HDFS 391 - Introduction to Research

(3 units) CO9, CO12

Survey of scientific methods in studying individuals and families with an emphasis on critical evaluation of published research.

Prerequisite(s): HDFS 201; HDFS 202; HDFS and ECE majors only; Junior or Senior standing.

Grading Basis: Graded
Units of Lecture: 3
Offered: Every Fall and Spring

Student Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. demonstrate knowledge of ethics by earning a passing score on the CITI Course in the Protection of Participants.
2. identify ethical procedures and principles in scientific writing and research methodology as demonstrated by attendance of lectures, homework assignments, research proposal tasks, the research proposal presentation, and the research proposal.
3. identify ethical concerns in research and intellectual contexts, including academic integrity, use and citation of sources, the objective presentation of data, and the treatment of human participants as demonstrated by attendance of lectures, homework assignments, research proposal tasks, the research proposal presentation, and the research proposal.
4. apply science and technology to a real-world problem affecting individuals, families, and the institutions that serve them by developing a collaborative research proposal addressing such an issue that includes identifying and summarizing the problem/questions, literature review, theoretical framework applied to the proposed topic, inferences from previous research which lead to research questions, method section, analysis plan with identification of appropriate software (e.g., SPSS, NVivo), and discussion of implications and limitations on such a problem.
5. explain how science relates to a problem of societal concern as demonstrated by homework assignments and attendance of class.
6. distinguish between sound and unsound interpretation of scientific information as demonstrated by homework assignments and attendance of class.
7. synthesize published research and theory in human development and family studies, including an evaluation and discussion of methodological strengths and weaknesses, and the implications and limitations of the findings.
8. employ cogent reasoning methods and write for a scientific community in their own examinations of problems and issues as demonstrated by the research proposal tasks, the research proposal presentation, and the research proposal.

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