Everyday Research Methods is designed for faculty who are teaching undergraduate research methods in psychology and for the students in their courses. It accompanies the textbook Research Methods in Psychology: Evaluating a World of Information, which teaches research methods content in a new way: by teaching students how to be consumers of research, as found in both scientific journals and the popular press.
In this blog, I post current examples of research methods concepts that are published in online media. I also write sample questions that faculty might wish to assign as discussion questions or homework. The blogs are similar to the Learning Actively exercises in the text, except they are based on more current examples that are all high fidelity and real (not fabricated for pedagogical purposes).
Some of the posts have both questions and answers, so students can check their reasoning. Others have only questions, so that students are more challenged. Each post is tagged to the course concept it teaches, as well as to relevant chapters in the text.
I hope that by working with this blog, students will be inspired to apply the critical thinking concepts they learned in the research methods course to the material they encounter every day. I hope it reinforces key ideas in the textbook and gives them more practice applying their skills.
I also hope that this blog gives faculty an extra resource they can work with in their classrooms, even if they are not using the textbook. I hope it can provide examples that will prompt good discussions, and provide opportunities to hear and give feedback on student reasoning.
If you are not currently using the textbook in your course and you’d like to consider it, you may view information about the book here. You can also take a look at a sample chapter. Chapter 3: Three Claims, Four Validities, introduces the scaffold for the book, and is the best place to start.
I would love to hear from you! If you’re a faculty member, please let me know if you have a good idea for a future post, if you have a suggestion for the textbook, or if you’d like to discuss ways of teaching research methods. If you’re a student, please let me know about ways you’ve applied your research methods skills in the real world.
You can email me at everydayresearchmethods@gmail.com.
Thanks for following!
Beth Morling, Ph.D.
About the Author
Beth Morling is Professor of Psychology at the University of Delaware. She attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and received her Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Before teaching at Delaware, she held positions at Union College (New York) and Muhlenberg College (Pennsylvania). She teaches research methods at Delaware almost every semester, and she also teaches undergraduate cultural psychology, a seminar on the self-concept, and a graduate course on the teaching of psychology. Her research in the area of cultural psychology explores how cultural practices shape people’s motivations. Dr. Morling has been a Fulbright scholar in Kyoto, Japan, and was the Delaware State Professor of the Year (2014), an award from CASE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Want to Contribute?
If you’re a research methods instructor or student and would like us to consider your guest post for everydayresearchmethods.com, please contact Dr. Morling. If, as an instructor, you write your own critical thinking questions to accompany the entry, we will credit you as a guest blogger.