The three-credit course aims to establish a foundational understanding of interpreting and undertaking research in social and educational contexts with an especial focus on Early Childhood Care and Education. Students will discuss young children as subjects of research, and the significance of their voices and participation in research. 

Additionally, conducting research in varied settings including families, ECCE centres such as anganwadis, pre-schools as well as settings catering to children from 0 – 3 years will be discussed. The course will familiarise students with the principles and perspectives of research and its
application in the field of ECCE. 

The philosophical paradigms and the qualitative and quantitative research designs will be discussed. Through the course students will critically engage with the role of research in practice with respect to generating and using data in terms of report writing for different stakeholders and data-based decision making. Ethical considerations with respect to developing and conducting research in Early years will be emphasised. 

The course will help students study the full cycle of research in a systematic manner. This includes identifying a research problem, taking up a review of literature, designing a study along with the steps of implementation, analysis, documentation and dissemination. Variety of methodological approaches and their appropriateness with respect to the research questions and the participants will be discussed. The course will introduce different approaches and methods to handle both qualitative and quantitative data. Students will engage with development of varied tools and techniques of data collection. By the end of the course, they will attempt to develop a research proposal for a specific topic/​area of study.