2010-2011 Academic Catalog

May 11, 2024

2010-2011 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

IDCE 30209 - Research Project Development for Environmental Science and Policy

Research Project Development for Environmental Science and Policy,Research is the biggest industry in the world, a vital social enterprise. This class has three complementary objectives: 1) To help students understand the research process, its principles, approaches and challenges; 2) To introduce specific methods and techniques - qualitative, quantitative and mixed; and 3) To get students engaged with their own individual research process. For the latter, the individual Student Research Journal serves to document the student’s free exploration of research topics, problem statements, questions, hypotheses, detailed notes on sources (literature review), and provisional planning and design for data collection (as appropriate). Since this is a half-course, it is not necessary for the student to identify her/his specific MA research topic during this time, though this is advantageous. Rather, the course is designed to assist in the identification of that topic through a systematic research process. The course has four main parts: 1) lecture time to introduce principles, and case studies; 2) structured discussion time with peers and the instructor to explore research ideas; 3) background reading, and literature searching and reviewing; and 4) introduction to three key methods. The methods are: i) survey questionnaire design; ii) environmental field sampling design; and iii) the SPSS data analysis tool. The first two methods are undertaken as design tasks in groups of 3-5 students, in a real-world context of the students’ choosing. The third is undertaken individually.

Instructor: Mr Downs

When Offered: Every year, (seven weeks module) 1st half of Spring.

Faculty: Timothy Downs, D.Env. Assistant Professor of IDCE