Behavioral research methods 1: designing research

This introductory course covers the full empirical research cycle, with a focus on the design and implementation of behavioral studies. The cycle begins with formulating a research question—for example: How do users experience a built environment? Or what is the effect of the accuracy of a recommender system on users’ trust? You will learn how to design psychological research to collect data that can answer such questions. The course emphasizes a learning-by-doing approach, enabling you to apply theoretical knowledge to real research problems. The first assignment involves designing and conducting a qualitative interview study, for which you will receive training and supervision in professional interviewing techniques. The second assignment addresses a real-world problem through a quantitative study. Both assignments are carried out in groups of four to five students, encouraging collaboration and the exchange of ideas.Through this practical experience, you will gain insight into the complexities of behavioral research and establish a solid foundation for data handling and analysis skills, which will be further developed in the courses 0HV70 and 0HV50.

After completing this course, students should be able to:

• Identify core scientific approaches to knowledge and basic theory components.
• Design and refine research questions that meet scientific standards.
• Select appropriate research strategies for specific behavioral research questions.
• Explain the differences between quantitative and qualitative research methodologies as well as their strengths and limitations.
• Collect qualitative and quantitative data based on your research design and conduct basic data analyses.
• Evaluate and reflect on ethical issues in research.

You must meet the following requirements

• Registered for a degree programme other than
• HBO-TOP Applied Physics, Pre-Master
• Industrial Engineering
• Completed none of the course modules listed below
• BRM 1 premaster (0HP00)
• Homologation course BRM (0HPH050)
• Methodology for IE research (1ZV00)
• Methodology for IE research (1ZV60)
• Statistiek (2DD70)
• Statistics for IE (2DD80)
• Research and statistics (7U9X0)
• Data Statistics (JBM010)
• Data Science research methods (JBM020)