Title Studying the Effectiveness of a Lesson on Regression Analyses
Authors Enilda A. Delgado, Carol Miller and Julia McReynolds-Perez, Department of Sociology
Contact Enilda A. Delgado, edelgado@uwlax.edu
Discipline Sociology
Submission Date May 29, 2015
Course Name Sociology 350: Research Methods II
Course Description Catalog course description: An overview of the issues and methods involved in the process of scientific investigation of social phenomena. The limitations of, and ethical issues involved in, social research are examined. Data collection methods, both quantitative and qualitative, including surveys, observation, and secondary data analysis are investigated. Students propose and complete a research project, applying material learned in Sociological Research Methods I, including student application of various research techniques and computer-assisted data analysis. This course is a required core course and it is the second in a three- course research-intensive sequence and typically serves around 60 Sociology majors per academic year. The course is held in a computer lab as use of SPSS is extensive throughout the semester.
Abstract Sociology students enrolled in two sections of a required research methods course were observed while completing a lab assignment. This course is the second course in a three-course research-intensive sequence. The main objective of the assignment was to observe how students decide whether to conduct linear regression analysis or logistic regression analysis based upon the level of measurement of the dependent variable. There are three main findings from the study lesson observations and the completed work from students. First, instructors inconsistently instruct how to write null and research hypotheses. Second, students struggled to interpret the regression coefficients resulting from regression with dichotomous independent variables. Third, it was recognized that students need a lot more time to make decisions about how to complete the lab assignments. Each of these concerns can be addressed with practical changes to our teaching methods throughout the three-course sociology research sequence.
Studying the Effectiveness of a Lesson on Regression Analyses Final Report