UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST

COLLEGE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
COURSE CODE/TITLE: ESS 828D/EAS 804D: RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIAL
STUDIES/CURRICULUM AND TEACHING
FIRST SEMESTER 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR

Course Description
This is because this course gives a practical touch to studying research methods with the main
objective of enhancing the practical skills students need to painlessly plan, design and execute
research. The course emphasizes the practical techniques necessary to position a student as a
competent and effective researcher capable of applying the required standards in undertaking
research and writing the associated research report expeditiously. Hands-on experiences are the
basis of the course to get students well-grounded in the various research orientations.

Course Objectives
By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

1. Develop a cogent research proposal

2. Design and execute a research study
3. Critique research reports
4. Write up a research report

Method of facilitation
The mode of facilitation for this course will be face to face and also live lecture via zoom/google
meet. The interaction between learners and facilitators does not end in the classroom. Students are
to read extensively on the concepts discussed during lectures and contribute meaningfully during
class interactions.

Topic Outline

TOPIC Activities for Students

1. General Overview of Educational Reading Assignment: Students

Research are expected to review the
• Ways of knowing concepts in Appendix 1
• Definition of Educational Research
• Characteristics of Educational
Research
• Types of research
• Value of Educational Research
• Research Philosophies

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 • Ethics in Research

2. The Research Problem Assignment 1: Students to 20 marks

• Background to the problem undertake comprehensive
• Problem formulation literature review showing
• Aims/purposes/objectives of the themes, theory or conceptual
study framework, level of analysis,
• Research questions/hypotheses time, geographical regions,
industry, research methods,
• Significance of the study
research gaps, unit of analysis
• Delimiting the study
and analytical techniques. (See
3. Limitations of the Study
Appendix 2 for the detailed
Assignment).

4. Scholarly Review of Literature

5. Methodology Assignment 2: Students to 20 marks

• Research Orientation/Paradigms, develop comprehensive
• Research Designs, research methods, Research
philosophy, design, research
• Defining the population, method/approach, population,
• Determining sample and sampling sampling procedure &
technique, instrumentation, data technique, sample size
collection procedure, data analyses) determination, data type &
source and the instruments
(where necessary) and the
analytical technique.
6. Report writing
• Results and Discussion
• Conclusions and Recommendations
• APA guidelines

Assessment
1. Two Assignments 40 marks
2. End of Semester Examination 60 marks

Mode of Delivery
The course will take the form of face to face and online lectures.

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Course Policy
All rules concerning attendance to lectures, quizzes/assignments, examinations and the general
conduct of students, as stipulated in the students’ handbook, apply to this course.

Guidelines For Our Online Lectures

• Join the class with your official names: you will not be admitted to class if you do not
join with your official name. NB: record of class attendance is always taken.
• Be attentive at all times: Treat online class time like a real class and pay attention. Take
notes and participate in class discussions.
• Be respectful: Treat others with respect.
• Reduce distractions: Find a quiet space to take the class and turn off any background
music or TV. NB: Mute your microphone unless you want to speak
• Raise your hand and wait to be called before you speak:
• Use the Chat section for only issues related with the lecture.

Suggested Reading List

American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual (6th Ed.). Washington, DC: APA
Barbie, E. (2007). The practice of social research (12th Ed.). USA: Cengage Learning, Inc.
Best, J. W. & Khan J. V. (1995). Research in education. New Delhi, Prentice of India Privat Ltd.
Blaike, N. (2009). Designing social research (2nd Ed.). UK, Polity Press
Borg, W. R & Gall M. D. (1993) Education research: An introduction. New York: David
Mckay: Company Inc.
Bryman, A. (2012). Social research methods (4th Ed.). UK: Oxford University Press
Cohen, L., Manion, L. & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th Ed.). London.
Routledge.

