RSE4801 Assignment 2 2025 – Due 3 July 2025

RSE4801
ASSSIGNMENT 2 2025
DUE: 3 JULY 2025

Section A: Short Answer Questions

1. Define what ‘context’ means in research.

(Study Unit, Learning Unit 2.2)
In research, context refers to the various conditions and environments that influence
and shape the research process, including social, political, economic, historical,
institutional, and personal factors. These contexts can be categorized into microcontexts
e.g.,
classrooms
or
individual
relationships,
meso-contexts
e.g.,
schools,

communities,
or
government
policies,
and
macro-contexts
e.g.,
global
trends
such
as

neoliberalism
or
capitalism.

Importantly, context is not just a background setting in which research occurs, it is also
shaped by the research itself. This means research both responds to and creates
context. As such, researchers must reflect critically on how their own values,
positionalities, and practices interact with these contexts