phd research methodology syllabus

PhD in Research Methodology

Use numbers and data to drive systematic change in education.

A number is not simply a number in our research methodology program. Here, unlike in math or statistics, numbers are not the final answer. With a PhD in Research Methodology, you can work in educational and institutional research, using numbers to tell the story of the human experience and create meaningful change.

Our commitment to you

Upon graduation with a PhD in research methodology from Loyola, you will possess the following knowledge, skills, and professional values necessary to commence a career as an institutional researcher, evaluator, college professor, or researcher at large professional organizations, testing companies, or consulting agencies that provide educational evaluation services.

You will develop expertise in evaluation, statistics, and measurement, and recognize when research findings are being misrepresented or data misused. Our expert faculty will train you in both qualitative and quantitative methodology, including applied statistics and psychometrics. You'll also learn how numbers relate to action, policy, and advocacy.

You will be able to critically evaluate bodies of knowledge from a variety of methodological traditions, use a variety of software programs to implement analyses, and conduct all stages of a research study in applied settings. Plus, you'll participate in a required consulting experience, where you'll conduct a research study and then provide consulting advice to a researcher or organization.

Professional Values

We strive to ensure that our graduates never lose sight of the humanity that number reflect, and become responsible researchers whose conclusions align with their findings. You will engage in ethical, just, and culturally competent research practices.

Program Faculty

Our dedicated Research Methodology Faculty are experts in their fields who will support students throughout each stage of the program.

Program Length

Students typically take up to two or three courses each term and up to two courses during the summer, and completion times for this degree vary with the topic of each student's dissertation. The typical length for this program is five years.

Continuous Enrollment Doctoral students in research methodology are required to maintain continuous enrollment during their program of studies. This means that during each semester of each academic year (excluding Summer Sessions), each student must enroll in at least one course. A formal  leave of absence  may be granted upon request and the approval of the School of Education’s Associate Dean of Student Academic Services.

Admission Requirements

Interested in applying? Check out the  PhD Research Methodology application requirements .

• For  application  related questions,  contact Graduate Enrollment Management . 
• For  program structure and academics  related questions, contact:  Ken Fujimoto , Program Chair

Tuition, Financial Aid and Scholarships

The School of Education and Loyola's Financial Aid Office are committed to helping students secure the necessary financial resources to make their education at Loyola affordable. You can learn more on the  Financial Assistance  page.

How long will it take to finish the program?

Five years is about the average length of time, especially if the student is not full-time. However a full-time student who transfers the maximum 30 credit hours from another university could complete the PhD in as few as three years. Please note that a maximum of six years is allowed to complete your coursework and dissertation.

Much will depend upon how many courses a student is able to take during any given term. Since the minimum is 20 courses, one should count on two or three years of coursework, another year for taking and passing comprehensive exams and developing a proposal, and at least one more year for the dissertation research. 

What can I do with a degree in research methodology?

This degree offers many professional opportunities. Recent graduates work at research firms, testing companies, professional associations or accrediting agencies, nonprofits, and in higher education, including institutional research.

How is the consulting experience structured?

The consulting experience is fulfilled by providing research or statistical consulting. Students, in consultation with their advisor, will determine the form of the consulting. For example, some students have provided statistical analysis assistance to faculty members or other doctoral students at the university, working on a research team with a faculty member in the School of Education. Others have completed a project associated with the student's full-time employment.

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PhD Course Descriptions

Mgmt9000 - sem strat mgmt (course syllabus).

This course examines some of the central questions in management with economic approaches as a starting point, but with an eye to links to behavioral perspectives on these same questions. Economics concerns itself with goal directed behavior of individuals interacting in a competitive context. We adopt that general orientation but recognize that goal directed action need not take the form of maximizing behavior, particularly for organizations comprised of individuals with possibly divergent interests and distinct sub-goals. Further, we treat competitive processes as playing out over meaningful periods of calendar time and, in general, not equilibrating instantaneously. A central property of firms, as with any organization, is the interdependent nature of activity within them. Thus, understanding firms as "systems" is quite important, a perspective which has important implications for understanding processes of organizational adaptation. Among the sorts of questions we explore are the following: What underlies a firm's capabilities? How does individual knowledge aggregate to form collective capabilities? What do these perspectives on firms say about the scope of a firm's activities, both horizontally (diversification) and vertically (buy-supply relationships)? As a "foundations" course, readings will cover key conceptual foundations, but also provide an arc to current work --- an "arc" that will be developed more fully in our in-class discussions.

