Understanding Research Studies

“Studies are only as good as their methodology.”

We are bombarded with academic papers, research institute studies, surveys, government reports, studies from various other organizations, e.g. non-profits, political parties, etc., comments from pundits in the media, and articles of all sorts in print and on-line media that rely on presenting empirical data to present conclusions every day. It can be very difficult to understand many of these reports, particularly the formal studies of academics, research institutes, and government that aim to demonstrate causation.

It’s said that “knowledge is power,” but little attention has been given to the power in being a “creator of knowledge.” Authors of studies are creators of knowledge. We examine the “creation of knowledge.”

This course will present a basic primer on methodology issues in order to increase the student’s ability to understand and evaluate studies they encounter in their daily lives. It will be presented in common language and without engaging in studying the math of statistics. The course will look at these issues form a conceptual standpoint: What are the methodological issues, what do they try to get, strengths and weaknesses, and applicability to given approaches in given contexts?

Overviews of these topics will be presented: Information sources, quantitative vs. qualitative, identifying relevant factors—variables, margin of error, confidence intervals, correlation, causation, polls and survey methods, and “the scientific method.” Real factual reports in the public domain will be the main source of illustrating these issues. Prerequisites: None. Suggested readings, none required. No assignments, but instructor willing to evaluate any written work students want to submit.