E98.2088
RESEARCH APPROACHES AND TECHNIQUES
IN POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION
SPRING 2010 SYLLABUS
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Instructor:
Dr. Laurie Behringer
239 Greene Street, Suite 300
(212) 998-5418
laurie.behringer@nyu.edu
Teaching Assistant:
Emily Grey
82 Washington Square East
7th Floor, Pless Annex
emily.grey@nyu.edu
Office Hours:
Email for appointment
Required Texts:
Booth, W.C., Colomb, G.G., & Williams, J.M. (2008). The craft of research (3rd ed.). Chicago:
U of Chicago Press.
Creswell, J.W. (2008). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods
approaches (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Keller, D.K. (2006). The tao of statistics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Course Objectives:
Throughout this semester we will investigate the various components of research design, data
collection and data analysis, both from a general perspective that includes understanding the essence of knowledge
creation and from a specific perspective that includes an examination of particular methods and methodologies utilized by
researchers in the social sciences. The final product for this course will be the documentation of a pilot study; this study
will incorporate the elements of research that are discussed in class.
Grading Policy:
Participation
1st Assignment
2nd Assignment
3rd Assignment
Final Paper
25 pts.
15 pts.
15 pts.
15 pts.
30 pts.
** Students who receive a zero for any one of these grades will receive an Incomplete as a final grade until
the work is submitted.
Participation: Students are expected to attend class each week; absences should be communicated to the instructor in
advance. Excessive absences will result in point deductions for the participation grade. There are two components to
participation: classroom discussions (this includes attendance) and Blackboard discussions. Each week, students
will be required to post at least one substantive response (approximately one paragraph) to a question/comment initiated
by the instructor/teaching assistant; these discussions will mostly be generated by classroom discussions.
1st Assignment:
DUE FEBRUARY 17th. This assignment is the basis for your pilot study; here you will conduct
a review of the literature on your topic and also introduce your theoretical framework/perspective that guides your
research. You should have a minimum of 15 sources in this paper. You may use a previously submitted literature
review for this assignment with appropriate revisions as discussed in class. Approximately 10 pages (not including
references).
2nd Assignment:
DUE MARCH 10th. This assignment builds upon your literature review and theoretical work by
situating the “problem” you are looking to investigate and the purpose, rationale and significance of your study.
Approximately 5 pages (not including references).
3rd Assignment:
DUE APRIL 7th. This assignment details the particular research methods and methodologies
you will use to investigate your problem. Included in this assignment should be your survey or interview protocol
(submitted as an appendix). Approximately 5 pages (not including protocol or references).
Final Paper:
2nd
1st
3rd
DUE MAY 5th. The following components should be included in the final paper:
Abstract
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Purpose and Rationale
Research Questions
Significance of the Research
Theoretical Framework/Perspective
Literature Review
Methodologies/Methods
Data Sources
Data Collection
Data Analysis
Findings
Discussion
Implications for Research/Practice
Limitations
Conclusion
Appendices
This final assignment ties together all of the previous works you’ve submitted by demonstrating your ability to analyze
data and consider the importance of your findings for research and/or practice in the field. The materials you are
resubmitting from the first three assignments (everything leading up to the Findings section) should reflect instructor
comments from these submissions. Approximately 30 pages (not including appendices or references).
NOTE: You may not submit data that you have collected for another course (i.e. College Student Learning and
Development, etc.) or independent study.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES:
January 20
INTRODUCTION
Review of Syllabus, Course Outline, Epistemologies
January 27
COMIN’ OUT
Researcher Positionality, Approach to Research
Readings: Booth, et al.: pp. 3-15; Creswell: pp. 3-19.
February 3
EVERYBODY WANTS TO RESEARCH THE WORLD
Literature Reviews, Narrowing Your Topic
Readings: Booth, et al.: pp. 16-27; 35-40; 108-138.
February 10
I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY LENS
Theoretical Lenses, Frameworks, Paradigms, Perspectives
Readings: Creswell: pp. 49-70.
1st ASSIGNMENT DUE
February 17
RUNNING WITH THE THEORY
Theoretical, etc. Part II
Readings: Student’s Choice (To Be Discussed)
February 24
MASTER ASKER (JAMMIN’)
Problem/Purpose Statements, Rationale, Significance, Research Questions
Readings: Booth, et al.: pp. 40-67; 139-170; Creswell: pp. 97-109; 129-136.
March 3
IF WE COULD TALK YOU’D TELL ME
Qualitative Methodologies, Interviewing Strategies
Readings: Creswell: pp. 173-201; Blackboard Article: The land of oz.
March 10
SURVEY THE ONE YOU’RE WITH
2nd ASSIGNMENT DUE
Quantitative Methodologies, Survey Strategies
Readings: Creswell: pp. 145-169; Blackboard Article: Moderating effects…
March 17
SPRING BREAK: NO CLASS
March 24
WHO’S RECRUITED NOW (?)
Data Collection Strategies, Research Ethics, Human Subjects Review/IRB
Readings: Booth, et al.: pp. 273-276; Keller: pp. 1-27; Creswell: pp. 87-93.
March 31
DATA ARE THE EVERYTHING
Securing Data, Contextualization and Visualization of Data
Readings: Booth, et al.: pp. 213-231; Keller: pp. 28-73.
April 7
IN THE DATA TONIGHT
Coding, Patterns, Theme Generation
Readings: Keller: pp. 74-103.
April 14
HAZY SHADE OF STATISTICS
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics
Readings: Keller: pp. 104-150.
April 21
TRY A LITTLE ANALYSIS
Writing the Final Report
Readings: Booth, et al.: pp. 211-212.
April 28
LAST CLASS
Evaluations, Mini-presentations of Research Projects, Final Q&A
May 5th
FINAL PAPERS DUE
3rd ASSIGNMENT DUE