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.