epistemological stance and methodological approach of the researcher will be discussed, as well as the methods which are going to be used to collect the data for the study and the sampling approach used to select participants.
Epistemology
An interpretivist epistemological stance is the most appropriate for this research. Interpretivism can be defined as a position where you accept there are no set answers to questions that we have- but that individuals will hold their own views. (Walker and Solvason, 2014: 72). Subjectivity is key in interpretivist research (Ngvgen, 2015). This approach is most effective because the aim of the study is to gather practitioners personal strategies based on their own conceived ideas on nurturing relationships and their importance. Given people may have varied ideas on what relationships are about, what makes a good relationship and why relationships are important, a more positivist approach that aims to measure some kind of fixed reality about the nature of relationships would be inappropriate. To use an interpretive approach, data will be gained from more than one foundation stage practitioner, which will allow for the subjective ways in which each individual constructs their reality to be captured.
Interpretivists usually use qualitative research methods when collecting their data (Goldkul, 2012). Although this study will collect such data, quantitative data shall also be gathered. This is because it allows for the identification of trends and patterns amongst the attitudes of a particular population (Robson, 2015). In this instance, the intention it to identify what may be some of the most popular and effective strategies used by practitioners for building relationships with withdrawn students, so the collection of some quantitative data would be appropriate. Arguably, focusing on collecting whatever data the researcher sees fit to answer their research question, regardless of their epistemological view, means a pragmatic approach is ultimately being taken (Thomas, 2018). Such an approach matches well with a mixed-methods approach (Robson, 2015).
Methodology
A mixed-method perspective is where both quantitative and qualitative data are collected (Creswell, 2015). An advantage of using this approach is that it will allow an extensive comprehension of the participants views to be collected (Guetterman et al., 2015) and analysed critically. Collecting two different types of data allows for triangulation, providing two contrasting yet complementary perspectives to be combined to provide a more comprehensive answer to the question posed (Curry, 2018). However, a disadvantage of trying to triangulate data is that it requires a well-skilled individual to be able to pull both sides together to create an effective outcome (Almdiki et al., 2016). I shall therefore seek support from my research supervisor in developing my approach to data collection.
Data Collection Methods
Quantitative data refers to numerical information, which questionnaires are effective tools for collecting (Walliman, 2018:131). Questionnaires will be sent out to all of the professionals in the setting prior to their interview, to gain a brief background of the participants current perspectives in relation to the research topic and question. Closed-ended questions such as Likert Scale questions will be used to obtain numerical results. A Likert scale allows for the strength of ones attitude or belief to be measured (Baruda, 2013), such as a practitioners level of confidence in building relationships, which will be useful for this study. A further advantage of this method is that it is not very time consuming for participants to complete questionnaires and for researchers to analyse the results (Rahman, 2016). On the other hand, a lot of perseverance is needed to make a questionnaire to ensure that every question is answered in the best possible way as possible by the participants (Rowley, 2014).
Following questionnaires, semi-structured interviews will be carried out with each participant. The interviews will hold questions that are prewritten by the researcher prior to the interview (Hartas, 2010). These will be more opened-ended questions compared to the questions asked in the questionnaires. For example, they will associate with how practitioners develop nurturing relationships, and why they find it difficult or not to do this. These types of questions will all be formed based on the results from the questionnaires, to expand upon their answers by giving reasonings. For example, if a practitioner offers a particular strategy for building relationships as being especially effective, the interviewer can follow up to ask why they feel this is the case. Robson (2015) notes that the ability to ask probing questions in responses to interviewees answers allows for more in-depth data to be collected.
Sampling
In order to collect as many perspectives as possible, all practitioners working in the foundation stage of the school shall be sent questionnaires in the hope of gaining up to 20 responses. This may be considered a convenience sample, which aims to collect data from those who are easily accessible and readily available (Wilson, 2017). This does limit how representative a sample is likely to be, but this approach is commonly used by researchers out of necessity, especially by student-researchers (Nardi, 2018).
For the interviews, 4 members of staff will be chosen who are considered to have the most experience in working with withdrawn children, so may be considered to have the most expertise in building relationships with them. Selecting participants based on their specific individual characteristics and perceived expertise is known as purposive sampling (Robson, 2015), which is suitable in this case where the study aims to capture the most effective means by which practitioners build relationships with children in the foundation stage of education something best judged by those with appropriate experience and expertise.
