GRASP
Making the most of Sage Research Methods
November 12th, 2025, by
As an HDR student, you may have heard of SAGE Research Methods - and you might also know that the Library subscribes to some of its collections. But if you haven’t heard of it, or aren’t sure what you can access or how to use it, this post is for you! In it, we’ll cover the most important things to know, plus highlight some key features and videos.
What is SAGE Research Methods?
SAGE Research Methods is an online platform that brings together a range of resources covering different types of research methods. It includes videos, case studies, books and datasets, most of which are organised into collections. As of 2025 the Library subscribes to some of these collections, namely:
- SAGE Research Methods Video Collection
- Sage Research Methods Video - Qualitative and Mixed Methods Collection
- Sage Research Methods Video - Quantitative and Mixed Methods Collection
- Sage Research Methods - Doing Research Online
In addition, some materials are available open access, and SAGE occasionally makes different resources freely available for a limited time.
Exploring SAGE Research Methods
You can access SAGE Research Methods at https://methods.sagepub.com/. Once you’re on the homepage, you’ll see the heading I want to explore…, and then different content types - including Books and Reference, Cases and Video. Clicking on any of these will give you the option to search for a specific item or to browse. For example:
- Selecting Books and Reference and then browsing by the Dictionaries content type will give you dictionaries of research terms.
- Selecting Cases and browsing by Method will allow you to find case studies related to a particular research method.
When you do this, you’ll likely find that not all of the content is available. To make sure you only see what you can access, use the Content available to me filter.
In addition to the collections, SAGE Research Methods includes a set of interactive tools designed to help you plan and carry out your research. These are freely available to everyone, and can be found under the I want to explore research methods tools heading on the homepage. They include a Methods Map, a Project Planner, and a Which Stats Test tool.
Video collections
The Library’s subscription gives you access to three video collections, which you can view by selecting the Video content type and then browsing by Collections. Each collection features videos where researchers explain key concepts, share tips, or demonstrate how to apply methods in real research projects.
You can browse the collections to explore the videos, or search to find videos on specific topics (either within a particular collection or across all videos). For example:
- Searching for ‘survey questions’ will provide a range of videos on developing effective survey questions, including this one: Developing Survey Questions
- Searching for ‘action research’ will provide a range of videos on the principles and applications of action research, including this one: Jean McNiff Discusses Action Research
- Searching for ‘power’ will provide a range of videos on understanding and achieving statistical power, including this one: Power
While not all of the SAGE Research Methods content will be relevant to you, hopefully you’ll enjoy exploring and discover some useful resources – and if you do, we’d love to hear about them!
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Photo by Benjamin Elliott on Unsplash