Digital Research Methods (DRM) assignment: Assessment needs to be carried out and submitted in two parts. Your research topic must be the same in both part one and part two. They are complimentary to one another.
Part one: Written assessment
Starting with the approaches put forward in the course, carry out some background research on how to use DRM for your chosen topic. This could include a theoretical enquiry, an exploration of methods, research in to technologies or tools, and/or relevant case studies. Consider especially the kinds of questions and issues raised in the course, for example;
• What kinds of data or objects is the DRM giving me access to? • How is the ‘data’ constructed?
• What is the relationship between quantitative and qualitative in my planned approach?
• What are the social and ethical relationships involved?
• Would digital research methods tell me something I would be unable to discover by other means?
• How might a mixture of methods or a hybrid approach be applied?
You don’t have to address all these issues and you can include others, but you must reflect critically on how DRM might be relevant for your research. Must include references.
Guidelines for length: 2000-2500 words.
Part two: Practice-based assessment
Apply one or more of the techniques you’ve learned during the term to your research topic. Capture the details of your work as you go. The idea is not to fully answer a research question but to learn by putting DRM in to practice, and using that experience to raise further questions about methods and the process.
Write a critical and reflective account of what you have learned through this process. Consider how easy or hard it was to apply the method to your chosen topic, what (if anything) was unexpected, what you might learn through the failure or the limitations of the method, and how you would extend the research if you had the time and resources.
Suggested length: 1000 words plus images, video etc. Include references
