CERS works across Middlesex University to provide training for doctoral students from all disciplines, in collaboration with colleagues from other departments.
Details of training can be found on the UniHub website.
Links to videos etc. from previous sessions run by CERS can be found below:
‘Developing Research Questions’ (Lee Jerome)
- It is important that research questions are appropriate and clear. Crafting a set of research questions is a skill that develops over the life of a research study. An initial set of questions will help to orientate your research but they will need further refinement as your research unfolds. This workshop will offer guidance on how to craft and refine research questions that are shaped by your theoretical orientation and will in turn determine the most appropriate methods for your study.
‘Interview Recording and Transcription’ (Leena Robertson)
- The practicalities of gathering qualitative data and transcribing that data into a form that can be subjected to analysis is an important stage of any research study. The session will address the practical as well as ethical issues involved in recording qualitative interviews. Transcription is also a crucial part of any small scale study, whilst incredibly time consuming the opportunities to re-engage with your data when typing up interviews represents the first stage of the analytic process and should be recognised as such.
Writing and Editing a Doctoral Thesis’ (Professor Jayne Osgood)
- Writing and Editing a thesis is always a more challenging task than first imagined. Bringing together years of research and reading in to a coherent form requires tenacity, stamina and lots of redrafting. In this session you will be introduced to some useful writing habits, strategies and approaches that canassist you in the task. Successful PhD students will offer insights from their experiences of ‘writing up’ their doctorates.
‘Issues in Research Design’ (Professor Paul Gibbs)
- This workshop will consider how to manage and plan your research methodology and to anticipate the likely issues you will encounter. Being clear about what you want to research will determine the questions you pose and the most appropriate methods needed to address them. This session will consider the important connection between theory and method.
‘Writing a Literature Review’ (Victoria de Rijke)
- Research of any kind involves reading widely and extensively. A PhD study requires that you become an expert in your field; to do this requires deep immersion in several bodies of literature and to identify the gaps in knowledge that you seek to fill. Reading precedes the start of your study, determines the shape of your research, and continues throughout. Having undertaken so much reading you need to demonstrate your understanding and engagement with the literature and to position yourself and your study within the debates – not an easy task but a fundamental one. This session will explore ways to craft and structure your literature review.
Information and resources from the 2015/16 programme can be found on the CERS Doctoral Research Training site.