Article by Imme van Oudheusden,
4th-year student at Creative Business
One of the things you’ll learn within the first year (and also in other courses during the second year) is how to conduct research. Don’t worry, this is far more easy and interesting than it might appear! It will help you figure out what kinds of different research methods there are, but also which ones are most beneficial to what you want to research. It will help you learn how to work with qualitative data (e.g. interviews) and quantitative data (e.g. survey answers).
An easy way to explain the differences is; Quantitative data can be expressed through a numerical variable whereas qualitative data cannot be measured, it is rather expressed in words, pictures, etc. An example of a research question that needs quantitative data would be; How often do people, aged 30 to 40, visit their parents? Whereas a qualitative research question would be; What is it like growing up in a single-parent family in a rural environment?
The courses Research Analysis & Toolkit as well as Research Lab & Methods will help lay a foundation of what you will need to learn later on in CB, it also can be helpful when for various tasks within your internship! You will learn how to work with programs such as Atlas, Gephi, SPSS, and how to ensure you ask the right questions during interviews of surveys.
Some of the assignments include analyzing research databases tied and drawing results from that database, but also going out to various target groups and holding interviews with them. And based on those interviews, analyzing their results through Atlas and drawing a conclusion from this. These sound a bit boring, but it heavily depends on the topic you’re able to get! As for doing research in the second year; this is where it starts to become fun with researching your target group and coming up with a creative solution for them during Human-Centered Design. And in the course Data Storytelling, you’re able to pick your topic and research online what the reactions were on Twitter regarding a big e-sports event or the latest Fantastic Beasts movie!
We got some great teachers who will help you get started with the programs and after that there many opportunities to make use of your research skills!
