Research Unit

Workshop on Research Methodology for

Undergraduate and Graduate Students and Professionals

Course Offered by Research Unit of Prottyashi,

 A Humanitarian Service Oriented Organization

Course – 1 to Starts from May 1, 2015

Course – 2 to Starts from May 15, 2015

Registration of Participants: 

Deadline for Course – 1, April 15, 2015

Deadline for Course – 2, April 30, 2015

Contact Cell No. +8801816667838 or +01717464750

Office Address: Sayed Bari, 903/A, Omar Ali Matabbar Road, Chandgaon, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

(Selection of participants will be done on first come first basis,

which means seats  (only 15 in one batch) may be exhausted before the deadline.)

Purpose of the Training Program:

Research methodology is taught in almost all social science disciplines and some branches of humanities in private and public universities of the country.  Despite prevalence of such courses there is a desperate need of qualified researchers for conducting even most elementary studies.  We require valid and reliable data on various aspects of society; such as Crime and Law, Drug Abuse, Climate Change, Political Movement, Media Impact, Socio-economic Development, Religious Conflicts, Terrorism, Population Growth, Women Emancipation etc. for program planning and smooth functioning of state machineries. Unfortunately, hardly these data are available in the country.  One of the reasons of absence of such essential data is due to shortage of skilled research manpower, which our institutions of higher learning have utterly failed to produce.  Hence, one of the primary goals of the proposed training program is to fill-up the gap that presently exists between the need and the supply.

There are also other very important goals of this training program and those are directly related to potential participants.  The research offers highly paid employment and educational opportunities.  There are well paid research jobs available in different sectors of the country; such as Government, NGOs, Consulting Firms, Market Research Organizations and International Development agencies.  The research skill is also absolutely necessary for those who want to go for higher studies like M. Phil and Ph. D in any branch of learning.  They will have to equip themselves with research techniques, no matter where those studies are pursued; at home or abroad.  In fact, all higher degrees are research degrees. 

Specific Project Goals are to

  Produce new researchers through intensive and effective training,

   To make the potential students, teachers, social workers and others realize the importance of research   as career building skill,

  To make young researchers skilled enough to conduct their own research works, The project will    create a future platform for young scholars to build their career in research and valuable contribution  to society and the country,  

  To motivate young graduate and post graduate students to choose social research as a priority field of  future career, and

 To create "Prottyashi" as a human resource centre for research in the country. 

Potential Target Population of the Project

University and College Undergraduates and Graduate Students: The project is primarily targeted to undergraduate and graduate students of college and universities of social science and humanities who are yet to decide about their future careers.  They will be exposed to a career that is non-traditional, interesting, creative, and have unlimited opportunity at home and abroad. The students will also be able to explore their own potentials as a researcher that is hidden in them.  Even those who would not make career in research will be immensely benefited from this training as whatever position they hold in life will possibly have to read and understand research reports in order to make important decisions as leaders or bureaucrats or businessmen or social workers.

The students who will write dissertation or thesis as a part of their course curricula will be able to do it with greater confidence and success after the training as this will help them learn research by doing.

Professionals: Professionals are teachers, NGO and business executives, bureaucrats, media personnel, free lance researchers, and entrepreneurs.  All these people are either engaged in producing or using research findings as a part of their professional duties.  Teachers, media personnel, and free lance researchers are directly connected with the production of knowledge through some kind of research works.  Many of them are pursuing career without having a formal training in data gathering, analyzing, and interpreting.  As a result the produced outcomes are distorted, unreliable, and full of personal biases. NGO and business executives, bureaucrats, and entrepreneurs don’t directly produce data but they are the most extensive users of research findings because they need to take correct decisions otherwise those may adversely affect their organizational goals.  Since decisions should be based on accurate scientific facts the concern persons should be able to understand the meaning of data and distinguish the reliable and distorted facts on which they make decisions.  Therefore, these groups of modern young professionals need basic knowledge of research in the interest of their careers and business enterprise.  We believe these groups of professionals undertaking this course will be highly benefited in promoting their professional careers and organizational goals.

Selection Procedure of Participants:

An open circular or notice will be posted on the notice board of different departments of private and public universities. The advertisement will also be posted in local newspapers. On receipt of the applications only short listed candidates will be invited for interview for final selection.  Only 15 trainees will be taken in one batch.  The course – 1 will be for a period of 6 weeks for undergraduate and graduate students.  The course -2 will be for 12 weeks for the professionals. The participant number will be limited to 15 only.  Participants are expected to follow lectures in English.  After selection, candidates will be notified through a formal letter. The complete process of workshop is shown in the following diagram:

The Faculty:

The Principal Trainer is highly qualified researcher who has got MA, MPH, and Ph. D from the USA and also taught at American universities.  He has publications in the form of books and articles in the USA, Canada, France, Pakistan and Bangladesh. He will be assisted by very energetic three Research Associates who are experienced and well conversant with SPSS statistical package.  Some of  them have significant numbers of publication.

The Course Components:

The courses will have four components: Class Room Lecture, Field Work, Data Entry, and Analysis. Class room lectures will include data collection techniques (mostly survey) and social statistics.  Mathematical background is not required for statistics class as we will only teach how to use statistics and interpret its meaning. For field work participants will go to the field and individually collect data.  The participants will make entry of the collected data in their own hands and perform statistical analysis.

Cost of the Course:

The Course – 1 (Six weeks) will cost a total of Tk. 8,000.0.  It will include class lecture, field work, snack in the evening, and handouts. Course classes will be held on week days from 3PM  to 7;30 PM.

 The course – 2 (12 weeks) will cost Tk.12, 500.0. It will include class lecture, field work, snack in the evening, and handouts. Course classes will be held only on Friday and Saturday.

Background of the Organization:

"Prottyashi" is a voluntary and a nongovernmental social development organization, which started its journey in February, 1983. Since 1992 Prottyashi has been implementing micro credit programs in which more than 500 employees are working. More than 100 thousand families have been able to cross the boundary of poverty by taking advantage of micro credit. For eradicating poverty and creating new entrepreneurs, Prottyashi has established 62 branches in different locations, which demonstrate its potential to undertake large projects and implement successfully.