FRAMEWORK - Research Methods

Designing Inquiry with Rigour, Relational Ethics, and Interdisciplinary Care

Inquiry is not just a technical pursuit; it is a relational act, a ceremony of attention, and a design practice rooted in care. This module invites researchers across the physical sciences and beyond to approach methodology not as a checklist, but as a living architecture of values, access, and systemic awareness.

Whether you're conducting experiments, engaging communities, or interpreting archival data, your methods shape not only what you discover, but how you relate to the world you’re studying. This guide supports you in designing an inquiry that is clear, ethical, emotionally paced, and interdisciplinary, where rigour meets reflexivity, and data becomes dialogue.

You’ll explore:

• Inquiry as cultural practice and relational ceremony
• Methodological landscapes across disciplines and paradigms
• Ethics, positionality, and systemic accountability
• Trauma-informed and access-conscious data collection
• Interpretation that resists flattening and honours complexity
• Transparent documentation and open science practices
• Reflective integration and future-facing inquiry design

Each section offers scaffolding for inquiry that is not only methodologically sound, but emotionally attuned and ethically grounded. Whether you're designing a lab protocol or a community-based study, this module helps you ask:

What kind of knowledge am I making, and how do I make it with care?

Let’s begin with intention, integrity, and a commitment to inquiry that transforms.

Contents

Introduction

Section 1: Research as Relational Inquiry

Section 2: Methodological Landscapes

Section 3: Ethics and Positionality Designing

Section 4: Data Collection and Emotional Pacing

Section 5: Analysis and Interpretation

Section 6: Documentation and Transparency

Section 7: Reflection and Integration 

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