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Research Methodology in Humanities and Social Sciences

By Prof. Smita Jha   |   IIT Roorkee
Learners enrolled: 297
ABOUT THE COURSE:

Research methodology is the overall strategy or approach used by researchers to conduct research. It encompasses the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of the research, the research design, data collection methods, data analysis techniques, and the overall framework within which the research is conducted. Methodology of research provides a framework for how research is planned, conducted, and analyzed, and it guides researchers in making decisions about the most appropriate methods to use in their research. It gives research legitimacy and situates it within the proposed field, and also gives readers a place to refer to if they have any questions or critiques in other sections.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: UG/PG/Researcher

PREREQUISITES: Graduation

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Almost all
Summary
Course Status : Upcoming
Course Type : Core
Language for course content : English
Duration : 8 weeks
Category :
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points : 2
Level : Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date : 18 Aug 2025
End Date : 10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends : 18 Aug 2025
Exam Registration Ends : 29 Aug 2025
Exam Date : 01 Nov 2025 IST
NCrF Level   : 4.5 — 8.0

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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Course layout

Week 1: 

Module 1: Introduction to the Course
Module 2: Philosophy of Research 
Module 3: Research Paradigm
Module 4: Different Aspects of Research Paradigm
Module 5: Types of Research

Week 2: 

Module 6: Epistemological Aspect of Research 
Module 7: Relevance of Epistemology in Research 
Module 8: Ontological Aspect of Research
Module 9: Relevance of Ontology in Research 
Module 10: Epistemology and Ontology in Research

Week 3: 

Module 11: Phenomenological Aspect of Research 
Module 12: Relevance of Phenomenology in Research 
Module 13: What is Methods in Research
Module 14: What is Methodology in Research
Module 15: Difference Between Methods and Methodology

Week 4: 

Module 16: Hypothesis in Research  
Module 17: How to form Research Questions 
Module 18: How to form research questions
Module 19: How to decide Objectives of the Research
Module 20: How to decide Objectives of the Research

Week 5: 

Module 21: Finalizing topic/title in Research 
Module 22: What is Thesis Statement
Module 23: Various steps of Literature Review 
Module 24: Primary and Secondary Sources
Module 25: MLA 9 Documentation and Formatting

Week 6: 

Module 26: What is Container 
Module 27: What is Parenthesis
Module 28: Using URL  
Module 29: Citing DOI 
Module 30: Work Cited and Bibliography

Week 7:

Module 31: Research Process
Module 32: How to develop Papers 
Module 33: Selection of Journals 
Module 34: Types of Journals
Module 35: Ethics of writing and Plagiarism

Week 8: 

Module 36: Interdisciplinary Approaches in Research  
Module 37: Major Trends in Research  
Module 38: Major Critical Theories  
Module 39: Major Critical Theories
Module 40: Post Research activities

Instructor bio

Prof. Smita Jha

IIT Roorkee
Dr. Smita Jha is currently working as Professor of English, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. She has completed her Ph.D. & PGDTE (Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching English) from CIEFL(Central Institute of English & Foreign Languages), Hyderabad. She has published more than 65 papers in refereed Journals of literature like Routledge, SAGE, and OUP. She has been short listed for Fulbright Nehru Fellowship in 2013 while she got fellowship from British Columbia in 2009. She has also been short listed for Advanced Study center Shimla fellowship in 2011.She received the prestigious Indo-Canadian Shastri fellowship. She has six books to her credit while two books are yet to be published. Recently one of her books got published by Bloomsbury Publication, India. She has supervised more than 10 Ph.D. candidates so far on various topics like Indian Partition, British Literature, Forensic science and criminology, Diaspora etc. She has supervised candidates of Interdisciplinary and presently working on Medical Humanities. She has been attended more than 50 International Conferences and chaired the session in USA and Spain. She conducted GIAN, MHRD, in association with Texas University, Texas, USA, IN 2017. Her research interest includes Indian Writing in English, Commonwealth Literature, Diasporic literature, Linguistics & ELT, Postcolonial writings, Contemporary Literary theories and Gender and Cultural Studies. She has organized a number of workshops & symposium on the topics like Translation in Post-Colonial India, Research Methodology, Sociolinguistics, Diaspora, Women Novelists. Prof Jha is teaching research methodology for the last four-five years to the PG students across the discipline.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams : November 01, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 6 assignments out of the total 8 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Roorkee. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team


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