EDU5142 Research as a Driver for Policy, Practice and Provision
Research Proposal
Student Name Fred Bloggs
Research Title Promoting LGBTQIA+ Equality in the Early Years: Practitioners Perspectives
Research question How capable do early years practitioners feel they are to fulfil their duty to promote LGBTQIA+ equality in their settings?
Justification for project
Why do you need to do this research project? Identify key journal articles that advocate for more research to be conducted in this area.
Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 places a duty on practitioners to tackle prejudice and promote understanding between different groups, including those of different gender identities and sexual orientations. This is reinforced by the recent Relationship and Sex Education curriculum, which makes it clear that practitioners must be alive to issues such ashomophobia and gender stereotypes and take positive action to build a culture where these are not tolerated (Department for Education, 2019, article 31). Birth to 5 Matters stresses that this is particularly important in the early years, as this is when children begin to form stereotypical ideas about gender and sexual orientation that limit their future options and development (Early Years Coalition, 2021). The fact that 45% of LGBT school pupils still experience bullying due to their identity (Bradlow, et al., 2017) illustrates the negative outcomes that may result from a failure to address issues of prejudice and equality in relation to the LGBTQIA+ community from a young age.
Though it is clear that early years practitioners have an important duty in promoting equality and understanding concerning LGBTQIA+ issues, it has been pointed out that not all of them may be well-equipped to fulfil this (Harris, Wilson-Daily and Fuller, 2021). This may be because they lack knowledge (Kinter-Duffy et al., 2012), have not received sufficient training on how to do this (Smith, 2020) or may hold certain personal beliefs that conflict with their duty (Jones, 2021). In order to establish early years practitioners level of confidence and preparedness for fulfilling the LGBTQIA+ duty, this study aims to conduct research with professionals working in nurseries and childrens centres in England. This will enable the identification of any barriers to good practice in this area, which may lead to the development of recommendations for supporting practitioners to overcome these.
Short Literature Review
Identify key journal articles, texts and authors that have something to say and will influence you. Recent, relevant, reliable?
Organise these articles into themes (2 or 3) where possible. To provide context to the practitioners views that will be collated, it will be necessary to review the relevant literature on this topic to help identify the key issues of central concern. Firstly, explanations shall be given of key LGBTQIA+-related concepts and of the legislative background that underpins LGBTQIA+ rights. Secondly, some of the internal practitioner challenges to fulfilling the LGBTQIA+ duty in the early years, related to training, confidence and personal beliefs shall be explored. Finally, the external factors that may provide a barrier to fulfilling the duty, such as challenges from parents and the wider community shall be considered.
LGBTQIA+ Key Concepts and Legislative Background
LGBTQIA+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual/Ally, which covers a broad range of gender and sexual identities (Smith, 2020). Roberts (2018) explains that historically those who belonged to these communities have faced a lack of recognition, both legally and within the education system, and experienced significant prejudice and oppression. Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 stated that those working in education must not promote the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship, despite the fact, as Ali (2020) notes, many people were happily living in such relationships in this time. The effect of this was that education professionals feared discussing the topic of non-heterosexual sexualities, which meant that young people from the LBGT community were left without support and guidance, and the lack of acknowledgement of their existence led to decreased self-esteem in some children and young people (Smith, 2020). Section 28 ceased being active in 1996 and was eventually repealed in 2003 (Ali, 2020); then followed a range of legislative and policy changes that improved the rights of those in the LGBTQIA+ community and reflected the greater acceptance felt towards them amongst wider society (Roberts, 2018).
The Equality Act 2010 gave greater legal protection and recognition to those people of different sexualities and gender identities by making them protected characteristics
Internal Practitioner Challenges
Add a couple of paragraphs synthesising key perspectives.
External Barriers to Practice
Add a couple of paragraphs synthesising key perspectives.
Finish with brief summary of what was covered in this section and what is left for your study to address
Place of research and context
What sort of setting will you carry this out in, demographics, number of potential participants, etc.
If desk top research or systematic review clearly state so Just briefly explain in what kinds of settings you plan to carry out your study and with who (do not need to name the specific settings involved, as these should remain confidential). You may also wish to cover the sampling strategy used in this section, rather than in the Research Design section, including who will be your participants and how many you will target.
Research Design and Methods
Methodological Stance? (Qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods?)
