Research Methods Class Research Articles

Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Revised Attitudes Toward Research Scale for Use with MSW Students.

Evaluating students' attitudes toward research is essential for instructors of any research methods class, as students' general attitudes toward research may impact if and how they integrate research into practice decision making. However, few psychometrically sound, multidimensional instruments that can be used with Master of Social Work (MSW) students exist. This work used confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Revised Attitudes Toward Research Scale with a diverse sample of 396 master's level social work students. Multiple indicators, multiple causes models and a series of Monte Carlo simulations were then used to assess the relationship between various dimensions of students' attitudes toward research, their prior research exposure/training, and their sociodemographic characteristics. Results indicate that the overall performance of the measure with this sample of MSW students was strong, and the factor structure was consistent with that found when evaluated with different samples in previous research. Moreover, various sociodemographic characteristics predicted scores on the research usefulness, research anxiety, and positive research predisposition subscales. The use of this tool allows instructors to identify students with high levels of research-related anxiety and those who may not intuitively comprehend the need to understand empirical research findings and integrate them into practice decision making. The authors offer suggestions for integrating this validated tool into social work research methods classes to assist in developing students' ability to engage in all steps of the evidence-based practice process once in the field.

Optimizing Learning: Predicting Research Competency via Statistical Proficiency

In higher education, the cultivation of research competency is pivotal for students’ critical thinking development and their subsequent transition into the professional workforce. While statistics plays a fundamental role in supporting the completion of a research project, it is often perceived as challenging, particularly by students in majors outside mathematics or statistics. The connection between students’ statistical proficiency and their research competency remains unexplored despite its significance. To address this gap, we utilize the supervised machine learning approach to predict students’ research competency as represented by their performance in a research methods class, with predictors of students’ proficiency in statistical topics. Predictors relating to students’ learning behavior in a statistics course such as assignment completion and academic dishonesty are also included as auxiliary variables. Results indicate that the three primary categories of statistical skills—namely, the understanding of statistical concepts, proficiency in selecting appropriate statistical methods, and statistics interpretation skills—can be used to predict students’ research competency as demonstrated by their final course scores and letter grades. This study advocates for strategic emphasis on the identified influential topics to enhance efficiency in developing students’ research competency. The findings could inform instructors in adopting a strategic approach to teaching the statistical component of research for enhanced efficiency.

Archival Research in Sport Management: A Review for Research Methods Courses

The present study aimed to explain archival research and demonstrate its relevance as a distinct research method to include in sport management research methods course instruction. The current essay implicitly shows how archival research can complement other research methods and possibly improve upon their limitations. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that training in archival research can offer skills to students who might pursue employment in the sport industry. The review outlines what archival research is. Next, the various limitations and considerations to aid course instructors and subsequently researcher or practitioner comprehension are provided. Finally, the paper offers a guide for approaching physical archives and outlines expectations for archival research. Techniques necessary for analyzing information gleaned from archival research are presented and explained along with sample course assignments that are available to not only research methods classes but also potentially other coursework.

Lessons from the field: Isn't it just common sense? Naïve realism as a barrier to learning

AbstractObjectiveThe goal was to determine whether or not there is an association between the belief that human development and family science (HDFS) is “just common sense” and academic performance in a rigorous research methods class in HDFS.BackgroundNaïve realism is a cognitive bias that creates a belief in common sense that is difficult to challenge. It is unknown whether student commitment to common sense impedes students' ability to learn.MethodStudents (N = 112) in an HDFS research methods class were followed for a semester. Potential barriers to learning were measured through a self‐report survey before the start of the semester. The outcome variable was objective performance in the course as measured by exam scores.ResultsExam scores were positively correlated with prior academic achievement and negatively correlated with student belief that the discipline is just common sense.ConclusionNaïve realism, expressed as the belief that HDFS is just common sense, predicts poor performance in a research methods class.ImplicationsHigher education faculty in HDFS must directly confront the problem that our discipline is perceived as just common sense. Naïve realism must be challenged directly in coursework if students are to learn about the science of HDFS.

Cultivating Comadrerismo for Collective Liberation

In this paper, we draw from our positionality, respective roles on campus, and experience with developing the UndocuScholars Research Methods class. We argue that despite learning to navigate during a pandemic and dealing with the coexistence of grief and joy, transformation in the academy is possible when seeds are planted through building community, vulnerability, and the creation of an equitable and student-centered curriculum. At the same time, transformation in the academy occurs among faculty and staff through the development of comadrerismo, which is a bond that extends beyond collegiality, as it seeks to foster a sisterhood that honors, supports, and validates people’s journeys, roles, and goals in life. In the end, we all benefit from the harvest by reimagining spaces as locations where we can experience healing, transformation, and eventually, collective liberation. It is within our line of work that we can envision, change, and benefit from altering the institutional practices that move us to radically shift from individualistic to communal joy.

