DEVELOPING A RESEARCH QUESTION

1, August 19: Introduction to research (notes)

• Robson, Chapter 1, Real world enquiry, 1-15
• Robson, Chapter 2, Approaches to social research, 16-44

2, August 21: Stating your research question (notes)

• Robson, Chapter 3, Developing your ideas, 45-65 only
• Marion, R. (2001). Research questions. In The Whole Art of Deduction: Research Skills for New Scientists. http://www.sahs.utmb.edu/pellinore/intro_to_research/wad/res_ques.htm

• Begin developing Research question

LEARNING FROM THE LITERATURE

3, August 26: Searching the literature

• No reading assignment; bring laptop to class

4, August 28: Using conceptual mapping to organize your literature review (notes, additional resources)

• Mitchell, M. L., & Jolley, J. M. (2000). Research Design Explained. 3rd edition.
  • Things to look for in a journal article, http://clem.mscd.edu/~lockwool/Res2/WHAT%20TO%20LOOK%20FOR%20IN%20A%20JOURNAL%20ARTICLE.htm
• Novak, J. D. (1998). Learning, Creating, and Using Knowledge : Concept Maps As Facilitative Tools in Schools and Corporations. Mahwah, N.J. Lawrence Erlbaum. [Electronic Book netLibrary]
  • Chapter 3, Section on Concept maps and knowledge organization, 27-32
  • Review all the example concept maps in Chapters 3 & 4
• Mind maps: a powerful approach to note taking. http://www.mindtools.com/mindmaps.html
• See example concept map, based on reverse engineering of Hayslett and Wildemuth (2004) literature review [Sakai resources]

• Begin Concept map of literature

5, September 2: RefWorks training (Pam Sessoms)

• No reading assignment; bring laptop to class

• First draft of Research question due

6, September 4: Moving from the concept map to the literature review; The role of the literature review

• Why do I have to have a literature review? [FAQ, plus all the links from it to related pages]. University of Queensland Student Support Services, 1994. http://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/linkto/phdwriting/fr_phfaq.html, third FAQ from the bottom of the list
• Taylor, D., & Procter, M. (2001). The literature review: A few tips on conducting it. University of Toronto. http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html

7, September 9: Writing a literature review

• How to write a literature review. UNC-CH Writing Center, 2002. http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature_review.html
• Writing a psychology literature review. Seattle, WA: University of Washington, Psychology Writing Center, February 2000. http://depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/litrev.pdf

• Second draft of Research question due, for peer review

8, September 11: Review on literature reviews

• No reading assignment; be prepared to review your progress on your literature review

• First draft of Concept map due
• Begin writing Literature review

RESEARCH DESIGN

9, September 16: Introduction to research design

• Robson, Chapter 4, General design issues, 79-94

10, September 18: Experimental designs

• Robson, Chapter 5, Fixed designs, 95-162
• Optional: Hank & Wildemuth, Chapter 11, Quasi-experimental studies, 91-102 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 3]
• Optional: Wildemuth & Cao, Chapter 12, Experimental studies, 103-114 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 3]

• Final draft of Research question due, for grading

11, September 23: Interpretive methods and other alternatives

• Robson, Chapter 6, Flexible designs, 163-200
• Bradley, J. (1993). Methodological issues and practices in qualitative research. Library Quarterly, 63(4), 431-449. [SILS Library]
• Optional: Crystal & Wildemuth, Chapter 8, Naturalistic research, 59-70 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 3]

• Second draft of Concept map due, for peer review

12, September 25: Sampling issues; Ethical treatment of human subjects

• Robson, Chapter 8, Surveys and questionnaires, Sampling in surveys--and elsewhere, 260-267
• Robson, Chapter 3, Developing your ideas, Ethical considerations, 65-76
• Optional: Wildemuth, Chapter 13, Sampling for extensive studies, 115-126 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 3]
• Optional: Wildemuth & Cao, Chapter 14, Sampling for intensive studies, 127-136 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 3]
• Optional: UNC-CH IRB Standard Operating Procedures. December 12, 2003. http://research.unc.edu/ohre/sop/IRB_SOPs_12-12-03_final.pdf.
• Optional: Categories of research that may be reviewed by the IRB through an expedited review procedure. November 9, 1998. http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/expedited98.htm.

• Complete UNC IRB-required online training in Human Research Ethics, Human Subjects Protection page, access from menu at left

13, September 30: Review on research design

• No reading assignment; be prepared to present your plans for your research design

• Begin developing Methods proposal
• First draft of Literature review due

DATA COLLECTION

14, October 2: Interviews (Rodriguez); Surveys and questionnaires (Wildemuth)

• Robson, Chapter 9, Interviews, 269-291
• Robson, Chapter 8, Surveys and questionnaires, 227-260 only
• Wilson, C.E. (2007). Designing useful and usable questionnaires: You can't just "throw a questionnaire together". interactions, 14(3), 48-49, 63. [ACM Digital Library]
• Optional: Luo, L., & Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 24, Semi-structured interviews, 233-242 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 4]
• Optional: Jordan, M.W., Hank, C., & Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 26, Survey research, 257-270 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 4]

• Final draft of Concept map due, for grading

15, October 7: Tests and scales

• Robson, Chapter 10, Tests and scales, 292-308
• Optional: Lane, D. M. (2003). HyperStat Online Textbook. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
  • Chapter 1, Introduction to statistics: Section 7, Measurement scales. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/intro.html
• Optional: Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 27, Measuring cognitive and affective variables, 271-278 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 4]
• Optional: Kline, P. (1990). Selecting the best test. In Beech, J.R., & Harding, L. (eds.), Testing People: A Practical Guide to Psychometrics.Windsor, Berkshire, England: NFER-NELSON Pub. Co., 107-117. (Pages 107-110 are of special interest.) [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Additional Readings]