MGMT9150 - Seminar in Org Learning (Course Syllabus)

This course examines processes of organizational learning. Learning, changing beliefs and efficacy in action, may be linked measures of progress and performance but presents a number of challenges. Performance is not always readily interpreted and the link between the actions an organization takes and proximate observable outcomes is often unclear and these measures may be loosely coupled to ultimate goals and interests. Organizations help facilitate coordinated actions among individuals and the outcomes that are realized by the organization are a function of those joint actions. However, these properties pose challenges for inferences around more or less desired action at both the individual and collective level, as well as divergent views as to what is in the individual and collective interest. Even if the organization does not face a conflict of interest among organizational members, it still faces a tension between the need to perform well in the near term, and exploit its current knowledge and bases of advantage, and to perform well over longer horizons, which may entail exploring other bases of action with which it is less familiar and perhaps less competent. However, performance itself can be a problematic construct --- different actors within the organization may have different views as to what goals or outcomes or more or less important, and even individual actors may face some degree of internal conflict over these issues. The contestation of goals and policy can take the form of organizational politics, where power, attention, and force of argument influence the playing out of this conflict. The last theme we consider is the challenge by which individual opinions and beliefs become aggregated to organizational level decisions and some of the learning challenges that this process of aggregation presents.

MGMT9180 - Personnel Economics A (Course Syllabus)

This is a half-semester PhD course in the Management Department that is also open to any current PhD students at Wharton. The canonical model in economics views an agent as a fully rational, atomistic individual making optimal choices under scarcity. This approach has been very powerful theoretically and empirically to explain and to predict behavior in the workplace. This model has also been enriched to accommodate other phenomena arguably affecting behavior in the workplace like the social context (e.g. peer effects, altruism, or social comparison), non-standard time preferences, loss aversion, and cognitive costs. Incorporating these ideas into the standard model can be accomplished in various ways but the real stress test for these theories is whether they predict behavior more generally (i.e. we don't just use theory to explain one choice but choices more generally) and to generate empirical predictions that can be tested using experiments. In this mini-course we start-off with a tour de force of the fundamental principal-agent model and the various behavioral extensions. The core of the course is, however, not theoretical but a practical course on how to design field experiments to test these ideas.

MGMT9190 - Personnel Economics B (Course Syllabus)

This is a half-semester PhD course in the Management Department that is also open to any current PhD students at Wharton. It is a continuation and builds on MGMT 918 - please see the course description for MGMT 918. As in MGMT 918 we expand on the canonical model in economics and introduce views from behavioral economics and introduce views from behavioral economics to derive novel theories with empirically testable implications on workplace behavior and individual performance in labor markets and health. In this mini-course the focus is on continuing our review of the literature but the primary aim is to work towards a project description and paper that can be developed into a PhD chapter or journal article.

MGMT9200 - Sem in Hum Res Research (Course Syllabus)

The class is organized around understanding labor and work. For management students trained in social science disciplines, there is a considerable gap between what we can learn about the workplace from economics, which relies on markets and incentives for its explanations, and psychology, which relies on dispositional attributes and social interactions. Managing people is arguably the biggest topic in the social sciences each with its own subgroups: labor economists in economics, I/O and personnel psychologists in psychology and organizational behavior researches use the work place as their central research context, work and occupations and career students in sociology. For the most part, these fields talk past each other and are largely unaware of what the others are doing. We try to bridge that gap a bit in this class, although by no means do we attempt to span the range of topics represented across these quite different fields. In most contexts, the employer has considerable discretion as to the arrangements that are chosen for influencing the behavior of workers and, in turn, their outcomes and subsequent attitudes. The management practices they choose are our main focus. They drive many of the most important outcomes in society - who gets access to the most important and powerful jobs, how much income will people have and how it is distributed, whether and to what extent we have control over our lives at work, and so forth. Most of the attention still goes to employment, but it is not the only arrangement for doing work, though. We consider others, especially various forms of contracting and the gig work organized around electronic platforms. To the extent that there is a common conceptual orientation across the class, it is analysis at the organization-level, typically used for independent variables although often for outcomes and dependent variables as well, and power as a mechanism. Many of the most important and exciting topics in public discourse are in our focus, from remote work to gig work to the influence of artificial intelligence. The range of new issues to explore is enormous. A caveat: the phrase "human resources" is a contemporary business term that began as a description of the set of management practices coming out of the "great corporations" and the lifetime employment model for managing non-union employees. Many of these are within the domain of I/O and personnel psychology, such as employee selection tests, succession planning exercises, and so forth. The use of these practices has declined dramatically and are now only one approach to addressing the practical problems that lie

