This course teaches you to design sound research — linking your question to the right evidence, working with qualitative and quantitative methods, combining them, and planning a project that can actually be finished.

It is for students and researchers ready to move from finding information to producing it, rigorously and ethically.

What you’ll be able to do

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• design research where every part aligns;
• choose and apply qualitative methods;
• choose and apply quantitative methods;
• combine methods purposefully;
• plan a feasible, ethical research project;

The lessons

1. Research Design Fundamentals — aligning question, data, method, and analysis.
2. Qualitative Methods — exploring meaning through words and observation.
3. Quantitative Methods — measuring and testing with numbers.
4. Mixed Methods — combining numbers and meaning for a fuller picture.
5. Research Project Planning — timelines, ethics, resources, and contingencies.

How to study this course

Work through the lessons in order — each is a short read with a worked example, a quick exercise, and a hand-picked free resource. Use the Previous and Next buttons at the foot of each page to move along. There are no fees and no enrolment barriers; the course is open to everyone, and you can revisit it any time.

This courseware is provided free by FRELIP. Original text released under CC BY 4.0; linked resources remain under their own licences. Curated by the FRELIP Open Courseware editorial team.