• Additional resources
  • American Psychological Association. FAQ / Finding information about psychological tests. http://www.apa.org/science/faq-findtests.html
  • ETS Test Collection. http://www.ets.org/testcoll/
  • Survey Instruments in IS. IS World. http://www.isworld.org/surveyinstruments/surveyinstruments.htm
  • Social Research Update, http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/sru/
  • QualPage site, http://qualitativeresearch.uga.edu/QualPage/

16, October 9 : Observation; Additional sources of data

• Robson, Chapter 11, Observational methods, 309-345
• Robson, Chapter 12, Additional methods of data collection, 346-384
• Optional: Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 20, Direct observation, 191-200 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 4]
• Optional: Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 17, Existing documents and artifacts as data, 159-166 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 4]

17, October 14: Data collection examples from class research proposals; Review

• Readings to be assigned by class members

DATA ANALYSIS

18, October 21: Creating and exploring a data set

• Robson, Chapter 13, The analysis of quantitative data, 391-416 only
• Optional: Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 33, Descriptive statistics, 340-348 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 5]
• Optional: Byrne, G. (2007). A statistical primer: Understanding descriptive and inferential statistics. Evidence-Based Library & Information Practice, 2(1), 32-47. Online at http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/EBLIP/article/view/168/239.
• Optional: Lane, D. M. (2003). HyperStat Online Textbook. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
  • Chapter 1, Introduction to statistics:Sections 1-6. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/intro.html
  • Chapter 2, Describing univariate data. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/desc_univ.html

• Additional resources on data analysis
  • StatSoft Electronic Statistics Textbook. http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html
  • Easton, V. J., McColl, J. H., & Young, S. G. (1997). STEPS Statistics Glossary, v. 1.1. http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/steps/glossary/index.html

19, October 23: Chi square; correlation

• Robson, Chapter 13, Section on Analysing relationships between two variables, 416-427 only
• Lane, D. M. (2003). HyperStat Online Textbook. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
  • Chapter 3, Describing bivariate data. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/desc_biv.html
• Optional: Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 34, Frequencies, cross-tabulation and the chi square statistic, 349-360 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 5]
• Optional: Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 36, Correlation, 375-382 [available in the course Sakai site, Resources, Wildemuth book, Section 5]

• First draft of Methods proposal due

October 28 : No class (ASIST)

20, October 30: The logic of hypothesis testing (Rodriguez)

• Lane, D. M. (2003). HyperStat Online Textbook. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
  • Chapter 9, The logic of hypothesis testing. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/logic_hypothesis.htm

• Second draft of Literature review due, for peer review

21, November 4: Comparing two means

• Robson, Chapter 13, Section on Analysing differences, 435-441 only
• Lane, D. M. (2003). HyperStat Online Textbook. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
  • Chapter 4, Introduction to probability. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/probability.html
  • Chapter 5, Normal distribution. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/normal_distribution.html
  • Chapter 6, Sampling distributions, Sections 1-6. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/sampling_dist.html
  • Chapter 10, Testing hypotheses with standard errors, Sections 1, 4, and 5. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/hypothesis_testing_se.html
• Optional: Crystal, A.J., & Wildemuth, B.M. Chapter 37, Comparing means: t tests and analysis of variance, 383-394

22, November 6: Hypothesis testing, ANOVA

• Robson, Chapter 13, Sections related to analysis of variance, 441-447 only
• Lane, D. M. (2003). HyperStat Online Textbook. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/index.html
  • Chapter 12, Introduction to between-subjects ANOVA, Sections 1 and 2. http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/intro_ANOVA.htm

23, November 11: Analyzing qualitative data (Rodriguez)

• Robson, Chapter 14, The analysis of qualitative data, 455-499

24, November 13: Statistics and research design review

• No reading assignment

• Final draft of Literature review due, for grading

WRITING AND DEFENDING THE PROPOSAL

25, November 18 : Writing and presenting the research proposal

• Robson, Appendix A, Writing a project proposal, 526-533
• Robson, Chapter 15, Reporting on the enquiry, 500-525
• Reporting results of common statistical tests in APA format. University of Washington, Psychology Writing Center, June 2003. http://www.depts.washington.edu/psywc/handouts/pdf/stats.pdf
• Tutorials on effective presentations, http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/effective.html
  • Developing an effective oral presentation
  • Designing effective visual aids for presentations

• Second draft of Methods proposal due, for peer review

26, November 20: Class cancelled; Review for presentations via individual appointments

27, November 25: Presentations of research proposals

• John Weis, Information Overload among Undergraduate Students
• Robert Shoemake, PDA: Personal Digital Assistant or Personally Distracting and Addictive?
• Mia Barnes, The Effects of Relationship Selling on Customer Perceptions of Insurance Companies
• Derek Rodriguez, Developing the Understanding Library Impacts Protocol

November 27: No class (Thanksgiving)

28, December 2: Review and resolution of any questions

December 5, 1:30-4:00: Optional IRB workshop (Sign up with Diane Kelly if you plan to attend)

• Draft of IRB proposal (if applicable) due, for instructor/advisor review

December 12, Noon

• Final draft of Methods proposal due, for grading