Class Research Methods and Techniques

The present Curricular Unit (CU) is part of the scientific training of master students, developing their autonomy in the elaboration of scientific projects, in the context of Soccer. The intention is that students understand the entire process of scientific research and demonstrate competence to apply it in their academic work, particularly in their dissertation or internship report.

1. Scientific research in Soccer: the importance of applying science in the training

2. Design, step by step, of a research project using scientific writing:

• Problem definition
• Literature review: online databases, bibliographic reference manager (Word or others such as Mendeley and Endnote), citation rules and presentation of bibliographic references (APA), the funnel strategy for the structure of the Introduction.
• Method: definition of the study design, constitution of the sample, choice of variables of interest and respective assessment instruments, the need for instrument validation, data collection and organization.
• Statistical data analysis: descriptive and inferential methods, data analysis programs (SPSS, JASP).
• Presentation of results: written report and oral presentation

The innovative methodologies to support the teaching-learning process thought:

• Active and creative learning (students think about research problems according to their experience and their interest);
• Project-based learning, problems and teamwork (students will work on projects, dividing tasks and collaborating in teams that will have specific missions, questioning and consequent experimentation is privileged);
• Hybrid teaching (students and the teacher assume different dynamics in each class, according to the defined objectives.

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Bell, J. (2010). Doing your research project: a guide for first-time researchers in education. 5th edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press. McGraw

Hill. Cohen, L. , Manion, L. & Morri, K. (2011). Research methods in education. 7th edition. London: Routledge.

Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS. 3rd ed. London : SAGE.

Gratton & Jones (2010). Research methods for sports studies, 2nd ed., New York; London: Routledge.

Robson, C (2011). Real world research: a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings. 3rd edition, Chichester : Wiley.

Vincent, W. J. (2005). Statistics in kinesiology - 3rd ed. Champaign, Ill. Human Kinetics