Allen Peter J, Dorozenko Kate P, Roberts Lynne D
School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University Perth, WA, Australia.
School of Occupational Therapy and Social Work, Curtin University Perth, WA, Australia.
Front Psychol. 2016 Feb 16;7:188. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00188. eCollection 2016.
Quantitative research methods are essential to the development of professional competence in psychology. They are also an area of weakness for many students. In particular, students are known to struggle with the skill of selecting quantitative analytical strategies appropriate for common research questions, hypotheses and data types. To begin understanding this apparent deficit, we presented nine psychology undergraduates (who had all completed at least one quantitative methods course) with brief research vignettes, and asked them to explicate the process they would follow to identify an appropriate statistical technique for each. Thematic analysis revealed that all participants found this task challenging, and even those who had completed several research methods courses struggled to articulate how they would approach the vignettes on more than a very superficial and intuitive level. While some students recognized that there is a systematic decision making process that can be followed, none could describe it clearly or completely. We then presented the same vignettes to 10 psychology academics with particular expertise in conducting research and/or research methods instruction. Predictably, these "experts" were able to describe a far more systematic, comprehensive, flexible, and nuanced approach to statistical decision making, which begins early in the research process, and pays consideration to multiple contextual factors. They were sensitive to the challenges that students experience when making statistical decisions, which they attributed partially to how research methods and statistics are commonly taught. This sensitivity was reflected in their pedagogic practices. When asked to consider the format and features of an aid that could facilitate the statistical decision making process, both groups expressed a preference for an accessible, comprehensive and reputable resource that follows a basic decision tree logic. For the academics in particular, this aid should function as a teaching tool, which engages the user with each choice-point in the decision making process, rather than simply providing an "answer." Based on these findings, we offer suggestions for tools and strategies that could be deployed in the research methods classroom to facilitate and strengthen students' statistical decision making abilities.
定量研究方法对于心理学专业能力的发展至关重要。但它也是许多学生的薄弱环节。尤其是，众所周知，学生们在选择适合常见研究问题、假设和数据类型的定量分析策略方面存在困难。为了开始理解这一明显的不足，我们向九名心理学本科生（他们都至少完成了一门定量方法课程）展示了简短的研究 vignettes，并要求他们阐述为每个 vignette 确定合适统计技术时会遵循的过程。主题分析表明，所有参与者都认为这项任务具有挑战性，即使是那些完成了几门研究方法课程的学生，也难以在超过非常表面和直观的层面上阐明他们将如何处理这些 vignettes。虽然一些学生认识到有一个可以遵循的系统决策过程，但没有人能够清晰或完整地描述它。然后，我们将相同的 vignettes 展示给 10 位在进行研究和/或研究方法教学方面具有特殊专业知识的心理学学者。不出所料，这些“专家”能够描述一种更加系统、全面、灵活和细致入微的统计决策方法，这种方法在研究过程早期就开始，并考虑到多个背景因素。他们对学生在做出统计决策时遇到的挑战很敏感，他们将部分原因归因于研究方法和统计学通常的教学方式。这种敏感性反映在他们的教学实践中。当被要求考虑一种可以促进统计决策过程的辅助工具的形式和特点时，两组都表示更喜欢一种易于获取、全面且声誉良好的资源，该资源遵循基本的决策树逻辑。特别是对于学者来说，这种辅助工具应该作为一种教学工具，让用户参与决策过程中的每个选择点，而不是简单地提供一个“答案”。基于这些发现，我们为研究方法课堂中可以部署的工具和策略提供建议，以促进和加强学生的统计决策能力。
