# Learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

- appreciate why theory is relevant to and important for research
- recognise how research perspectives offer ways of linking theory to the practice of research
- understand what a research paradigm is and how paradigms can be distinguished from each other
- recognise how the choice of a research paradigm and its associated research methodology relates to how a research problem or enquiry is conceptualised
- understand how different research positions have led to different views about what counts as evidence and, as a consequence, what is judged to be valuable or reliable evidence in research
- appreciate how having a clear view of the theories and concepts informing a study offers a useful framework for research.

OpenLearn - Engaging with postgraduate research: education, childhood & youth
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