MGMT9250 - Sem Corp Strategy (Course Syllabus)

This course explores current research on corporate strategy. Over the past two decades, research in the area of corporate strategy has evolved considerably. The fundamental focus of the field has been on sources of competitive advantage at the of the firm, and the process of building and maintaining competitive advantage. In this class, we explore current research articles that best represent the development of rent-generating resources at the level of the firm. Topics addressed include the concept of strategy, research on the evolution of firm capabilities, competitive interaction, top management teams and strategy formation, and changes in firm scope through acquisitions, divestitures and alliances.

MGMT9260 - Sem Strat & Org Des (Course Syllabus)

This half-semester course examines one of the foundational questions in strategy: the role of organizational structure in both supporting and shaping strategy. As Winston Churchill famously said: "We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us." This course examines this proposition from two traditions, the "institutional economics" and "information processing" schools of organizational design. We will examine foundational works from both schools, such as Coase, Williamson, Simon, March, and others, and then proceed to recent work in the area. Some of the questions that we will explore in the class are: why do firms exist? What determines their boundaries? What determines formal and informal structures within firms? How does the strategic context shape the answers to these questions? How might the nature of the firm and its boundaries relate to innovation, human capital, and knowledge creation? The aim of this class is to provide students with a grounding in the fundamental questions and contributions in this area, and to spark ideas for research in their own graduate work.

MGMT9270 - Tech & Innov Strategy (Course Syllabus)

This quarter-length doctoral seminar deals with major streams of management research in technology strategy and innovation. We will focus on both classical topics such as incumbents' management of technological change and industry evolution, and new emergent topics such as ecosystems and platforms. The emphasis will be on understanding the link between technologies and firms in terms of both strategy choices and performance outcomes.

MGMT9310 - Special Topics in Org Behavior (Course Syllabus)

This is a complement course to MGMT 9330, and it has the same purpose to examine and understand basics of theory and empirical research in the field of organizational behavior and to increase our understanding of people's behavior in organizations. The course takes both a top-down and bottom-up view of the forces that shape motivation, identity, relationships, power, and meaning in work and organizational life.

MGMT9320 - Prosem in Mgmt (Course Syllabus)

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the methodological approaches we commonly think of as qualitative, with special emphasis on ethnography, semi- structured interviews, case studies, content analysis, and mixed-methods research. The course will cover the basic techniques for collecting, interpreting, and analyzing qualitative (i.e. non-numerical) data. In the spring quarter, the course will operate on two interrelated dimensions, one focused on the theoretical approaches to various types of qualitative research, the other focused on the practical techniques of data collection, such as identifying key informants, selecting respondents, collecting field notes and conducting interviews. In the fall semester, the course will operate on two interrelated dimensions, one focused on the theoretical approaches on building arguments and theory from qualitative data, the other focused on the practical techniques of data collection, such as analyzing data, writing, and presenting findings. Note: This class is part of a two-part sequence which focuses on qualitative data collection and analysis. The first of this course, offered in the Spring, focuses on data collection and the second half of the course, offered the following Fall, will focus on qualitative data analysis. Each course is seven weeks long. Students may take either class independently or consecutively.

MGMT9330 - Psych Found MGMT (Course Syllabus)

This seminar-based course, with active discussion and analysis, is required of all first-year doctoral students in Management and open to other Penn students with instructor permission. The purpose of this course is to examine and understand basics in the theory and empirical research in the field of micro organizational behavior and to build an understanding of people's behavior in organizations and across organizations. The course covers a blend of classic and contemporary literature so that we can appreciate the prevailing theories and findings in various areas of organizational behavior. This course covers micro-organizational behavior, focused on topics such as influence/status, virtual teams, job design, organizational culture and socialization, identity in organizations and overall look on where the field of micro-organizational behavior is going.