Teaching Note—Working Toward an Inclusive, Antiracist, and Antioppressive Research Methods Pedagogy

ABSTRACT Social work research has adopted the scientific method rooted in the hard sciences as the gold standard for understanding human behavior and creating interventions and policies for both individual and systemic change. Current methodologies are rooted in White supremacy that lack the subjectivity needed to provide space for the effects of racism and oppression to be included in studies and evidence-based practice. Social work cannot be antiracist and anti-oppressive unless it creates an inclusive research methods class that is critical of what is considered scientific rigor. This teaching note presents the current evolution of a social work research methods class to promote critical thinking around what is believed to be the gold standard of scientific research.

Kemampuan Menulis Paragraf Deskriptif Siswa Kelas V SD Negeri 6 OKU Menggunakan Model Pembelajaran Inquiri Based Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine the learning of Indonesian with using learning model inquiri Based Learning in Class V SD Negeri 6 OKU, and to investigate the increase in students' ability in writing descriptive paragraphs using learning model inquiri Based Learning. The method used in this study is an action research methods class. Data collection techniques, namely tests and observation techniques, and techniques of analyzing data is done by analyzing test data and observations data. Based on the entire population and sample 25 students, through writing test descriptive paragraphs in the first cycle increased, ie 61.32 during the pre cycle and increased to 74, 64 in the first cycle, and 1, 76 in cycle II. Based on the results of the second cycle all students have reached the standard overall KKM. Based on the result of test can be concluded that the students of Class V SD Negeri 6 OKU were able to write descriptive paragraph by using learning model of Inquiry Based Learning. As for advice to Indonesian teachers in general, it is advisable to try to apply this learning inquiri Based Learning in learning Indonesian.

The Effectiveness of Task-Based Learning in Historical and Cultural Research Method Classes

This study analyzes the effectiveness of task-based learning in the History and Culture Research Methods class. This approach focuses on engaging students through goal-oriented assignments that are relevant to real life. This study aimed to see the effectiveness of task-based learning on students' abilities in the Historical and Cultural Research Methods class and to find an effective implementation strategy. This study used a descriptive qualitative approach to collect data through observation and research on ten Japanese Language and Culture Study Program students, semester 6, Darma Persada University, academic year 2021/2022. The research outcomes suggest that using the task-centered approach proves efficient in augmenting student involvement and active involvement in the educational process. The use of tasks that are relevant to the learning objectives increases student interest and facilitates learner-centered learning. This study underscores the importance of a task-based approach in learning Historical and Cultural Research Methods. In conclusion, this strategy can improve learning outcomes by stimulating active student involvement, supporting the introduction of historical and cultural concepts, and encouraging greater participation in the learning process.

Leaving the Lectures Behind: Using Community-Engaged Learning in Research Methods Classes to Teach about Sustainability

This article explores the outcomes of using community-engaged learning in a sustainability-focused social sciences research course titled Methods of Social Research. The integrated components of the course were designed to teach students about the research process while addressing sustainability issues at Utah State University. Throughout the course, students learned how to collect, analyze, and interpret data; work in research teams; write a grant; and write and present a final research paper. Student sustainability surveys and the final course evaluation were used to analyze student learning outcomes. We found that students demonstrated increased confidence in collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data and an improved effectiveness and enjoyment in working in teams toward a final product. Students also exhibited their knowledge of small- and large-scale sustainability challenges as well as a decisiveness in answering questions related to sustainability. These outcomes resulted in heightened student self-efficacy and critical thinking skills when performing research and engaging with issues related to sustainability.

Introducing Client-Focused Research (CFR) Projects into the Research Methods Curriculum: Key Considerations for Political Science Instructors

Client-Focused Research (CFR) offers an approach to teaching research methods that brings classes into a professional environment by working directly with nonprofit or public sector clients. Students work with clients to define the scope of the research project, design the research methodology, create data collection instruments, gather and analyze data, and report findings. This real-world application of principles taught in research methods classes engages students in addressing client research needs, demonstrates the value of research methods in the world outside the academy, enhances an understanding of political science concepts, teaches skills valuable to employers, and lays the foundation for democratic citizenship, while promoting course learning objectives. This article discusses the authors’ experience with CFR at a mid-sized, public university across a five-year period, and provides a “how to” guide for faculty interested in integrating CFR projects into their research methods classes. A discussion of course evaluation results highlights pedagogical benefits of adopting the CFR model.

