RMES Courses term2

RMES 502 Research Design and Methods for Decision Making
Catalogue No. 2395
Team taught, convened by Hadi Dowlatabadi

6 Credits, 2x1.5 hours sessions per week, over 2 terms

This is a course in which case studies are used to teach how sustainability questions are turned into researchable topics and what research methods (qualitative and quantitative) are used to arrive at answers.

The case studies will reflect the foci likely to be the subject of research by RMES students/relevant to their professional careers. The case studies will begin with simple questions and grow in sophistication and complexity. It is expected that a total of 7 case studies will be completed, followed by one or two class research design projects where teams of students will be assigned the task of appropriate research design and methods for addressing a given policy relevant question.

The case studies will be prepared by teams of faculty and post-docs with the aim of highlighting key features of good research design, how different perspectives (theoretically, conceptually and methodologically) can lead to different kinds of research and how there is value in these different approaches, and foster the search for even better hybrid approaches.

Given the wide range of incoming academic and professional backgrounds among the students, peer mentoring will be used within the class to help bolster knowledge of and familiarity with qualitative and quantitative methods.

The goal of this course is to foster literacy in research methods and bring about familiarity with good research design.

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Section 201 (Term 2) Section 001 (Terms 1 & 2)