MGMT9340 - Soci Foundations of MGMT (Course Syllabus)

This seminar-based course, with active discussion and analysis, is required of all first-year doctoral students in Management and open to other Penn students with instructor permission. The purpose of this course is to examine and understand basics in the theory and empirical research in the field of macro organizational behavior and to build an understanding of people's behavior in organizations and across organizations. The course covers a blend of classic and contemporary literature so that we can appreciate the prevailing theories and findings in various areas of organizational behavior. This course covers macro-organizational behavior, covering the topics of organizational ecology, institutional theory, organizational status and reputation, impression management, social networks and social movements.

MGMT9350 - Netwrk Theory & Applicat (Course Syllabus)

This course explores network models and their applications to organizational phenomena. By examining the structure of relations among actors, network approaches seek to explain variations in beliefs, behaviors, and outcomes. The beauty of network analysis is its underlying mathematical nature - network ideas and measures, in some cases, apply equally well at micro and macro levels of analysis. Therefore, we read and discuss articles both at the micro level (where the network actors are individuals within organizations) and at the macro level (where the network actors are organizations within larger communities) that utilize antecedents or consequences of network constructs such as small worlds, cohesion, structural equivalence, centrality, and autonomy. We begin by examining the classic problem of contagion of information and behaviors across networks, and follow by considering the various underlying models of network structure that might underlie contagion and other processes The next two sessions address a variety of mechanisms by which an actor's position in a network affects its behavior or performance. Then, the following two sessions address antecedents of network ties via the topics of network evolution and network activation. We close with a "grab bag" session of articles chosen to match class interests.

MGMT9370 - Entrep Research Seminar (Course Syllabus)

The seminar seeks to expose students to theoretical and empirical perspectives on entrepreneurship research. We will focus on the main questions that define the field and attempt to critically examine how, using a range of methodologies, researchers have approached these questions. As we review the literature, we will seek to identify promising research areas, which may be of interest to you in the context of your dissertation research. In addition to addressing the content of the received literature, we will examine the process of crafting research papers and getting them published in top tier journals. Towards that end we will characterize the key elements of high impact papers and review the development process of such studies. Students are expected to come fully prepared to discuss and critique the readings that are assigned to each class meeting (see details below). Each student will serve as the discussion leader for one or more of the class sessions. Discussion leaders are expected to critically review several articles, identify new insights in the research that is being reviewed and evaluate its contribution to the literature, position the articles within the literature on the subject matter, raise discussion question, and act as the discussion moderator for the class session. Each discussion leader is asked to prepare a one or two page summary of the assigned papers which includes a statement of the main research question(s), the methodology, data set if any, summary of findings, a commentary with your thoughts on the reading, and proposed discussion questions. Prior to each class, the discussion leader will meet the instructor to help plan the class meeting. Towards the end of each class meeting, each student will be asked to articulate a research question that emerged from the session and describe the research design used to investigate the issue.

MGMT9380 - Seminar in Social Entrep (Course Syllabus)

This half-semester course examines how social enterprise organizations emerge, attract resources, and affect society. The course will bridge micro and macro theoretical perspectives to provide insight into the unique challenges faced by social enterprises, while also showing how the study of such organizations can help to advance mainstream entrepreneurship research. Individual sessions will focus on defining social entrepreneurship, the tensions and tradeoffs that emerge in organizations that pursue social and financial goals, impact investing and other sources of finance, and the role of incubators/accelerators in supporting the development of these organizations. This is a seminar-based course with active discussion and analysis.

MGMT9390 - Ent Innov Research (Course Syllabus)

This quarter-length course explores key topics at the intersection of entrepreneurship and innovation. While the course primarily draws from established theory and empirics from management and economics, it will also include discussions of emerging phenomena in this rapidly evolving field. We will begin by reviewing the basic properties of ideas that uniquely shape the sources and dynamics of entrepreneurship and innovation. Subsequently, we will explore innovation-related challenges and opportunities for startups. Special focus will be placed on research application in which students design and present their own research proposal broadly in the area of entrepreneurship and innovation. Students are highly encouraged to take this course in sequence with MGMT 937.

