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Journal Article 1: Wisecup, A. K. (2016). Take it or leave it: Student attitudes about research methods. Teaching Sociology, 45, 73–79. doi:10.1177/0092055X16658087

Learning Outcomes: 15-1: How to choose a research design. | 15-2: How to select the appropriate statistical analysis based on your data.

Summary: The article describes a correlational study that examines student attitudes about research methods.

Questions to Consider:

1. What are the benefits and limitations to the correlational design of this study?
2. What two groups were the authors comparing? What were the outcome measures?
3. What inferential statistic did the authors use to compare the two groups? Explain why this was the correct analysis.

Journal Article 2: Adam, A., & Manson, T. M. (2015). Using a pseudoscience activity to teach critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 41, 130–134. doi:10.1177/0098628314530343

Learning Objectives: 15-1: How to choose a research design. | 15-2: How to select the appropriate statistical analysis based on your data.

Summary: This article includes the method and results of two studies examining a class activity designed to improve critical thinking.

Questions to Consider:

1. How does the design of Study 2 improve upon the design of Study 1?
2. What are the benefits or limitations to the quasi-experimental design of Study 2?
3. What was the inferential statistic used to test the hypotheses of Study 1? What was the inferential statistic used to test the hypotheses of Study 2? Explain why these are the correct analyses.

Journal Article 3: Crettaz von Roten, F., & de Roten, Y. (2013). Statistics in science and in society: From a state-of-the-art to a new research agenda. Public Understanding of Science, 22, 768–784. doi:10.1177/0963662513495769

Learning Objective: 15-3: How to be a critical consumer and producer of research.

Summary: This is an essay outlining different perspectives and paradigms of the role of science in society, and identifies examples of how different disciplines have framed the problem.

Questions to Consider:

1. What are the three paradigms of the problems of the role of science in society?
2. How are these paradigms represented in the field of medicine, in the study of the public understanding of science, and in the area of risk management?
3. What research questions do the authors identify at the end of the essay?