Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Difficult Decisions: A Qualitative Exploration of the Statistical Decision Making Process from the Perspectives of Psychology Students and Academics.

    238531_238531.pdf (580.8Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Allen, Peter
    Dorozenko, Kate
    Roberts, Lynne
    Date
    2016
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Allen, P. and Dorozenko, K. and Roberts, L. 2016. Difficult Decisions: A Qualitative Exploration of the Statistical Decision Making Process from the Perspectives of Psychology Students and Academics. Frontiers in Psychology. 7: 00188.
    Source Title
    Front Psychol
    DOI
    10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00188
    School
    School of Psychology and Speech Pathology
    Remarks

    This open access article is distributed under the Creative Commons license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/43826
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Quantitative research methods are essential to the development of professional competence in psychology. They are also an area of weakness for many students. In particular, students are known to struggle with the skill of selecting quantitative analytical strategies appropriate for common research questions, hypotheses and data types. To begin understanding this apparent deficit, we presented nine psychology undergraduates (who had all completed at least one quantitative methods course) with brief research vignettes, and asked them to explicate the process they would follow to identify an appropriate statistical technique for each. Thematic analysis revealed that all participants found this task challenging, and even those who had completed several research methods courses struggled to articulate how they would approach the vignettes on more than a very superficial and intuitive level. While some students recognized that there is a systematic decision making process that can be followed, none could describe it clearly or completely. We then presented the same vignettes to 10 psychology academics with particular expertise in conducting research and/or research methods instruction. Predictably, these "experts" were able to describe a far more systematic, comprehensive, flexible, and nuanced approach to statistical decision making, which begins early in the research process, and pays consideration to multiple contextual factors. They were sensitive to the challenges that students experience when making statistical decisions, which they attributed partially to how research methods and statistics are commonly taught. This sensitivity was reflected in their pedagogic practices. When asked to consider the format and features of an aid that could facilitate the statistical decision making process, both groups expressed a preference for an accessible, comprehensive and reputable resource that follows a basic decision tree logic. For the academics in particular, this aid should function as a teaching tool, which engages the user with each choice-point in the decision making process, rather than simply providing an "answer." Based on these findings, we offer suggestions for tools and strategies that could be deployed in the research methods classroom to facilitate and strengthen students' statistical decision making abilities.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Engaging Undergraduate Psychology Students with Research Methods and with the Process of Conducting Research
      Allen, Peter James (2016)
      A strong understanding of quantitative research methods is a pre-requisite to psychological literacy and evidence-based practice in psychology. Quantitative research methods are also an area of weakness for many psychology ...
    • Introducing StatHand: A Cross-Platform Mobile Application to Support Students' Statistical Decision Making
      Allen, Peter; Roberts, Lynne ; Baughman, Frank; Loxton, N.; Van Rooy, D.; Rock, A.; Finlay, J. (2016)
      Although essential to professional competence in psychology, quantitative research methods are a known area of weakness for many undergraduate psychology students. Students find selecting appropriate statistical tests and ...
    • A rasch modelling approach to measuring school need for psychological services
      Young, Samuel William Adrian (2012)
      The role and deployment of school psychologists in Western Australia has been reviewed a number of times since the establishment of services to schools. The current practice for the allocation of school psychologists to ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.