MGMT9510 - Ob: Theories and Methods (Course Syllabus)

The purpose of this half-semester course is to examine and understand theory and empirical research in the field of micro-organizational behavior and to build an understanding of people's behavior in organizations. The course covers a blend of classic and contemporary literature to appreciate the prevailing theories and findings in various areas of micro-organizational behavior. We will cover topics such as identity, diversity/inclusion, work design/proactivity, extra-role behaviors, behavioral ethics/organizational justice, and an overall look at where the field of micro-organizational behavior is heading. This is a seminar-based course with active discussion and analysis.

MGMT9520 - Sem Macro Org Behav (Course Syllabus)

Organizations are ubiquitous, and so is organization. This half-semester course explores organization theory (OT) from the 1960s through the end of the 20th century. We will examine the proliferation of organizational theories during this time period (such as contingency theory, resource dependence theory, ecological theory, and institutional theory) and understand how each theory attempts to relate structure and action over varying levels of analysis. We will determine one or two additional schools to add once we discuss your exposure in other management classes to other potential topics such as behavioral decision theory, sense-making and cognition, organizational economics, corporate governance, social networks, and the like.

MGMT9530 - Sem Research Design (Course Syllabus)

This is an introductory doctoral seminar on research methods in management. The course is designed to help you define your research interests, to strengthen your grasp of research design choices and standards, and to move you further along on the path to becoming a skilled, accomplished, engaged, and independent research scholar. We will read about, discuss, and in some cases practice: framing of research questions, writing for publication, defining and meeting research standards, and conducting experimental, archival, survey-based, and qualitative research suitable for publication in top-tier management journals.

MGMT9550 - Foundations Mult Mgmt. (Course Syllabus)

The goal of the course is to provide you with a foundation in some of the major research areas that underpin the study of Multinational Management. International Business (and the study of MNCs) is an interdisciplinary field. As such, our survey of the seminal articles in the field will span a number of different theoretical and empirical approaches (i.e., economic, managerial, organizational and institutional). Much of our seminar discussions will focus on identifying and developing interesting research questions raised by this interdisciplinary literature, which offers many opportunities for systematic empirical study.

MGMT9570 - Applied Research Methods Org B (Course Syllabus)

This is a half semester course where we review and apply fundamental lessons related to empirical research (both methods and analyses) in organizational behavior. The course will focus primarily on quantitative research. We will begin by covering the link between theory and empirics as well as core concepts in methods and statistics, including causality, validity, reliability, and statistical power. We will then shift to research methods, including design, sampling, pre-registration, and data collection. A key focus will be on maximizing different forms of validity, with an emphasis on multi-method research designs. Finally, we will consider a variety of the most important analytical approaches in organizational behavior, including regression, structural equation modeling, and multi-level analyses. This is an applied methods course, which means that we will be applying the lessons directly by using statistical software to compile and analyze datasets. The course will introduce you to the broad array of methods and analyses that OB scholars are expected to master in order to consistently publish in the field’s top journals.

MGMT9600 - Non-Market Strategy (Course Syllabus)

This course builds on the foundational material presented in MGMT 955 with a deeper focus on current research examining institutional influences on multinational management. These include regulative supports (e.g., laws, regulations, contracts and their enforcement through litigation, arbitration of incentive compatible self-regulation) but also normative (e.g., socially shared expectations of appropriate behavior, and social exchange processes) and cognitive (e.g., creating shared identity to bridge differences in values, beliefs and framing) elements of the institutional environment. We will examine not only strategic responses in the market environment but also influence strategies of multinational and domestic firms that seek to alter the institutional environment in which they operate. We will draw not only upon the international business literature but also related literatures including political economy, sociology, law, finance, communications, institutional theory, strategic corporate social responsibility, social movements, network theory and the management of extractive industries.

MGMT9610 - Special Topics in Ob (Course Syllabus)

This is a complement course to MGMT 951, and it has the same purpose to examine and understand basics in the theory and empirical research in the field of micro-organizational behavior and to increase our understanding of people's behavior in organizations. To do so, we will cover a blend of classic and contemporary literature so that we can appreciate the prevailing theories and findings in various areas of micro-organizational behavior. In addition, for each topic we will then try to go beyond the existing literature. We will work to increase our understanding by re-framing the research variables, altering the perspective, bringing in new theory, and comparing levels of analysis. The purpose of this course is not meant to be exhaustive, rather it covers approximately half of the organizational behavior literature. For a more complete understanding of the basics of organizational behavior it is mandatory for organizational behavior students to have taken MGMT 951 which covers the remaining topics in basic organizational behavior. However, it is not mandatory to have taken MGMT 951 before MGMT 961 as they cover different sets of topics.