Creswel, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches
(4th Ed.).
Field, A. (2006). Discovering statistics using SPSS. (2nd Ed.). London: SAGE Publication
Grall, M. D. Borg, W. R & Gall J. P. (1996) Educational research: An Introduction. White
Plains, NY: Longman
Patten, M. L. (1997). Understanding research methods: An overview of the essentials. Los
Angeles: Pyczak
Singh, Y. K. (2006). Fundamentals of research methodology and statistics. New Delhi: New Age
International Publishers
Wallen N. E. & Fraenkel J. R. (1991). Educational Research: A Guide to the Process. New York
NY McGraw-Hill Inc
Welman, C., Krauger, F., & Mitchell, B. (2005). Research Methodology (3rd Ed.). South Africa:
Oxford University Press,

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 Appendix 1: Concept Review by Students
Reading Assignment 1: Concepts Review In Business Research Methods

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 1. Anonymity 50. Inductive reasoning 100. Sampling
2. Study Background 51. Internal Consistency 101. Sampling frame
3. Education Research 52. Internal Validity 102. Saturation
4. Case Study 53. Intervening Variable 103. Scales of measurement
5. Causal Design 54. Knowledge 104. Science
6. Causal Hypothesis 55. Literary criticism 105. Scientific research
7. Cluster Analysis 56. Longitudinal Research 106. Scope of the study
8. Cohort Analysis 57. Margin of Error 107. Semantics
9. Conceptual framework 58. Measurement 108. Semiotics
10. Concurrent mixed 59. Meta-Analysis 109. Sequential mixed method
methods 60. Methodology 110. Significance of the study.
11. Confidentiality 61. Methods 111. Social Theories
12. Construct 62. Mixed-Methods 112. Sociolinguistics
13. Construct Validity 63. Modeling 113. Standard Deviation
14. Constructivism 64. Models 114. Statement of the problem
15. Content Analysis 65. Moderating Variable 115. Statistical Analysis
16. Control Group 66. Narrative analysis 116. Statistical Bias
17. Controlled Experiment 67. Naturalistic Observation 117. Statistical Significance
18. Conversation analysis 68. Nonscience Methods 118. Statistical Tests
19. Correlational Research 69. Null Hypothesis 119. Study Area
20. Cross-sectional study 70. Ontology 120. Study organisation
21. Data 71. Panel Study 121. Study limitations
22. Data Mining 72. Participant 122. Subcultures
23. Data Quality 73. Phenomenology 123. Testing
24. Deconstruction 74. Phenomenology 124. Theoretical framework
25. Deductive research 75. Philosophy 125. Theoretical review
26. Dependent Variable 76. Phonology 126. Theory
27. Descriptive research 77. Population 127. Treatment group
28. Deviation 78. Position Papers 128. Trend Samples
29. Discourse analysis 79. Positivism 129. Triangulation
30. Effect Size 80. Predictive Measurement 130. Unit of Analysis
31. Empirical Research 81. Principal Investigator 131. Validity
32. Empirical review 82. Purpose of the Study 132. Variable
33. Epistemology 83. Qualitative Research
34. Ethical Consideration 84. Quantitative Research
35. Ethnography 85. Questionnaire
36. Explanatory Design 86. Random Sampling
37. Exploratory Design 87. Reliability
38. External Validity 88. Replicability
39. Factor Analysis 89. Representative Sample
40. Field Studies 90. Research
41. Focus Groups 91. Research Methods
42. Framework 92. Research Objectives
43. Generalizability 93. Research Philosophies
44. Grounded Theory 94. Research Problem
45. Grounded theory 95. Research Proposal
46. Grounded theory 96. Research Questions
47. Hermeneutics 97. Rigour
48. Hypothesis 98. Sample
49. Independent Variable 99. Sampling Error

Appendix 2: Assignment 1 (DEADLINE: Assignment to be submitted during the Third Meeting)

1. Pick a topic.

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 2. Gather at least 25 articles of not more than five (5) years old from credible sources (You may get
from the UCC Library Database of Journals).
3. Use a table to categorize the literature according to:
a. Citation
b. Topic
c. population
d. Research method (research design, research instruments and data analysis techniques
used)
e. Key findings
4. Based on the results, craft your research problem, gap, objectives, hypotheses, research methods,
unit of analysis and mode of data collection for the topic you have selected for your
thesis/dissertation.

Appendix 3: Content of Final Proposal Presentation

a. Background
b. Statement of the problem
c. Purpose of the study
d. Research objectives
e. Research questions
f. Scope of the study
g. Limitations of the study
h. Literature review
i. Research methods
j. References (use APA style)