Chevron Left
Back to Understanding Research Methods

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

4.6
stars
7,199 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

A

Jul 26, 2017

This is wonderful course especially for research scholars, one suggestion is instead of giving articles from books, please provide a PPT which will be more effective ! thank you for wonderful session.

CS

May 9, 2022

Really easy to follow and great advice from all the experts! It has helped me organise from the beginning of my dissertation and I feel more comfortable getting started on what is a big project ahead.

Filter by:

1801 - 1825 of 2,338 Reviews for Understanding Research Methods

By HJ

Dec 31, 2020

It is a good course in terms of the e-tivity exercises, and majority of the videos are just interviews so if you actually read the suggested material, and really put an effort into the peer assignments, you can really learn a lot. I'd recommend doing the course/

By Samin M K

May 8, 2020

Could've shown real life examples of a few research works as well as add a few more weeks and spare a bit more knowledge and let us do more practical work. It was a good course anyways because i learnt something new. Thank you Coursera and University of London.

By Monika V

Mar 24, 2020

The course was overall very informative and effective. However, it will be more enriched if there will be more readings and powerpoint presentations. Peer reviewing should also be taken seriously. Personally for me, the experience was satisfactory. Thank You.

By Rajshekhar I

Oct 18, 2015

Good course for anyone starting the journey of research. The course gives you an overview of the whole process in simple and easy way. Research work is challenging, however, this introductory course gives you some comfort when you hear the research scholars.

By Anika P

Nov 12, 2018

This course helped me understand how to direct my research and write useful feedback, as well as explore different research methods. it also helped me understand how to write a literature review effectively and definitely inspired me to begin researching.

By Juliana

Feb 10, 2018

It is a good course, but if you already have a scientific background it may be too basic to you. I really liked the videos, especially the one talking about how you can deal with critics - this is something nobody teaches you. I would recommend it.

By María V R

Apr 27, 2020

It´s a really clear course with excellent reading material. The videos are very clear and straight to the point. Unlukily, I've found out that some students do not answer consiously the activities and the forums are not used with its real purpose.

By Sean C

Aug 28, 2020

The course gives an outline of the main steps to consider when doing research. The only way to practice these steps is to do research, but after this course I feel more comfortable planning out and executing the different steps of research.

By N N R

Apr 13, 2020

Interersting and important inputs received from the instructers in the form of interviews provided, however some giudence in the lecture mode would be appreciated especially for writing research proposal or conducting literature review

By Shakir U

Sep 19, 2021

all the course was awesome and also the method but i will that the instructors need to add additional info in the form pdf files for the better understanding of the students, because sometimes we have accent understanding problems.

By Cat S

Sep 25, 2020

A practical course with a lot of focus on individual reflection which helped me. Feedback provided by peers on work completed is often not of the standard the instructors request - comments are not left to help you improve your work.

By Syed A B A

Jun 10, 2022

This course is best to get the insights of Reseach methods. Several questions which every researcher has in his mind are answered in this course and clears the doubts regarding the qualitative and quantitative methods of research.

By Yezid J M G

Jun 13, 2018

Saludos. En punto de foco quiero agradecer a todas estas prestigiosas universidades por compartir con nosotros sus investigaciones. Realmente fueron grandes conocimientos, actualizaciones y nuevos en su carácter más puro. saludos.

By Anna B S

Jul 27, 2017

I thought the course was just what I needed to start to understand better the definitions and stages for higher education levels of research. It's helped me understand existing ways I work and give them a more structured catergory

By Subarna G

Aug 29, 2021

it is an informative course. Gave us a basic overall of what research is and what all things we are supposed to do at the start of this course. Thank you for all the knowledge and information and tips to start a good research.

By Tin K W

Oct 21, 2022

Good topic for me but I hope to learn more detail reserach mehods how to do in practice. I want t oget certificate for this course but I can't able to paid.This topic will be useful for everyone who interesting in research.

By Sabur M

Feb 11, 2018

Great introductory course. A little basic - could do with being longer and exploring more issues in more detail.

Also would be nice for their to be some form of exam in order to obtain a meaningful score other than (100%)

By Harsh G

Sep 28, 2023

This course is good and I hope it will take best opportunity for me. But I was not much able to understand the conversation in proper way of researchers and proffesors because their communication was not much too clear.

By Arvind R

Aug 23, 2015

Peer review evaluation for assignment work is a great way to foster collaboration and new ways of thinking.. what one reviewer might write could be varied from the next reviewer thereby the course adding a lot of value.

By Aniket P

May 21, 2020

It was fairly easy course. Very informative about research methodologies. I would have loved to see some difficult exercises which were missing in this course. Otherwise it was a good course for a newbie in this area.

By Rishwi T

Apr 22, 2020

Should have taken more examples from real researchers in the field of physics or any other life science and should have asked them the sequence of steps from the ideation to the publishing of their research project.

By Si N Y

Apr 7, 2016

Great course, I managed to refine my research question through its assignments, and got a better idea of how to go about creating a good literature review. Have bookmarked most of the readings for future reference.

By Shaker A A

Jun 26, 2020

Dear Sir/Madam,

I found it interesting way of online learning. I thank you.

I need a proof of attendance for my supervisor.

Your feedback is highly appreciated.

Best regards,

Shaker Abdul Aziz

aashaker@graduate.utm.my

By Dr R A R A

Oct 28, 2015

A very fruitful effort and a nice MOOC by Univ of London allowing many many people/researchers across the globe to learn about state of art research methods which are usually not taught at MPhil or PhD levels.

By Sumita J

May 21, 2020

The course is nice framed..

However, i am not able to see my e certificate even though i have completed the course successfully and received email regarding the same.

Request to guide and resent e certificate.