MGMT9620 - Mult Firms Glob Econ (A) (Course Syllabus)

This is a graduate course focusing on the empirical aspects of multinational firms and international trade. The goal of the course is to familiarize graduate students with empirical work on multinational firms in the global economy, by reviewing the recent as well as older literature on this topic. Econometrics and statistical techniques for doing empirical work in international trade will also be discussed. We will focus on a variety of issues that are related to the multinational firm, beginning with trends in multinational activity, then moving to both horizontal and vertical theories of the multinational firm. Topics over the course of the semester will include patterns in the expansion of multinational firms, horizontal and vertical multinationals; the linkages between openness to trade and investment and growth; trade orientation and firm performance; technology transfer and spillovers; innovation and productivity; immigration; labor markets and multinational firms; and global value chains. This course has a mandatory attendance policy.

MGMT9630 - Mult Firms Glob Econ (B) (Course Syllabus)

This is continuation of Multinational Firms in Global Economies (A). It is a graduate course focusing on the empirical aspects of multinational firms and international trade. The goal of the course is to familiarize graduate students with empirical work on multinational firms in the global economy, by reviewing the recent as well as older literature on this topic. Econometrics and statistical techniques for doing empirical work in international trade will also be discussed. We will focus on a variety of issues that are related to the multinational firm, beginning with trends in multinational activity, then moving to both horizontal and vertical theories of the multinational firm. Topics over the course of the semester will include patterns in the expansion of multinational firms, horizontal and vertical multinationals; the linkages between openness to trade and investment and growth; trade orientation and firm performance; technology transfer and spillovers; innovation and productivity; immigration; labor markets and multinational firms; and global value chains. This course has a mandatory attendance policy.

MGMT9700 - Research Methods in Mgmt (Course Syllabus)

Students taking the course will be introduced to the seminal readings on a given method, have a hands-on discussion regarding their application often using a paper and dataset of the faculty member leading the discussion. The goal of the course is to make participants more informed users and reviewers of a wide variety of methodological approaches to Management research including Ordinary Least Squares, Discrete Choice, Count Models, Panel Data, Dealing with Endogeneity, Survival/failure/event history and event studies, experiments, factor analysis and structural equation modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, networks, comparative qualitative methods, coding of non-quantitative data, unstructured text and big data simulations.

MGMT9701 - Quant Research Methods in MGMT (Course Syllabus)

This PhD course exposes students to a range of methodologies and techniques in applied econometrics as seen in latest research papers. The approach is to take a detailed look at 1-2 papers per week for a thorough understanding of each topic. Students are required to carefully read and prepare the readings for each week with an emphasis on “how it was done” rather than the results of the paper. A provisional list of topics are: Field Experiments with Firms; Replication with confidential and non-confidential data; Difference in Difference Estimation & Linear Panel Event Studies; Instrumental Variable Regressions; Synthetic Controls & Natural Experiments; Regression Discontinuity Design

MGMT9702 - Rsrch Mthds & Data Analysis OB (Course Syllabus)

This course will introduce you to the core methods and analytical approaches used in organizational behavior. The primary goal of the class is to introduce you to the portfolio of operational and statistical skills that will enable you to be a fully autonomous researcher who can routinely publish trustworthy research in top management outlets. We will pay special attention to the three dominant methodological approaches in our field (archival, field, and experimental) and the analytical approaches that tend to correspond with each of them.

MGMT9703 - Qualitative Methods (Course Syllabus)

This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the methodological approaches we commonly think of as qualitative, with special emphasis on ethnography (in-person and digital), semi-structured interviews, case studies, content analysis, and mixed-methods research. The course will cover the basic techniques for collecting, interpreting, and analyzing qualitative (i.e. non-numerical) data. Students will expected to collect and analyze data about a topic of their choosing.

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Research Methodology

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Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

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Research Methods

• Description

Required for doctoral students.