Methods adopted?
Details about numbers how many interviews, how many potential questionnaires Below are some brief and incomplete excerpts to provide a sense of how each part of this section may be approached.
Epistemological Stance
Positivist approaches are based on the assumption that research methods used in the natural sciences are transferable to the social sciences (Denscombe, 2010). Thomas (2017) explains that these methods follow a process of generating hypotheses and then testing them so they can be proven or disproven, which relates to my intention to test the notion that practitioners may not be appropriately prepared to fulfil the LGBTQIA+ equality duty. However, Robson and McCartan (2015) note that one must be careful of trying to approach complex issues concerning peoples subjective viewpoints, as I plan to do in this study, from this kind of stance, arguing that an interpretivist approach may be more suitable to help understand the range of feelings
A mixed-methods approach will be adopted for this study, using both quantitative and qualitative data. Denscombe (2010) explains that quantitative data allows the researcher to identify trends and patterns in populations, such as how many practitioners may feel confident and competent in carrying out the LGBTQIA+ duty in the case of this study. In contrast, Denscombe (2010) also explains that qualitative data allows for the exploration of
Data Collection Methods
Questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data. As Robson and McCartan (2015) explain, they allow researchers to reach a larger sample of people and to identify trends in attitudes towards a particular issue. This was important for this study because
closed questions, including multiple-choice and rating scales were included in the questionnaire, as they allow for
Semi-structured interviews will be used as the second method of data collection, to allow for the complex range of feelings and attitudes that practitioners may hold to promoting equality in relation to LGBTQIA+ matters to be appropriately explored and captured. This method allows for
A convenience sample of nursery practitioners will be selected for this study, taken from two different settings in Birmingham, one a childrens centre and the other community day nursery. Thomas (2017) explains how this approach is commonly used by students who have limited time and access to suitable participants and so need to use those who are conveniently placed and easily accessible. 3-5 interviewees shall be selected, depending on how many respond
What are the ethical considerations and how will I address them?
Identify all ethical considerations make links to BERA 2018 document. Identify how you will adhere to ethical principles in your study. Ensure that you address the five key BERA principles in this section. Some brief and incomplete excerpts below provide some indication of how to go about doing this.
BERA (2018, p. 9) consider voluntary informed and ongoing consent to be the condition by which participants understand and agree to their participation, and the terms and practicalities of it, without any duress, prior to the research getting underway. They also explain that participants must be made fully aware of their right to withdraw from involvement with the study at any point (ibid.). In order to ensure informed consent is gained, this study shall
BERA (2018) remark that participant data must be treated with anonymity and confidentiality. Also, any data collected must be stored and used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). To ensure this study abides by these regulations, participants names shall be anonymised by
Ethical codes of conduct demand that any potential for harm must be carefully weighed against possible benefits (Cohen et al., 2011). Though this study aimed to collect important data about a contemporary issue in the early childhood field, it also posed a risk of harm to participants. This is because some may hold controversial views about the LGBTQIA+ community that could harm their reputation if expressed and also because some may belong to this community and have had their own negative educational experiences related to this fact. Therefore, to reduce the potential for harm, questions shall be sensitively worded and piloted effectively to help identify where questions need to be removed or changed. Practitioners shall also be reminded of their right to
References
Bradlow, J., Bartram, F., Guasp, A. and Jadva, V. (2017)School Report: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bi and trans young people in Britains schools in 2017, London: Stonewall.
British Educational Research Association (2018) Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research. 4th edn. London: BERA.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2011) Research Methods in Education. 7th edn. Abingdon: Routledge.
Denscombe, M. (2010) The Good Research Guide. 4th edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Department for Education (2019) Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education. London: DfE.
Department for Education (2021) Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974907/EYFS_framework_-_March_2021.pdf (Accessed: 23 March 2022)
Early Years Coalition (2021) Birth to 5 Matters. St. Albans: Early Education.
Equality Act 2010, c. 15. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents (Accessed: 23 March 2022)
Harris, R., Wilson-Daily, A. E. and Fuller, G. (2021) I just want to feel like Im part of everyone else: how schools unintentionally contribute to the isolation of students who identify as LGBT+. Cambridge Journal of Education. 52(2), pp. 155-173.
