My experiences with the Second Year Education Studies research project:

Background to the project:

This project involves designing, carrying out and producing a 4000-word write-up, of a small-scale research study on an education-related topic. It is part of the EQ201 Research Methods module during year 2 of the Education Studies degree.

Reflecting on my project as a whole:

Overall, I really enjoyed completing my research project as it provided me with the opportunity to conduct research first-hand. Although at first, a 4000-word research report may seem overwhelming, your academic respondent supports you through the process and ensures all your questions are answered. Throughout the module, I learnt a lot about conducting research and regarding formats of reports and would argue it was overall a very valuable module for the dissertation module next year!

One personal consideration I have looking back is that I spent a lot of time formulating the literature review and the methods section so I left it too late with collecting the data (I only had three weeks to analyse the data and write my discussions and findings section which may sound like a long time, but I struggled with the analysis part).  If I were to repeat my project, I would focus on contacting participants and conducting the research as early on as possible!

Reflecting on the feedback I was given:

• Ensure I clarify and expand on my discussion points – specifically I need to focus on the data analysis and expand on what process took place – for example, I used thematic analysis but did not explicitly express the steps I took.
• Referencing in-text citations – This is something I struggled with, and I need to remember if it is a government department producing the report, then you can state that instead of an author.

The advice I would give to future second-year students:

• Definitely use the feedback given from previous assignments – When completing the EQ201 module we produced a 2000-word assignment research proposal before the 4000-word research report. The feedback was extremely useful, and I created a checklist so that I knew I could improve and develop my second report.
• Choose a topic that you are interested in and passionate about, this will help with the literature review and overall motivation for the project.
• Start early with the data collection as you will need more time to analyse the data than you think!
• The format of the write-up assignment – make use of headings and subheadings to ensure the structure is coherent.
• Double-check references before submitting!
• Finally, ENJOY IT! I know it’s an assignment, but I really enjoyed the interview process and gaining other individuals’ perspectives!

I hope this provides an insight into my experience and what to bear in mind whilst approaching and completing the Year 2 research project and possibly other assignments.

Until next time, Kaitlyn x