Day 3: Navigating the new

The day started with a session on Mixed Methods by Dr Ilse Eigelaar-Meets. Her lively presentation was well received. She started off by discussing two key philosophical concerns, ontology and epistemology, touching on the three ontological arguments and the three epistemological approaches. A definition of mixed methods and a discussion on the types of mixed methods research designs followed.

The next session was presented by Prof Martin Kidd, the Director of the Centre for Statistical Consultation, on Statistics in your research. He discussed the phases of a project: planning, execution, data capturing, data analysis and reporting. The participants asked very relevant questions and a few enquiries about how and where the Centre can be contacted for help. This was a very important and relevant session.

The afternoon sessions were presented by Ms Claire Deakin from SAGE and Dr Bronwyne Coetzee from the Department of Psychology.  Ms Deakin gave an eye-opening presentation on two interactive research tools of Sage Research Methods Online with features for Project planning and Methods maps.  This allows researchers to narrow their searches depending on the research process.

Project Planner in Sage Research Methods Online

Dr Coetzee gave a riveting presentation on the qualitative data analysis software, ATLAS.ti.  The featured functions allow for data management, coding of data, groupings, sub-groups and hierarchies.  The programme allows for the interaction of various file types, and collaboration with other researchers. It is also integrated with statistical analysis programmes and reference manager tools.

The phases of qualitative analysis

Day 4: Traversing the tides

The takeaway from the first session on Research ethics and responsible research conduct within Social Science research, presented by Clarissa Robertson, Division for Research Development:

It is important to note that applying for research ethics is not all about ticking the boxes, but having the understanding that ethics comes first in all research. Research ethics is about credibility, responsibility, and transparency and can also be regarded as a roadmap. Researchers can regard the Research Ethics Committees as their partners in the research process.

The session  Checking your similarity index with Turnitin, presented by  Morris Samuel, Centre for Teaching and Learning:

Morris gave an overview of Turnitin. It is important to note that Turnitin does not check for plagiarism, it only checks for similarities against other publications within Turnitin. Students should always consult with their lecturers or supervisors regarding their similarity index scores for clarification. Students are encouraged to make use of the Turnitin sandbox link provided by the Library.

Authors: Paulette Talliard, Marleen van Wyk and Yusuf Ras