Kinter-Duffy, V. L., Vardell, R., Lower, J. K. and Cassidy, D. J. (2012) The Changers and the Changed: Preparing Early Childhood Teachers to Work With Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Families. Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education. 33(3), pp. 208-233.
Robson, C. and McCartan, K. (2015) Real world research. 4th edn. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
Thomas, G. (2017) How to do your research project. 3rd edn. London: Sage Publications.
Module Assessment Information Document
Module Code: EDU5142
Module Title: Research as a Driver for Policy, Provision and Practice
Credits: 20
2023
Module Leader: Jeff Standley
Email: jeff.standley@bcu.ac.uk
Module Teaching Staff: Karina Butler
Overview
Assessment Category Type Length/Scope Weighting (%) Submission deadline
Research Proposal Report Format 3000 words 100% 13th May 2024
Assessment 1
Assessment Title: Research Proposal
Assessment Task
You must produce a 3000 word research proposal that outlines a small-scale study of relevance to your field of study that you could realistically undertake in the future. Ideally, an improved and developed version of your proposal could be used as the basis for your final year research project. Your proposal will feature sections that include the following content:
Research question this clarifies what the proposed study is aiming to do
Justification of project this provides justification of why the study is relevant and worthwhile
Short literature review this gives context to your identified topic/issue and explores what has already been written about it
Place of research and context this outlines where you would plan to conduct your study
Research design and methods this provides an explanation and justification of the approach you plan to use to conduct your study and the research methods to be used to collect data
Ethical considerations This identifies key ethical principles that you must follow when conducting research and explains how your proposed study would adhere to these
Students should use the research proposal template (available on Moodle) to complete their proposal, ensuring that each section is appropriately addressed according to guidance given in class. Ensure also that a full reference list is provided after your proposal. Remember, this is just a proposal students will not conduct any actual primary research as part of the module. However, they may carry forward some of their ideas to form the basis of their research project in their final year of study.
Submission Details
Submit this coursework assessment task via the Moodle submission point entitled Assignment Submission Point by noon on Monday 13th May 2024. You should ensure that you agree to the Turnitin terms and conditions so that a report can be generated. It is important that you add the assessment coversheet to your submission, which can be found on the Moodle page for the module. This assessment will not be marked anonymously, so you can include your name on the coversheet.
Assessment Support
Throughout the course of the module more detailed explanations of the assessment will be given in class, an assignment support video shall be produced for students to view at their leisure and multiple opportunities for students to ask questions about the task and discuss their individual research ideas will be offered. Students can also submit a short sample of an assignment draft, which they will receive feedback on to help them improve the standard of their work. Tasks shall also be completed in class that will help students to develop their thinking about how to approach the assessment and what they should include in it.
Marking Criteria: Undergraduate
Criterion 0 39%
Fail
40 49%
Third 50 59%
2:2 60 69%
2:1 70 79%
First 80 100%
First
1. LO1 (25%)
Aspect of policy, practice or provision is weak or there is little or no justification for further exploration.
At a basic level, an area of policy, practice or provision is identified and worthy of further exploration.
However, there are gaps or it may be over simplistic or too broad. A generally relevant and suitable area of policy, practice or provision is identified. Some justification is provided to demonstrate that this is worthy of further exploration. A clear justification of an aspect of policy, practice or provision that is worthy of further exploration A comprehensive and confident justification of an aspect of policy, practice or provision that is worthy of further exploration. An excellent and comprehensive justification of an original aspect of policy, practice or provision that is worthy of further exploration.
2. LO2 (25%) Little or no links made between research and policy, practice or provision within a relevant field. At a basic level there is some interpretation and links are made to policy, practice or provision within a relevant field. There is some interpretation of current research and sound links are made to policy, practice or provision within a relevant field. There is a clear interpretation of current research and good links are made to policy, practice or provision within a relevant field. There is a comprehensive and confident interpretation of current research and strong links are made to policy, practice or provision within a relevant field. There is an excellent and comprehensive interpretation of current research and strong links are made to policy, practice or provision within a relevant field. Some originality is demonstrated.
3. LO3 (25%) Work is mainly descriptive and there may be a misapplication or lack of application of key methodological concepts. Research design is basic and there may be some gaps or oversimplification. Research design is relevant and sound and there is some consideration of appropriate data collection methods. A clear research design is provided and data collection methods are carefully selected for their effectiveness.
A clear research design is provided and there is a critical evaluation of the data collection methods selected.
