Roberts Lynne D, Castell Emily
School of Psychology and Speech Pathology, Curtin University, Perth WA, Australia.
Front Psychol. 2016 May 10;7:688. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00688. eCollection 2016.
In Australia the tradition of conducting quantitative psychological research within a positivist framework has been challenged, with calls made for the inclusion of the full range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies within the undergraduate psychology curriculum. Despite this, the undergraduate psychology curriculum in most Australian universities retains a strong focus on teaching quantitative research methods. Limited research has examined attitudes toward qualitative research held by undergraduate psychology students taught within a positivist framework, and whether these attitudes are malleable and can be changed through teaching qualitative methodologies. Previous research has suggested that students from strong quantitative backgrounds experience some cognitive dissonance and greater difficulties in learning qualitative methods. In this article we examine 3rd year undergraduate psychology students' attitudes to qualitative research prior to commencing and upon completion of a qualitative research unit. All students had previously completed two 13 weeks units of study in quantitative research methods. At Time 1, 63 students (84.1% female) completed online surveys comprising attitudinal measures. Key themes to emerge from student comments were that qualitative research was seen as an alternative approach, representing a paradigmatic shift that was construed by some students advantageous for meeting future professional and educative goals. Quantitative measures of attitudes to qualitative research were associated with general attitudes toward research, and psychology-specific epistemological beliefs. Changes in attitudes following completion of the qualitative research methods unit were in the hypothesized direction, but non-significant (small effect sizes). The findings increase our understanding of psychology students' attitudes toward qualitative research and inform our recommendations for teaching research methods within the undergraduate psychology curriculum.
在澳大利亚，在实证主义框架内进行定量心理学研究的传统受到了挑战，有人呼吁在本科心理学课程中纳入全方位的定性和定量方法。尽管如此，澳大利亚大多数大学的本科心理学课程仍高度侧重于教授定量研究方法。有限的研究考察了在实证主义框架下授课的本科心理学学生对定性研究的态度，以及这些态度是否具有可塑性，能否通过教授定性方法来改变。先前的研究表明，具有较强定量背景的学生在学习定性方法时会经历一些认知失调，面临更大的困难。在本文中，我们考察了本科三年级心理学学生在开始和完成一个定性研究单元之前和之后对定性研究的态度。所有学生此前都完成了两个为期13周的定量研究方法学习单元。在时间1，63名学生（84.1%为女性）完成了包含态度测量的在线调查。学生评论中出现的关键主题是，定性研究被视为一种替代方法，代表了一种范式转变，一些学生认为这有利于实现未来的职业和教育目标。对定性研究态度的定量测量与对研究的总体态度以及特定于心理学的认识论信念相关。完成定性研究方法单元后态度的变化符合假设方向，但不显著（效应量较小）。这些发现增进了我们对心理学学生对定性研究态度的理解，并为我们在本科心理学课程中教授研究方法的建议提供了参考。
