Review of the Typology of Research Methods within the Social Sciences

This is the latest version of this item.

The National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) typology was originally developed by Beissel-Durrant (2004). That typology provides a hierarchical classification of research methods used in the Social Sciences and has been used by the NCRM to categorise training events, research activities and other outputs and has become one of the most frequently downloaded items from the NCRM website. The typology underpins the reporting of training and research needs within Social Science research methods to the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). As a key resource it is was thought important to review how the typology was working, whether it required any revisions in light of developments over the last 10 years, how it was being applied, how effective this was and whether there were any new approaches that should be considered to enhance or indeed replace the Research Methods Typology.