Research Skills in the Social Sciences: Data Collection is concerned with the techniques and practices of doing empirical research. It’s a team-taught research training course in the Graduate School, and develops professional competence in gathering information by talking to people, collecting documents, conducting surveys and observing social interaction. We cover a range of associated issues, including identifying and using different sources; recruiting and negotiating access to research respondents; formulating questions and managing interviews and focus groups; sampling populations and designing surveys; recording observations; research ethics.
