Open Research Handbook: Methods plus Webinar

As part of our planned activity in this new phase of GO-GN we will be putting together a series of handbooks for researchers. The first of these will be concerned with research methods used by members of the network. We are often consulted about research methodologies, and this is an area that causes many doctoral students anxiety because it can be hard to feel like you know enough about different approaches to be confident that you are using the right ones. In addition, researching open education can sometimes involve using an established method outside of its typical application(s). We are keen to draw on the practical experience and knowledge within the GO-GN network to create a resource that will be of ongoing value to researchers in our field.

How is this going to work? Well, there are three activity strands:

• A short survey of research methods: this will be shared among all members to collect data on what approaches are being used as well as insider knowledge about what works, or things to avoid. The survey is pretty short but might require a little bit of reflection. You can find the survey at https://openuniversity.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/oer-research-methods
• There will be a webinar at 1600 GMT on the 6th February where members will be encouraged to share their experiences of different methods and input into the format of the report: https://gognoer.clickmeeting.com/gognmethods
• Ahead of OER20 we are running a workshop in London with some dedicated time for research methods where we will share provisional results of the study and invite feedback

The research methods handbook should land around June 2020! Over the next three years we will be creating similar handbooks on different areas of open research and open practice with the idea that they can be put together into one compete guide.

Next steps: Please complete the survey!