Positivistic, irrelevant, or true? Challenges in teaching quantitative research methods

Beskrivning

In this paper, I discuss different challenges that course leaders face when preparing and planning an introductory course in quantitative research methods for students across the social sciences. On the basis of a literature review and observations from own teaching, I suggest that there are three types of challenges in teaching quantitative methods. The first challenge refers to transferring knowledge between teachers and students, a challenge that is deduced from the different images that students and teachers have of the subject (DeCesare 2007). Quantitative research methods are surrounded by a range of different myths across the social sciences, which influence the teaching and learning process. Teachers typically believe that quantitative methods are tougher to grasp by student and that they fail to make teaching material relevant to students. Students of social science often perceive quantitative methods as difficult (Mulinari, 1999). The conflicting images of the topic, held by teachers and students, obstruct teaching and are difficult to control. The second challenge is external and concerns students’ different understandings of and skills in statistics when entering higher education (Condron, Becker & Bzhetaj, 2018). The third challenge involves teachers’ varying approaches to statistics. While some teachers adopt a critical standpoint claiming that statistics are irrelevant, positivistic and do not provide a complete picture of a social phenomena, others claim that they are the only scientific methods. In conclusion, I argue that a successful course in quantitative methods seamlessly needs to bridge conflicting images between students and teachers, as well as discrepancies in approaches among teaching colleagues. Failing to bridge conflicting images may result in misdiagnosing student anxiety creating a syllabus that aims to reduce anxiety even if it is not experienced as a problem (cf. DeCesare, 2007). Moreover, I propose a shift in thinking in how quantitative research methods are taught from the methods as such to learning how to build scientific knowledge in a reliable and valid way.

Period	2019 nov. 7
Vid	Samhällsvetenskapliga fakulteten