This course prepares the student to do and to evaluate social science research using a variety of research methods. Basic issues regarding the formulation of research questions, research design, and data collection and analysis are addressed. The course material encompasses both quantitative and qualitative methods in the discussion of the basic components of the research process: conceptualization and measurement, sample selection, and causal modeling. In addition to teaching techniques and conventions of doing research, the course also acquaints the student with critical issues in the philosophy of science, ethical questions, and how to write a research proposal.

CORE-GP.1011 and PADM-GP.2902. (PADM-GP.2902 may be taken concurrently.)

Fall 2023 PHD.5902.001

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Fall 2022 PHD-GP 5902

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY-PhD Course work

• January 2019
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Syllabus for PhD Seminar on Research Methods and Design, Winter 2014, UCLA Information Studies

• Borgman, Christine L.

This is the core course in social science research methods and research design for PhD students in information studies. It follows 291A, Theoretical Traditions In Information Studies. Graduate students in Information Studies or related fields (education, communication, public policy, management, psychology, etc.) who have not taken 291A but who have extensive background in epistemology or research methods may enroll with instructor’s permission. Also prerequisite is at least one course in descriptive and inferential statistics. The course is conducted as a workshop, drawing upon students’ research projects as cases. We will survey quantitative and qualitative research designs and address research ethics and the protection of human subjects. The first week of the course will provide a brief review of epistemological issues, basic concepts of research design, and a refresher in statistical concepts. The course is intended to prepare students for further study on specific methods and to assist in preparation for the PhD qualifying exams. Students will begin to build their personal libraries on research methods via the course readings. Materials include popular textbooks on social science research methods and the primary publication manual for social science research. Students will develop a research project and will present an analysis of research reported in a journal article in class.

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PhD Coursework : Latest UGC Guidelines , Syllabus

PhD Coursework gives students a thorough grasp of their subject topic and the ability to perform independent research. The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India has published new PhD coursework guidelines and syllabus to improve quality and relevance.

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(For Ph.D Candidates Registered from January 2017)

Ph.D - Regulations - 2023

(For Ph.D Candidates Registered from June 2023)

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Refund policy for phd admission fee, plagiarism policy, attendance of the audience in the ph.d. viva-voce examinations, manual for preparation of ph.d synopsis, manual for preparation of ph.d thesis, panel of examiners for oral examinations, pre phd presentation minutes, panel of examiners - thesis adjudication, synopsis presentation minutes, procedures related documents, check list while submitting ph.d. synopsis, check list while submitting thesis, list of panel members for dc, proforma for submission of thesis, check list while submitting the proceedings of the viva-voce examination, viva notification, checklist for ph.d viva voce, proceedings of the ph.d viva voce.

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Ph.D Syllabus and Subjects

PhD Course introduces students to concepts of Research Methodology, Research Ethics, and more. The subjects students study during the course depend on the aspirant's specialization, but there are some fundamental subjects that every student needs to study. PhD job scope is diverse and constantly evolving, making it an exciting and challenging career path.

Semester Wise PhD Syllabus

The subjects in the PhD course depend on the specialization that students decide to pursue, as, with every specialization, different subjects would be considered core subjects. PhD syllabus despite being different from each other, consists of certain modules that are common across subjects.

PhD First- Year Syllabus

The table below contains the subjects from the PhD first Year Syllabus:

Course Status :	Completed
Course Type :	Elective
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :
Credit Points :	3
Postgraduate
Start Date :	24 Jan 2022
End Date :	06 May 2022
Enrollment Ends :	07 Feb 2022
Exam Date :	23 Apr 2022 IST

SEMESTER I	SEMESTER II
Research Methodology	Recent Development in The Field
Philosophical and Sociological Basis of Educational Research	Supervisor Directed Course (Need-based) and Research Seminar
Communication Skills	Research Methodology-I
Independent Research with Seminars	Independent Research with Seminars

PhD Second -Year Syllabus

The table below contains the subjects from the PhD second-year syllabus:

SEMESTER III	SEMESTER IV
Philosophical and Sociological Basis of Educational Research	Final Research Proposal
Supervisor Directed Course (Need-based) and Research	Supervisor Directed Course (Need-based) and Research

PhD Third-Year Syllabus

The table below contains the subjects from the PhD third year syllabus:

