1. Conducting a research project

2. Clarify Aims and Research Questions Conduct Literature Review Describe methodology Design Research Collect DataAnalyse Data Present findings, draw conclusions Write Report START

3. Clarify Aims and Research Questions Conduct Literature Review Describe methodology Design Research Collect DataAnalyse Data Present findings, draw conclusions Write Report Conducting a research project Write research proposal Rationale for research methods, data collection and analysis, sample size, plus possible issues Gain ethical approval Gain access to research environment START

4. Research proposal: the main elements Methodology Task: To justify the research methods and other decisions you have made and explain your assumptions What to do: Explain are the values, attitudes or beliefs inherent in your choice of methods and approach to data? Attempt to justify theoretical assumptions or existing understandings that you are drawing upon in the design of your research proposal. For example, you might be making assumptions about how power operates, how community education or lifelong learning can be understood or practiced, how adults learn, or deeper understandings about what is a ‘community’. Refer to literature here. There should be a coherent relationship between the methodology (the justification and rational behind the methods) and the methods themselves. Consider your role in the study. Although you will be a researcher, you are also a student and you will have your professional role. How will that influence the participants’ perceptions of you and how does that influence your perception of yourself? What might the potential problems if there’s a blurring of roles? What might the advantages be of being an insider in some ways? Ethical Considerations Outcomes Are there any sensitive issues or potential problems, which need to be addressed? How will you consult on these and obtain approval where required. If you think there are no sensitive issues, then give reasons why. How do you see the people involved in the study? Would you provide them with feedback? Outcomes What are the likely outcome(s) of your research? FINISH Background to the research Aim(s) and research question(s) Task: To explain the aim of the investigation and identify the questions which will inform and guide it What to do: Read about the topic to gain some understanding of research that has already been undertaken in the area, Define questions that cover what is to be found out and why. They should be: clear, understandable and researchable and in line with the time and resources available whilst still being significant in furthering understanding of the topic. E.g. What additional support to adult learning tutors require to help them tutor adults with learning disabilities? NOT How can the adult learning be made more successful? The question should be framed so that it is clear how it might be answered through practical activity. Research design Utilise a design template. Select methods for data collection and analysis, which will allow the research question to be addressed. Attempt to justify the decisions you make about how you will undertake the research/intervention. Explain the rationale for choosing particular research methods and how they will contribute to meeting your aim. Why have you discounted other approaches? At this stage include your understanding about sample sizes and how data will be collected and analysed. Describe any practical problems you anticipate might encounter. Base decisions on the resource available and the environment in which the research is taking place.. Context This might include issues of policy, practice or public interest. Also, understandings of relevant literature, previous research or interventions (as you understand it). Definition of terms Define concepts and any specialised language you are using. Your proposal should be understandable by anyone unfamiliar with your chosen topic. This doesn’t need to be a separate section Literature Review Outline the literature you would need to read, analyse or understand in order to go about undertaking your proposed research/intervention. You will need to do some reading to inform your understanding of what this literature would consist of. However, you are not expected to have read all of the literature at this stage. This might include: Literature connected to your research topic Literature that informs the research methods you are proposing to use Policy documents, newspaper reports or websites. START Task: to convey what motivates your interest in the topic. How is it relevant to your own experience? What are the issues and problems you are seeking to understand or address? Try to convey your genuine interest, understanding and enthusiasm for the research area, what the investigation or intervention is and why it is required References: Bell, Judith, ‘Doing Your Research Project’, (1987), Open University Press Bryman, Alan, ‘Social Research Methods’, (2008), Oxford University Press

5. Research proposal: the main elements Methodology at might the advantages be of being an insider in some ways? Ethical Considerations Outcomes Outcomes FINISH Background to the research Aim(s) and research question(s) Research design. Context Definition of terms Literature Review. START References: Bell, Judith, ‘Doing Your Research Project’, (1987), Open University Press Bryman, Alan, ‘Social Research Methods’, (2008), Oxford University Press

6. Title: Comparing the adult learner’s everyday struggle with numeracy to the curricula that they negotiate in class Methodology Task: To justify the research methods and other decisions you have made and explain your assumptions What to do: Drawing upon ‘phenomenological theory’ which assumes that lived human experience can be taken as ‘real’. Mentions how this might make it difficult to take upon issues of power. Discusses potential issues connected to researching at own place of work. Ethical Considerations Outcomes Describes use of ‘BERA code of conduct’ to inform ethical decisions. Describes potential issue of participants feeling they might have to take part even if they have reservations and offers a strategy to tackle this problem. Outcomes Will produce a description of the phenomenon of struggling with numeracy, as perceived by individual adult learners. Will also provide an account of how the curriculum negotiated in class differs from the situations and concepts struggled with in every day life. The research method will also be evaluated. Practitioner networks and professional groups for adult numeracy researchers might be vehicles for dissemination FINISH Background to the research Aim(s) and research question(s) Aim: to explore how the numeracy curricula negotiated by adult learners during class-time reflects real life experiences of struggling with numeracy. Questions: What are the real life experiences of adult learners who struggle with numeracy? What are the curricula that adult learners negotiate during numeracy classes? To what extent are real world experiences of adult learners negotiated into curricula? Research design Utilises a design template. Takes each research question and describes the method used to answer it. These include a semi- structured interview and the collection of hard copies of students’ documentary records so that they can be analysed. The findings from the interviews are to be compared against what has been discovered from analysing the students’ records. Sample will consist of three adult numeracy learners’ who are regular attenders and are working at an assessed level identifying them as struggling with numeracy. Context Adult numeracy education under researched. It has been defined by policy. Emphasis has been placed on numeracy needed for employment, rather than numeracy needed in everyday life. Definition of terms The terms ‘Numerical concept’, ‘learner’ and ‘Individual Learning Plan’ are defined Literature Review Describes how a search will be undertaken using the terms ‘adult literacies’ and ‘adult numeracy’’. Will search the journal ‘Adults Learning Mathematics’. Will refer to Scottish policy documents defining literacies education. Gives examples of how to consider literature which describes how to research lived experience. Describes literature that will allow the development of a theoretical framework e.g. with reference to ‘phenomenology’ and ‘constructivism’ START Situated as an adult literacies tutor of numeracy. Interested in questions about how adults learn. Wants to do a study which does not focus on policy, rather the experience of adult learners References: Bell, Judith, ‘Doing Your Research Project’, (1987), Open University Press Bryman, Alan, ‘Social Research Methods’, (2008), Oxford University Press