To Teacher

Instructions for teachers on how to use Mapping Research Methods.

Mapping Research Methods can be freely used in methodological courses at the University of Jyväskylä, as well as other educational institutions. Mapping Research Methods can be used for example as learning material or supplementary material in method courses, in the supervision of students’ research theses and as material through which you (the teacher) can check students’ understanding of methodologies before your courses begin or the students start to plan their research theses.

The structure of the content, the Method Map, contains five separate areas. Each area is illustrated with a circle of a different colour. The areas are:

• Aims
• Strategies
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Philosophy of science

Mapping Research Methods is designed to enable you to concentrate on just one particular part. The relationships between the areas are illustrated through the circle of Aims. The aims of research depicted in the circle function as links through which the different methods can be viewed at the same time. You (the teacher) can with the help of this circle focus on teaching particular kinds of research aims and the methods related to them.

Mapping Research Methods aims to offer examples of methodological choices in humanistic research. You can with the help of the examples teach students those methodological choices which are typical and common in humanistic research. Furthermore, Mapping Research Methods enables you to teach about the rarer and more untypical methodological choices.

Mapping Research Methods does not aim to be an extensive illustration on all the varieties of methodological thinking, but to give a general view, which should help to structure the knowledge related to research methods in humanities.  The stages of research process are introduced in a separate link. The process is divided into four stages, through which you can help your students to gain a deeper understanding of any particular stage of the research process. Research ethics are included in this section, as an essential element of the research process.

Mapping Research Methods also includes exercises, which you can use as either teaching material or a method for evaluating your students’ understanding of research methodologies. The exercises are thematically categorized according to the methods and stages of the research process.

When referring to either or both the contents and interactive graphics of Mapping Research Methods please copy and paste the example available at this link: Authors.