ABSTRACT
Teaching research methods is difficult and often a miscellany of approaches is used to proffer students a less than useful introduction to a wide range of concepts. In fact, a large majority of graduate students complain that their research methods courses inadequately prepared them for independent research. For example, one doctoral student remarked, ‘I took classes in statistics and research methods as part of my coursework, but what I learned and was able to do on my own was insufficient for carrying out my dissertation project. I really struggled through the dissertation’ (anonymous student, personal communication, 18 April 2005). Another PhD student in Business noted: ‘I am struggling in graduate school. Students in my department are required to take four courses in statistics and research methods … but these classes differ in rigour and intensity. I realize now that my classes lacked the intensity, rigour, and focus needed to prepare me for my dissertation. Now I feel up the creek without a paddle’ (anonymous student, personal communication, 28 September 2005). Given the fact that most graduate students in the United States have to complete independent research to earn their degree (Golde and Dore, 2001; Mitchell-Kernan, 2005), anecdotal comments such as these point to a major problem for faculty who teach such courses.
