Other Opportunities at JCU and External Training Courses

The non-profit Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research Incorporated, or ACSPRI, was formed in 1976 to enable Australian social science researchers to gain access to the archive of survey data held at the University of Michigan.  ASCPRI now aims to serve its members through three main areas of activity:

• Learning, education and professional development;
• A national survey research centre (Academic Surveys Australia); and
• Data access and usage.

JCU is a member of ACSPRI and so is eligible for certain benefits and services. Further information is available on the ACSPRI Benefits of Membership webpage.

ASCPRI offers programs designed to cater for fundamental, changing and emerging research strategies, and to serve a wide variety of needs for training and professional development within the academic, public and private sectors.  Its courses cater not only for researchers in the social and political sciences, but also in areas such as behavioural, health and medical sciences, policy research, education, economics, epidemiology, law, management, marketing, public relations and human resource management. Registration, course and travel costs are to be covered by the JCU researcher.

For information on ASCPRI courses see the website.

ESRI has more than 100 online courses available via its website (the ESRI Virtual Campus). The ArcGIS software licence between ESRI and JCU will allow (almost) unlimited access to these courses.

ESRI’s ArcGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) that facilitates the: creation of maps; compilation of geographic (spatial) data; analysis of spatial information; and, the management of spatial information in a database. The ESRI Virtual Campus is a web-based platform for training in the science, application, and technology of GIS.

To find out more about the many training opportunities offered by ESRI, go to the website.

To access these courses you will need an access code, please contact the IT Helpdesk.

The Australian National University (ANU) gives students access to researchers who are among the best in their fields and to opportunities for development around Australia and the world. ANU Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) can be audited free or students can choose to receive a verified certificate for a small fee. Select a course from the website.

Note that JCU HDR candidates who wish to count participation in an ANU MOOC towards the Elective Component of RD7003 will have to receive a verified certificate, and therefore will need to pay the small fee specified by the ANU.

e-Grad School (Australia) is a virtual graduate school operating from Australia for the global research community and is the only fully online provider of high quality training and professional development relevant to the needs of researchers and administrators in the public or private research sectors. e-Grad School is managed by Queensland University of Technology.

e-Grad School supports the development of generic professional skills in Higher Degree by Research (PhD and Masters by Research) students during their research degree candidature, and Early Career Researchers so that they can enter the workplace more employer, innovation and industry ready.

A wide range of modules is available and all are accessible online with a maximum time commitment of five weeks.  JCU participants may undertake moderated module where participants work together with a moderator who facilitates learning and communication within the group. Certificates of completion for moderated modules are awarded if the module requirements have been met.

To find out more about the many training opportunities offered by e-Grad School download the module information flyer 2022 or visit the website.

Qualitative research is all about exploring issues, understanding phenomena and answering questions.  While there’s a whole industry engaged in its pursuit, qualitative research also happens in nearly every workplace and study environment, nearly every day.

Focus groups, in-depth interviews, content analysis, ethnography, evaluation and semiotics are among the many approaches that are used, but qualitative research in its most basic form involves the analysis of any unstructured data, including: open-ended survey responses, literature reviews, audio recordings, pictures and web pages.

There is no agreed ‘industry standard’ or prescribed process for approach a qualitative project but there are some recognised strategies and steps you can take.  Qualitative research software like NVivo helps people to manage, shape and make sense of unstructured information.  It doesn’t do the thinking for you; it provides a workspace and tools to enable you to easily work through your information.

Visit the QSR International website to view their ‘Introducing NVivo’ video.

For training opportunities, including online workshops, visit the QSR International Training and Events webpage.

Coursera is a US-based organisation that draws together expertise from a range of universities and companies to provide high quality flexible training.  Many basic courses are free, and all are 100 per cent online.  In cases where you are seeking a certificate, there may be a small charge.  Coursera was founded in 2012 by two Stanford computer science professors who sought to provide anyone, anywhere with access to the world’s best education.

Please be advised that Coursera courses may attract a charge which will be at your expense.  A free trial may be available for some of the courses.  Please liaise directly with Coursera regarding this.

For further information, go to:  https://www.coursera.org/