SEMESTER V	SEMESTER VI
Independent Research with Seminars	Independent Research with Seminars

PhD Subjects

The PhD Course syllabus depends on the specialization that a student chooses to focus on. The subjects are divided into core and elective subjects. Below mentioned are a few core subjects included in PhD course:

Below mentioned are Core PhD Subjects:

• Research Methodology
• Ethics of Research
• Literature Review
• Ethics of Using Social Media in Research
• Research Tools
• Proposing a Research
• Formulation of Research Proposal

Specialisation-Wise PhD Syllabus

The general syllabus of PhD is that initially, students are exposed to the different means of conducting a research project and taught how to do proper research. Then according to their specialization from the third semester, the PhD subjects list starts to differ.

Listed below is the general syllabus from the third semester onwards for specializations.

PhD in Hindi Syllabus

PhD in Hindi course aims to help students specialize in the subject of Hindi. The subject split up is into 3 sectors. While paper 1 and paper 3 are mandatory research and thesis formation subjects, paper-2 consists of several optional professional courses from which the candidates can choose one stream.

Read More:   PhD Hindi Syllabus and Subjects

PhD in Physics Syllabus

The PhD in Physics syllabus includes a broad range of subjects, including thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and classical and quantum mechanics. Along with coursework, students must conduct their own studies and finish a dissertation with the help of a faculty advisor. 

Read More:   PhD Physics Syllabus and Subjects

PhD in Philosophy Syllabus

The PhD in Philosophy syllabus includes courses in epistemology, semantics, ethics, logic, and history of philosophy, among other subjects. The course also places a strong emphasis on developing analytical and critical reasoning abilities.

Read More:   PhD Philosophy Syllabus and Subjects

Other Important PhD Syllabus and Subjects:

• PhD English Syllabus and Subjects
• PhD Economics Syllabus and Subjects
• PhD Commerce Syllabus and Subjects
• PhD Computer Science Syllabus and Subjects
• PhD Human Resource Management Syllabus and Subjects
• PhD Psychology Syllabus and Subjects

PhD Syllabus For Entrance Exams

Below is a list of PhD entrance exam syllabus for certain subjects:

PhD Subjects	Entrance Exam Syllabus
Basic Engineering and Technology
Life Sciences
Mathematics
Computer Information Science
Economics
Political Science
Psychology

PhD Course Structure

The PhD course is structured in such a way that it helps students develop a detailed understanding of the course by including projects, seminars, fieldwork, etc. The following details are part of the Ph.D. course structure:

• VI Semesters
• Core Subjects
• Elective Subjects
• Dissertation Submission

PhD Teaching Methodology and Techniques

PhD encompasses different teaching methods. Apart from the basic traditional lecture-based training, the students are trained with group projects and other action-based learning methods. The research project motivates the students for deeper research, understanding others' perceptions, brainstorming, and teamwork.

Given below are a few teaching methodologies and techniques used in PhD course:

• Research Sessions
• Group Projects
• Case Methodology 
• Final Dissertation Submission

PhD Projects

PhD subjects and syllabus are centered around teaching students how to conduct a research project independently and write a dissertation at the end of their degree. Given below are a few of the PhD Dissertation topics:

• A comparison between a democratic and autocratic leadership style.
• Journalism and its relationship to public
• The relationship between politics and literature in the 19th century.
• An analysis and case study of artists and art during times of war.

Before starting any education, students must ensure that they have all the resources to pursue the course with ease. Below is a general list of PhD books that introduce students to research methods and will help them when they plan to make a dissertation structure:

Books	Authors
Research in Education	Best, John W. & James Kahn
Applying Educational Research: A Practical Guide For Teachers	Borg, Walter R.
Educational Research An introduction	Borg, Walter R. & Meridith, D. Gall
Methods of Educational Research	Engelhart, Max D.

Top PhD [Doctor of Philosophy] Colleges

Chennai,Tamil Nadu

IISc Bangalore

Bangalore,Karnataka

Mumbai,Maharashtra

Delhi,Delhi NCR

Kanpur,Uttar Pradesh

IIT Kharagpur

Kharagpur,West Bengal

IIT Roorkee

Roorkee,Uttarakhand

IIT Guwahati

Guwahati,Assam

PhD Fee Structure