A clear research design is provided and there is a comprehensive critical evaluation of the data collection methods selected.
4. LO4 (25%) Work shows little or no understanding of an ethical approach to conducting research.
A basic understanding of key ethical principles is demonstrated. Some understanding of key ethical principles is demonstrated although there may be omissions. A good understanding of the key ethical principles is demonstrated. Work shows a confident understanding of the key ethical principles and a commitment to their ongoing nature is demonstrated. Work shows a comprehensive understanding of the key ethical principles and a commitment to their ongoing nature is demonstrated.
This assessment addresses the following learning outcomes (LOs):
Identify and justify an appropriate aspect of current and pertinent policy, practice or provision worthy of further exploration
Interpret current research and its link to policy, practice or provision within a relevant field
Design a small-scale study that examines a pertinent aspect within a relevant field, evaluating the identified methodological approach
Identify and evaluate the implications of key ethical principles relevant to the chosen research focus
Key Information
Conditions of Progression
A grade of 40% is required to pass the assignment. In passing the assignment, the student passes the module. A resit opportunity will be offered for those who fail to pass at the first attempt.
Late or Non-Submission/ Attendance Assessments must be submitted in the format specified in the assessment task, by the deadline and to the submission point published on Moodle. Failure to submit by the published deadline will result in penalties which are set out in Section 6 of the Academic Regulations, available at:
late-submission-of-assessment-policy-version-10-approved-june-2022-133082470192470694.pdf (windows.net)Please be aware that the penalties are different for re-submissions and in-year retrievals.
For in-person assessments, you should arrive 15 minutes before your allocated time slot. Failure to present at your allocated time, will result in you being unable to sit the assessment and you will be recorded as a non-submission, resulting in a grade of 0. Word Count The word count for this module assessment is shown under the assessment overview. A +10% margin of tolerance is applied, beyond which nothing further will be marked. Marks cannot be awarded for any learning outcomes addressed outside the word count.
The word count refers to everything in the main body of the text (including headings, tables, citations, quotes, lists etc.). Everything before (i.e. abstract, acknowledgements, contents, executive summaries etc.) and after the main text (i.e. references, appendices) is not included in the word count limit.
For in-person assessments time limits will be applied.
Academic Integrity Guidance
Academic integrity is the attitude of approaching your academic work honestly, by completing your own original work, attributing, and acknowledging your sources when necessary. Understanding good academic practice in written and oral work is a key element of academic integrity. It is a positive aspect of joining an academic community, showing familiarity with, and acknowledging sources of evidence. The skills you require at higher education may differ from those learned elsewhere such as school or college.
You will be required to follow specific academic conventions which include acknowledging the work of others through appropriate referencing and citation as explicitly as possible. If you include ideas or quotations which have not been appropriately acknowledged, this may be seen as plagiarism which is a form of academic misconduct. If you require support around referencing, please contact the Facultys Academic Development Department or the University wide Centre for Academic Success.
It is important to recognise that seeking out learning around academic integrity will help reduce the risk of misconduct in your work. Skills such as paraphrasing, referencing and citation are integral to acting with integrity and you can develop and advance these key academic skills through the Facultys Academic Development Department.
Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct is conduct which has or may have the effect of providing you with an unfair advantage by relying on dishonest means to gain advantage and which therefore compromises your academic integrity.
The procedure sets out the process we will follow, and the penalties we may apply, in cases where we believe you may have compromised your academic integrity by committing academic misconduct. The Academic Misconduct Procedure and information about academic support is available at:
https://icity.bcu.ac.uk/Student-Affairs/Appeals-and-Resolutions/Academic-Misconduct-ProcedureTurnitin To obtain a Turnitin scan before submitting your work to your department please visit the University's Turnitin at BCU Moodle site. Work that is submitted and scanned through this service is not stored on the main Turnitin system and this is NOT your submitted work.
Extenuating Circumstances For further details on the Extenuating Circumstances Procedure please see the iCity page below:
https://icity.bcu.ac.uk/student-affairs/appeals-and-resolutions/extenuating-circumstances-procedure
Where to get help The University has a designated student support service known as the Centre for Academic Success. Here you will find support for a range of academic skills. Likewise, you can arrange a consultation with a member of staff from the Academic Development Department based at City South Campus. You also should also review the wide range of support and help from the library.