Words May Jump-Start Meaning More Than Vision: A Non-Replication of Early ERP Effects in Boutonnet and Lupyan (2015)

We report a replication of Boutonnet and Lupyan’s (2015) study of the effects of linguistic labelling on perceptual performance. In addition to a response time advantage of linguistic labels over non-linguistic auditory cues in judging visual objects, Boutonnet and Lupyan found that the two types of cues produced different patterns in the early perceptual ERP components P1 and P2 but not the later, semantics-relevant N4. This study thus adds an important piece of evidence supporting the claim of genuine top-down effects on perception. Given the controversy over this claim and the need for replication of key findings, we attempted to replicate Boutonnet and Lupyan (2015). We replicated their behavioral findings that response times to indicate whether an auditory cue matches a visual image of an object were faster for match than mismatch trials and faster for linguistic than non-linguistic cues. We did not replicate the main ERP effects supporting a positive effect of linguistic labels on the early perceptual ERP components P1 and P2, though we did find a congruence by cue type interaction effect on those components. Unlike Boutonnet and Lupyan, we found a main effect of cue type on the N4 in which non-linguistic cues produced more negative amplitudes. Exploratory analyses of the unpredicted N4 effect suggest that the response time advantage of linguistic labels occurred during semantic rather than early visual processing. This experiment was pre-registered at https://osf.io/cq8g4/ and conducted as part of an undergraduate cognitive science research methods class at Vassar College.

Using IRB Protocols to Teach Ethical Principles for Research and Everyday Life

Undergraduate research as a high-impact practice demonstrates many positive benefits for students, but little research has delved into the impact of ethical training for research, in particular submitting Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols to determine if the study meets ethical standards for the treatment of human subjects. This study explored if students in two experimental and one nonexperimental research methods class benefited from increased knowledge of research ethics and how to apply them in daily-life situations if they participated in various aspects of IRB protocol procedures either as part of a class-based research project or by completing an IRB protocol activity for developing a hypothetical program to help families. Some students in all three classes had previously engaged in a 4-hr online extended training [the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program] in research ethics focused on the Belmont Report principles of beneficence, respect, and justice, but not in IRB protocols. Students were given a pre- and posttest to assess knowledge in both research and daily-life settings for applying the Belmont Report research ethics principles. Results indicate students gained greater knowledge of research ethics when they completed IRB protocol training during a class-based undergraduate research or program-design project, even if they had already completed some extended case-based training in the CITI Program. Results are discussed in terms of the value of using modified IRB protocol approaches as a high-impact practice to teach ethics in research and daily life to students.

Teaching and Learning Through Class Projects: Improving Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Schoolchildren

AbstractParticipation in research prepares students for conducting future projects, academic, and professional success. Service learning combines classroom instruction with meaningful community engagement. This article presents an example of a class project that combined service learning and research to increase knowledge of and familiarity with fruits and vegetables through hands‐on food identification. The aim was to encourage kindergarten students to eat more fruits and vegetables by acquainting them with these foods. This project was developed for a mixed undergraduate and graduate anthropology Research Methods class to provide students the opportunity to learn by applying textbook information and anthropological methods to real world issues. In addition to presenting results from a pre‐ and posttest research design that included interviews, taste tests, flashcard identification, time in the garden, and additional hands‐on activities, the teaching method is assessed. Results were shared with the school and the garden program to optimize future healthy eating curriculum.

She Embodied: A Materialized Collective

This collaboratively written piece materializes the collective experiences of 14 students and an instructor in a graduate-level feminist research methods class in the United States. Instead of writing a traditional seminar paper, the class decided to continue our weekly discussions, during which we wrestled with both theory and practice, in text in a final paper. It just seemed like the best way to end our time together. In so doing, the she embodied collective furthers feminist writing practices that embrace uneasy collectives of varying viewpoints. This particular collective acknowledges our she, but recognizes, listens to, and celebrates all the powerful pronouns that create a collective. The collective offers a brief introduction and lengthy appendix to situate the piece. We do not adhere to a singular feminism in the piece. Consequently, our collective is a way of doing unity differently, of attending to and residing with the frictional thought within feminisms and finding that frictional thought as generative. We invite readers to join our collective, to think together across differences without reducing those differences to similarities.

Authentic learning in the undergraduate social research methods classroom: students’ perspectives on project-based pedagogy

To date, little empirical qualitative research has examined students’ perspectives on faculties’ pedagogical strategies in research methods classes in higher education institutions and how these affect their learning. This case study examined how a newly implemented project-based learning system (PjBL) was experienced by the students and how their views on the system evolved over time. The case study collected data from students through qualitative interviews and content-analyzed the transcriptions. The findings show that the students valued the switch from traditional teacher-centered teaching to project-based learning and that this kind of learning system has strong potential to attract students' interest and to engage them more actively and genuinely in the learning process. The study also identified negative student experiences with PjBL, especially increased workload and project-related anxiety. However, the study found that even the more reluctant students can eventually find the model attractive and valuable, as they become accustomed and attracted to it over time. The paper discusses the implications of the findings for the pedagogy of research methods in higher education.

