Best preparation for Research Methods Courses

Dear Fellow Distance Ph.D. Learners:

I wanted to call upon you as I finish my last two Research Methods courses before Dissertation preparation. I can't say that these courses are my forte. I think I may struggle in this quantitative side of coursework. Is there any advice or information you may find helpful in succeeding in this area of course? Thanks for your help.

 

Congratulations on your progress toward a Ph.D.

Caveat: I'm neither a Ph.D nor have I taken a research methods course.

If you're not quantitatively inclined, go to your local libraries, page through probability and statistics texts, check out and read the one that seems most lucid to you.

Additionally, you may want to invest in a statistical software package (academic discounts are available) such as SPSS or SAS to do the heavy lifting. Some universities may have the software loaded in their computer labs so you may want visit local colleges.

 

Consider "Statistics Without Tears" by Derek Rowntree. Expensive now, but essential if you want to begin understanding statistics. It's explanation of inferential statistics and hypothesis testing is great.

Select a stats package, unless your school provides one. I used GB-Stat, but its interface--despite many upgrades--hasn't changed since Windows 3.1, so it's a bit clunky.

Do some reading. Get involved in your projects. Make sure you understand descriptive statistics going in. Just do it. These courses involve something you grasp emerging from them, not going into them.

 

Ed,

Don't fret too much. Although the research methods courses are quite comprehensive, you will have sufficient instructional material in your course CDs and online resources necessary for you to complete your coursework and obtain a solid understanding of both basic and advanced research concepts and methods. You will also have plenty of interaction and access to your professor/s who have extensive quantitative and qualitative research backgrounds.

I've also included the following links to resources that I found particularly helpful. Again, you will find many more on your course CDs and in the library resources; however, these were some of the ones that I found to be the most useful.

*The following links provide a good overview and detailed review of various research concepts, methods, approaches and procedures:

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/

http://trochim.human.cornell.edu/kb/contents.htm

http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/statnote.htm

http://www.statsoft.com/textbook/stathome.html

http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/

http://www.sportsci.org/resource/stats/contents.html

http://www.cas.lancs.ac.uk/glossary_v1.1/main.html

http://www.wyattresources.net/methods.html


*The following is a handy reference guide that you will find very useful throughout your dissertation process. It will also help to connect the various research methods and approaches to your dissertation proposal and subsequent dissertation:

http://www.sagepub.com/booktoc.aspx?pid=4799&sc=1


*These links are excellent online resources that will provide you with both basic and advance procedures using SPSS:

http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/spss/

http://stat.tamu.edu/~mspeed/spss/general.html

http://pages.infinit.net/rlevesqu/LearningSyntax.htm (Covers more advanced use of the SPSS syntax, should you like to have more flexibility than what is offered by through the GUI)

I hope this helps. Feel free to send me a PM if there is anything more that you need.

Tom

 

Thanks

Tom:

Thanks so much for your help and support

 

Download a free demo copy of SPSS for Windows which is much easier to use and more powerful than standard spreadsheet software. This was how I survived the statistics course for my criminal justice masters.

 

Statistics for Dummies

I bought a copy of "Statistics for Dummies" and just began reading it. If I understand it I will CONSIDER the idea of moving on to an Ed D or other doctorate.

I had two stats/Ed research courses for my M Ed program, but they focused more on classroom based action research and being a "consumer of research" than being a traditional researcher.

 

Another software

I used Minitab in my probability and statistics course. You can download a trial version here.

 

Re: Statistics for Dummies

Depending on departmental dogma, if any, you might also consider a non-quantitative research methodology.