Editorial 2/2015

Teaching of Research Methods Benefits from National Services

Sami Borg

The Universities of Tampere and Jyväskylä have organised the national Methods Festival four times so far. This biennial, two-day event, aimed particularly at doctoral students, attracted more than 500 researchers and students to Tampere last August. You can read more about the Festival in one of the articles in this bulletin.

The popularity of the Methods Festival is telling: when people have an acute need to learn research skills and a high motivation to do so, concise method presentations are an effective way of revising available methods, learning new things and receiving good tips.

It is also easier to draw good speakers to a big event. And when attendees are offered a quality programme with a wide array of presentations, they can customise their own programme by selecting the parallel sessions that interest them the most.

Also, the significance of big events for the networking and social capital of doctoral students should not be disregarded. During the Festival, an attendee may benefit from meeting teachers and students, who have knowledge of or need for information on research methods.

The Data Archive has been actively involved in organising the Methods Festival. In the Festivals of this decade, we have been particularly engaged in the sessions focusing on research ethics, data management, and data management plans. We have also been presenting one of the Archive’s hit products, the Research Methods Web Resource.

The Web Resource is also known as MOTV in Finnish and its great popularity indicates what the large number of participants in the Method Festival also does – that the teaching of research methods, mainly carried out locally at universities, benefits from national events and services.

Sami Borg
Director