An Interviewer’s Reflection of Data Collection in Building an Archive of Language Learner Experiences

Interviewing is one of the most common data collection tools in qualitative research. It is widely discussed in research methods classes and literature and considered as an invaluable tool for gathering facts and feelings. In this paper, I reflect systematically on the first 270 interviews conducted for a large-scale investigation into the English language learning history of Hong Kong university students. I discuss how existing literature served as a guide to interviewing but once in the field, I reflect on how I adapted and improvised to improve my interviewing skills. I also analyze and discuss the strategies I employed to encourage undergraduates in Hong Kong universities to reveal aspects of their English language learning experiences and the methods that I used to limit personal influence. I benefitted from recording my progress and reflecting on the interview process internally and with peers and supervisors. I hope my autoethnographic-like style will give fellow researchers the freedom to reflectively explore themselves and their interviewing techniques.

Towards innovative teaching pedagogies in gender research: A review of a gender research methods class

This commentary examines the teaching of research methods in Women and Gender Studies in the Gender Studies Unit of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. It interrogates how the course has increased the awareness of students in the methods of conducting research and how the research they conduct has implications on marginalized populations. The course also highlights the need for a growing body of knowledge that engages the experience of black women in Africa and the African diaspora. The course draws the attention of students to the agency of women through the reading and teaching of various research methods in Gender Studies. An ethnographic approach is adopted using participant observation in the course covering a period of one semester. Also, a critical perspective is applied in discussing the particular epistemological standpoint deployed by the course instructor. In other words, the black feminist epistemology serves as an important strategy for increasing global-minded consciousness of how a course in gender research methods engages the agency of black women using Hip Hop pedagogy.
 Keywords: Gender Research Methods, Black Feminist Epistemology, Global-Minded, Black Consciousness, African Feminism.

A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Hybrid Course Modality to Increase Student Engagement and Mastery of Course Content in Undergraduate Research Methods Classes

An undergraduate Research Methods in Criminal Justice class was taught in two different modalities, traditional and hybrid, over 8 semesters. The hybrid course sought to increase student engagement through student-driven active learning modules delivered online while maintaining mastery of course content. Using a mixed-methods research design, engagement with course material was evaluated by assessing a mid-semester student survey in the hybrid offerings and comparing the two modalities using qualitative and quantitative data from end of semester student ratings of teaching effectiveness. Mastery of course content was assessed by comparing exam scores between the two modalities. Qualitative data suggest greater course engagement among students enrolled in the hybrid sections. A quantitative analysis revealed significantly higher average mean test scores among students in the hybrid group across all three exams. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research and extensions of the hybrid modality to other criminal justice courses.

Peningkkatan Hasil Belajar Peserta Didik Dengan Penerapan Model Pembelajaran Carousel Feedback

This study aims to determine the application of Carousel Feedback learning models in social studies subjects IV class at SDN Ipi Ende and to determine student learning outcomes in social studies subjects IVA at SDN Ipi Ende with the application of Carousel Feedback models. This research was conducted using research methods class action (CAR) consisting of two cycles. Each cycle consists of four stages namely; observation, planning, action and reflection. Data collection techniques used in this study were tests, observations, interviews, and documentation. The collected data were analyzed descriptively qualitative and quantitative descriptive. The results showed that carousel feedback learning model can improve student learning outcomes. This can be seen from the increase in the percentage of student learning outcomes that have increased, seen from the percentage of classical completeness that is 75% in the first cycle to 100% in the second cycle.

Collaborative Learning in Sociology Research Methods Courses: Does Race Matter?

Students often identify research methods classes as one of the most difficult and intimidating classes of their academic career. The objectives of this study were twofold. The first was to ascertain whether the use of group-centered, collaborative learning would improve student mastery of material compared to traditional, lecture-based classes. The second objective was to examine a possible differential impact of collaborative learning by race. The study measured students’ mastery of basic concepts in research methods as well as their application of the material to novel situations by comparing their competence at the beginning to their performance on the same measures at the midterm and final exams. Findings highlight the importance of examining race as a factor in the study of the effectiveness of collaborative learning and, more specifically, point to a need to further test the hypothesis that collaborative learning pedagogy techniques can ameliorate race-based achievement gaps in student performance.