Our new peer-reviewed research paper, Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Expert Perspectives on Pedagogy and Practice, has been published by the British Journal of Educational Studies. The paper is Open Access (freely available online) and documents the first insights from our Expert Panel Interviews and focus groups. Despite its recent release, the paper is garnering a lot of attention. Here is the full abstract:

Abstract:

Capacity building in social science research methods is positioned by research councils as crucial to global competitiveness. The pedagogies involved, however, remain under-researched and the pedagogical culture under-developed. This paper builds upon recent thematic reviews of the literature to report new research that shifts the focus from individual experiences of research methods teaching to empirical evidence from a study crossing research methods, disciplines and nations. A dialogic, expert panel method was used, engaging international experts to examine teaching and learning practices in advanced social research methods. Experts, perspectives demonstrated strong thematic commonalities across quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods domains in terms of pedagogy, by connecting learners to research, giving direct and immersive experiences of research practice and promoting reflexivity. This paper argues that through analysis of expert responses to the distinct pedagogic challenges of the methods classroom, the principles and illustrative examples generated can form the knowledge and understanding required to enhance pedagogic culture and practice.

Reference: 

Lewthwaite, S. and Nind, M. (2016) Teaching Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Expert Perspectives on Pedagogy and Practice. British Journal of Educational Studies. DOI: 10.1080/00071005.2016.1197882