Class Schedule

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There are 14 class sessions. The table below displays the course schedule by Date, Session Number and Topics, Readings, and Assignments.

Here is a list of important dates and no-class dates:

1/24:  First meeting of class
2/7:  The Class starts at 1:30pm. Renee Bergland, Professor of English, Simmons College, talks about humanities research methods and approaches (3:30-4:30)
2/14:  Peter Hernon, GSLIS Professor speaks on reflective inquiry (3:00-4:00)
2/28:  Review report of a theory or research paper
3/6:  No class: Spring Break
3/20:  Lynn  Silipigni Connaway, Senior Research Scientist, OCLC Research, talks about survey research (3:00-4:00)
2/7:  Andrew Whitmore, Assistant Visiting Professor of Simmons GSLIS, speaks on his quantitative research projects (3:00-4:00)
4/3:  The class starts at 2:00pm. Kathy Wisser, Assistant Professor of Simmons GSLIS, speaks about her qualitative research projects (4:00-5:00)
4/17:  The second part of the class session will feature one-on-one consultation for individual research projects.
4/24:  Both the segment of Data Collection, Data Analysis, and Results and the final research paper are due
 5/1:  Research project presentation

-- Click the buttons below to go to each month of the semester--

January   February   March   April    May

 

Date

Topics/Activities

Readings

Assignments
 

1/24
 

Session 1:  Introduction to Research; Scientific Methods of Inquiry

 

  •  Course Web Resource Section

  •  Johnson & Christensen, Chapter 1 

  •  King, Keohane, & Verba. (1994). Chapter 1

  •  Michael, R. (2002). Inquiry and Scientific method

  
1/31
 

Session 2: Research Paradigms; Ethics of Research

 
 

  •  Creswell, Chapter 1

  • Johnson & Christenson, Chapter 2, Chapter 5 

  • Trochim, Chapter 1_1, 1_2

  •  Sieber, Parts I-II, Scan Parts III-V

  • Wildemuth, Part I

  • Simmons IRB Website

  
2/7

Session 3: Research Process; Research in Contexts

Renee Bergland, Professor of English, Simmons College, talks about humanities research methods and approaches

Due: Research Scenario

The class session starts at 1:30pm
2/14

Session 4: Reflective Inquiry -- Developing Problem Statement, Research Questions and Hypotheses

Peter Hernon, GSLIS Professor, talks about reflective inquiry

 

 

  • Johnson & Christensen, Chapter 3

  • Hernon, P. & Schwartz, C. (2007). Editorial: What is a problem statement? Library & Information Science Research, 29, 307-309.

  • Hernon, P. & Schwartz, C. (2008). A research study's reflective inquiry. Library & Information Science Research, 30(3), 163-164.

  • Hernon, P., Dugan, R. E., & Nitecki, D. A. (2011). Engaging in Evaluation and Assessment Research. Santa Barbara, CA: Library Unlimited. Chapter 3, Appendix A. 

  •  Trochim, Chapter 1_4

  •  Wildemuth, Part II

  •  Creswell, Chapters 3, 6-7

 

 
2/21

Session 5: Literature Review

  • Johnson & Christenson, pp. 64-71

  • Creswell, Chapter 2

  • Pan, Chapters 1-10 (book on reserve in library)

  • Webster, J., & Watson, R. (2002). Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: Writing a literature review.

Due: Reflective Inquiry

Submit the citation for the article to be reported on

2/28

Session 6: Research Framework or Empirical Studies

Students oral report in class

 
3/6
 

No class: Spring Break

 
3/13

Session 7: Sampling & Measurement; Reliability & Validity

  • Trochim, Chapters 2-3

  • Johnson & Christensen, Chapters 6, 9-10

  •  Wildemuth, Chapters 13-14, 27-28

Due: Literature Review
3/20

Session 8: Survey Research

Lynn Connaway, OCLC Senior Research Scientist, speaks on survey research

 

 

  • Johnson & Christensen,  Chapters 7-8, 13

  • Trochim, Chapters 4-5

  • Creswell, p. 145-155

  • Wildemuth, Chapter 26

  • Tang, R., & Safer, M. (2008). Author-rated importance of cited References in biology and psychology publications.

 

 

  
3/27

Session 9: Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs

Andrew Whitmore, Assistant Visiting Professor of Simmons GSLIS, speaks on his quantitative research projects

  • Johnson & Christensen, Chapters 11-12

  • Trochim, Chapters 9-10

  • Creswell, p. 155-169

  •  Wildemuth, Chapters 11-12

  •  Tang, R., Vevea, J., & Shaw, W., jr. (1999). Towards the identification of the optimal number of relevance categories.

Due: Research Protocol 
4/3

Session 10: Qualitative Research Methods and Historical Research

Kathy Wisser, Assistant Professor of Simmons GSLIS, speaks about her qualitative research projects

  

  • Johnson & Christensen,  Chapters 14-15

  • Trochim, Chapter 6, 8

  • Creswell, Chapter 9

  • Creswell (1998), Chapter 4, Chapter 8

  •  Bradley, J. (1993). Methodological issues and practices in qualitative research.

 

The class session starts at 2:00pm
4/10

Session 11: Mixed Method Design

  • Creswell & Clark, Chapter 1

  • Teddlie & Tashakkori, Chapter 2

  • Johnson & Christensen, Chapter 16

  • Creswell, Chapter 10

  • Trochim, Chapter 13_4

  • Wildemuth, B. (1993). Post-positivist research: Two examples of methodological pluralism. Library Quarterly, 63(4), 450-468.

  

4/17
 

Session 12: Data Analysis and Coding

Individual Consultation of Research Projects

  • Trochim, Chapter 12, 13 (skip 13_4), 14

  • Johnson & Christensen, Part V

  • Creswell, Chapter 11

  • Wildemuth, Part V

The lecture on Data Analysis and Coding will take the first 45 minutes, with the remaining class time for individual consultation (15 minutes each student)
4/24

Session 13: Writing  & Presenting Your Research

Due: Data Collection, Analysis & Results

Due: Written Research Project
5/1
 

Session 14: Research Project Presentation
 
 

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Rong Tang 2012.
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