I’m just trying to write some things down after our tutorial today. Amongst other things there were two books recommended which offered some ideas about research methods. These were:

• Universal methods of design [electronic resource]: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions, Bruce Hanington and Bella Martin
• Creative Research Methods in Social Sciences, Helen Kara

I think I’m clear that a big part of my research is going to be through a focus group. However, as I will offer individual interviews as well and Hanington and Martin say, ‘The power of focus groups lies in the group dynamic that it creates.’ (Hanington and Martin, 2012, p.92). I’m not 100% sure that’s the right term or if it is, am I undermining it by doing individual interviews too. Would I be mixing methods too much? I’m not sure.

Despite this, the idea of a structured group discussion, in person, with around 6-8 participants is pretty clear in my mind. I’m sure I want to do this students, I need to work out if I have the capacity to do this also with staff.

Finding participants:

One of my questions is about the potential range of people I want to hear from. Is it too broad to focus on people who are neurodivergent, those from a non-academic background and those with English as an additional language. Lindsay said to go ahead with all of them, but Rachel said perhaps it’s best to focus on a smaller group and it might turn out that the groups overlap – intersectionality would most likely be a factor. Carys said that current practice in the Disability team is to ask for responses from all participants because not everyone identifies as disabled and by not asking for contributions from all, I could be inadvertently excluded disabled students.

If I have the permission of the BA course team, I am going to recruit by going in, in person to a teaching session, explaining the project and the aims – improving the design of the course Moodle pages and others at CSM – the methods and time needed. I’ll need to provide this information in different formats (written and verbal, perhaps a short video?) to be more inclusive, and provide an easy way to contact me. It might be best to focus on 2nd years in the first instance as they have experienced the previous version and still have reason to be invested. Q. Does it matter if some have experienced the previous version and some haven’t?

For staff, I could present the project in a team meeting, and ask if anyone who is willing to talk to me about it can let me know privately. I’m assuming that staff members may not want to disclose any neurodiversity or disability to the rest of the team.

Bibliography:

Hanington, B., and Martin B. Universal Methods of Design : 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions, Quarto Publishing Group USA, 2012. ProQuest Ebook Central