Research Design
GEO-361-A
Fall 2002
Department of Geography and Meteorology
Valparaiso University

Course Description Research design introduces upper level geography students to a variety of methods of research in geography. Students will learn about different philosophical approaches to research, methods for selecting a research topic and generating research questions, research ethics, and methods for collecting and analyzing data. The primary product of the class will be the generation of a collectively authored regional geography of Porter County, Indiana.

This text is one of the best contemporary texts on research design in human geography. While I have listed specific readings in the schedule below, it will be particularly useful as a reference guide. Because it is written as a reference guide you might find yourself getting lost at points because you lack prerequisite knowledge. This is OK. Note your questions and be sure to ask in class.

Teaching/Learning Philosophy for Research Design The best way to learn how to do research is to do it. This course will therefore focus primarily upon doing research rather than learning about how to do research. This means that you should not expect that all of the knowledge you will need to complete the research project will necessarily be presented in lecture by your professor. For instance, it will be impossible to cover every aspect of quantitative, qualitative, or spatial analysis in this course since these are topics that could be the focus of an entirely separate course. You may have to seek out this knowledge yourself using your textbook or other resources. You may also find that as you conduct research that your professor will not necessarily be able to give you a definitive answer to your questions. The overall success of this class depends upon what you as students collectively put into the class. This class will be what you make it!

Anticipated Assignments The following is a list of the anticipated assignments. More details about each assignment will be given in class. Assignments may be added or deleted as necessary. See the schedule for due dates or listen for announcements in class.

In Class and Take Home Exercises Specific exercises will be assigned as needed. Initial assignments are as follows:

• Interests Maps. Students map out their interests in class.
• Analysis of approach taken in an article. Students will select an article describing empirical research from an academic journal and analyze the philosophical approach to research taken by the author. (1-3 pages)
• Analysis of quantitative article. Students will select an article describing quantitative empirical research from an academic journal and analyze the way that the author reports on data collection and analysis methods. (1-3 pages)
• Analysis of qualitative article. Students will select an article describing qualitative empirical research from an academic journal and analyze the way that the author reports on data collection and analysis methods. (1-3 pages)
• Other exercises as needed

Participation and Attendance Attendance at all class meetings required for this course. Absences will lower your attendance grade unless you provide a written note or an e-mail offering an explanation for your absence. This class may require you to work on your research in groups and with your professor outside of the regularly scheduled class time. Failure to show up after you have committed to a particular meeting will lower your attendance grade.

Participation in classroom discussions is also expected. I will assess participation by taking notes on our class discussions. I will also count out of class office visits where discussion of the course material takes place as participation. If you have difficulty speaking up in class, come see me and we can work on that. I will do my best to provide a comfortable and welcoming environment for discussion.

Research Project The primary assignment for this course is a collective research project focused upon generating a regional geography of Porter County. Students will work in research teams that will specialize in different topics of importance to the region. Specific topics will be chosen by the students in consultation with the rest of the class and the professor. It is expected that each research team will use quantitative, qualitative, and spatial analysis (mapping) techniques in their research. Both a written paper and an oral presentation will be required. It is expected that the research conducted this semester will be suitable for presentation at a future regional geography meeting or undergraduate research conference.

• Outline of a topic for research
• Research Questions, propositions/hypotheses, conceptual framework
• Data collection plan (including drafts of surveys and or interview schedules)
• Human Subjects proposal (if necessary)
• Data analysis plan
• Written Report of research
• Oral presentation of research

Note about group work In this class we will be working as one big research team. However you will be working with a partner or partners on your particular part of the research. You will need to devise a plan to equitably split up the work. In reporting your results you should make clear what sections of the report are written by whom and each person should have an approximately equal role in oral presentation.

Authorized Aid and the Honor Code The Honor Code will be upheld in this course. Authorized aid will be limited to your own personal knowledge during exams and on individual written assignments. For the research project it is expected that you will work closely with other class members.

Grading Most of your grade in this class is tied to the research project you will complete for the course but failure to complete other assignments will result in a lower grade. Depending upon the requirements of our research project this grading distribution may be modified. Late assignments will not be accepted except in case of emergency or unless pre-arranged.

15% In class and Take Home Exercises 15%

10 % Participation and Attendance 10%

60% Research Project 60%

20% Research Project Assignments

20% Written Report

20% Oral Report

15% Final Exam 15%

Schedule Below is a tentative schedule for this class. The actual schedule will depend upon the pre-existing knowledge of class members and the specific research projects you choose. During the months of September and August we will spend our time learning about the research process and research design. During the month of October we will be collecting data for our collective research project. This may involve some class time in the field and time in class to coordinate research. At the same time, we will discuss strategies for the analysis of data. Lectures and discussions will introduce you to the wide variety of different techniques available for data analysis. Depending upon the needs of our research we will cover these with varying depth. The month of November will be focused primarily upon data analysis and creating final written and oral presentations of our research.