The Research Process

This section provides resources on various stages in the research process and can be used as a framework for constructing a basic research proposal. The materials designed to inform the research process are grouped under particular headings – more or less in sequence, from the beginning of a research project through to presenting the research findings. While it is understood that research projects will not always proceed in such a linear fashion (and, in fact, rarely do), this framework has been used for the logical flow of the presentation. 

Where to start

• National VET landscape
• The working ten point plan
• What am I actually doing in this research?
• Diagram of research process
• Competing paradigms of social knowledge creation
• Further resources – General works

How to write a literature review

• About writing a literature review
• Writing literature reviews
• Sourcing and referencing the literature
• Further resources – Literature reviews

How to write a research proposal

• Scoping a research proposal
• Resources for writing a research proposal – websites
• Further resources – Research designs

Ethics requirements & ethics applications

• Introduction to ethics considerations
• Research ethics
• Ethical considerations
• Ethical practice as a student: undertaking projects and assignments in workplaces and other institutions
• AVETRA Code of Practice
• NHMRC-Australian Code for the responsible conduct of research
• Further resources – Ethics

How to develop a methodology

• Mixed methods: The third methodological movement
• Self as instrument – case studies in VET research
• Resources – Research methodology

How to select research methods

• Case Studies – How many? How to select?

How to collect data for the project

• Why should they give me time for interviews or fill in my questionnaires?
• Developing instruments for your VET research
• Further resources – Collecting data

How to analyse the data

• Thematic analysis
• Coding your documents in VET research
• Tabulating key conceptual relationships in a VET study
• Further resources – Analysing data

How to address quality criteria in the research design

• Quality frameworks and procedural checklists for mixed methods research
• Further resources – Quality criteria

How to present the findings

• Writing up case studies in VET
• Structures for project write up
• Writing up and publishing in the NCVER template
• Publishing your research findings
• Displaying your VET research findings
• Further resources – Presenting findings

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