University of Arizona

LIS 506: Research Methods I

Summer, 1997: Seavey

Email: seavey@u.arizona.edu

520-621-3957 (office)

520-621-3279 (fax)

"We must discover the laws on which our profession rests, and not invent them."

Anonymous, n.d.

"Research is fundamentally a state of mind involving continual reexamination of the doctrines and axioms upon which current thought and action are based. It is, therefore, critical of existing practices."

Theobald Smith, 1929

Here is the link to the Chi Square/Spreadsheet tutorial.

Here is the link to the answers for the first stats quiz.

Here is the link to the second stats quiz.

Here is the link to the guest lectures for Wednesday, August 6th

Here is the link to the stats1 grades.

Here is the link to the stats2 answers

This is the web version of the syllabus for LIS506, second summer session, 1997. This contains the entire version that will be available in paper from the book store. It does not contain the readings, nor some additional unpublished material which will be in the readings package. It should give you an idea of what is going to happen in class.

The course will consist of lectures and discussion of common readings. Heavy emphasis will be placed on the student's ability to analyze and critique published research in the field. Participation in class discussion sessions is essential.

STATISTICS EXERCISES: Students will solve two sets of statistical problems, outside of class. One set will involve the use of calculators, the other a spreadsheet program. In general I can read almost any version of Excel or QuattroPro. Work done on Microsoft Works for reasons that are totally mysterious to me, are difficult to translate. There is a plethora of computer labs on campus in addition to the machines in the School. Guidelines attached.

ARTICLE EVALUATIONS: Four research articles in our field are included in the readings package. Students will evaluate three (3) of these articles as works of research. Guidelines are attached. The articles to be used for this exercise are:

JOURNAL EVALUATION: Each student will evaluate the eight most recent issues of a research journal in our field. Basic Guidelines are the same as above. It is important that the student think of these articles as evidence in a research paper you are writing. How do you describe them? Are they reliable, valid, relevant?

The evaluations are due in this order: journal, articles. There is a progression in the level of analysis required. As you go through the course you are acquiring more and more tools with which to evaluate research. By the time you write the journal review, you will have had a heavy dose of research theory, and some statistics. You can apply those tools to the journal at which you are looking. By the time the articles come along you will have either read in the text, or heard from me, everything you need to evaluate in detail the strengths and/or weaknesses of the articles in question. I don't exactly drop clues along the way about the articles, but there you have already seen material that is relevant to the article evaluations.

The main thing to remember here: the journal and the articles are evidence evidence evidence evidence evidence evidence. I am not interested in the stories they collectively tell- I am interested in how you dissect each item as evidence. Think of the things you are reading as your unit of analysis- you are a researcher asking questions, the journals and articles are the evidence you have collected. What can you tell me about each? Look at the evidence- how do you describe it? What questions does it answer? The research evaluation guide below provides at least one possible framework for an approach. With 8 issues of a journal, I don't expect a detailed analysis of each article... how do you characterize those 8 issues without writing a young Russian novel? After we do a little bit on descriptive statistics this may become a little more clear. Not because I expect you to use descriptive statistics, although you would be hard put to describe the beast without using some numbers, but because of the ideas involved...

Students will be evaulated on the following:

All material will be graded on a numerical basis. The following standards apply in assigning final grades:

Numerical scores are not rounded up when computing grades.

A word on grading. This is graduate school. Simply doing the work on time in a reasonable fashion earns a grade of "B." The grade of "A" is reserved for work that shows evidence of going beyond the mere requirements of completing the assignment. Heavy emphasis will be placed on the student's ability to analyze and critique published research in the field- in other words, critical thinking is a must. Participation in class discussion sessions, be it on the list, or in whatever interactive method we settle on, is essential.

The text for this course is:

Sprinthall, Richard. Basic Statistical Analysis 5th ed. Allyn & Bacon, 1997.

You can probably use the 4th edition should you find one, although there are a number of typos in that version. In truth the third edition will probably work as well....

There is a required readings package containing both published articles, and unpublished supplemental information of use to the student. Both are available at the bookstore.

Tentative Schedule of Events and Readings

I use the word "tentative" in its true sense. The following schedule is fairly firm for probably the first week- after that it is anyone's guess as to how this class will go. Think of this as a melody line upon which we will improvise, sometimes at great length

Introduction to the class, research, the history of inquiry, etc
Research in L&IS: Background and the Present
Paradigms and Hegemony

• Note: As of writing this syllabus, I have not seen the 5th edition of the text, so I haven't assigned the readings yet. By the time the class convenes I will know where we are going, and issue assignments when we get there.

Bergen, Dan. "Editorial" Library and Information Science Research 9:71-75 (1987).

Theories and Hypotheses; Evidence and Variables

Research Design

Intro to Statistics

Descriptive Statistics I

• Note: When we get to the statistical part of the course, I expect you to have the readings package (with all the formulas and stuff) and a calculator in class with you.

• Readings:

Descriptive Statistics II

Thinking About History

More on the Historical Method

Curves and Probability

• Due Thursday: First stats quiz.

• Readings:

Introduction to Inferential Statistics

Inferential Statistics II

Guest shot: Faculty research

Guest shot: Doc student research

• Due Monday: Journal evaluation
• Due Friday: Second stats quiz

• Readings:

O'Connor and Smith are FYI articles about some widely used methodologies in our field.

Last bit on inferential statistics

Final thoughts, wrap up, etc.

• Due Wednesday: Article evaluations.

I. The first stats exercise is essentially descriptive in nature. I'll provide you with some data and some relatively simple questions involving descriptive statistics. You answer the questions, and everything is fine.

RULE 1: Do your own work. This is not a committee, or team assignment.

RULE 2: You may use a calculator, abacus, ouija board, whatever, but no computers.

RULE 3: Lay out all your work and all your calculations in a reasonably neat fashion so I can figure out what went wrong if you come up with the wrong answer. I tend to give a lot of partial credit for these things, but I have to see what mistakes you made in order to figure out how much you know, or don't know, about what is going on.

II. The second stats exercise is more complex. Questions, and data, will be provided. In this case you will have to work out the answers on a spreadsheet. We'll work out delivery mechanism when we get to that part of the course.

RULES:

Rules 1-3 apply here except for the bit about no computers.

LIS 506

The following is presented as a guideline only. Not all of it will apply to all research pieces, nor are these the only possible criteria that should be addressed. Each piece will require additional thought on the part of the evaluator.

I. Report of Prior Research:

II. Purpose and Justification

III. Sampling (if appropriate):

IV. Instrumentation:

V. Procedures:

VI. Data Analysis:

VII. Results

VIII. Interpretation:

Is it consistent with the results?
Relevant to the purpose?
Does it place the study in a broader perspective?
What does it signal?

About appointments: The best way of asking me for an appointment is via email- that way I have my calendar available on the computer and can schedule you right away. My email is seavey@u.arizona.edu.

There is a class listserv, LIS506. Send the usual subscription message to

Listserv@listserv.arizona.edu. I expect you to be on the listserv by the third day of class.

There will be some web based material available to you. I have a couple of spreadsheet tutorials, and I may include some other items as well. By the time class starts the School will have decided where all this stuff is going to live.