PUBLICACIONES Libros

Blaine F. Peden and david W. carroll

Introduction

Teaching about research methods always has been an integral part of the psychology curriculum in the united states. From 1901 to 1905, edward Titchener authored a series of ‘experimental Psychology’ manuals for students and instructors.

The detailed manuals introduced graduate students to laboratory equipment and procedures and defined the subject matter of the new science of psychology. By the middle of the twentieth century, most psychology undergraduates learned about research methods in experimental psychology courses and from textbooks expressing some variation of the course title. at present most psychology undergraduates learn about quantitative methods and analysis (that is, statistics), philosophy of science and research ethics in research methods courses and from similarly titled textbooks. in this chapter, we explore this transformation in teaching research methods by psychologists in the united states. our chapter is a first step in reviewing the history of teaching research methods and one that we hope will stimulate further inquiry.

This chapter explores when, why and how research methods emerged as a new course in the undergraduate curriculum in psychology in the united states. For the most part the new research methods courses displaced and replaced experimental psychology courses. We regard these questions about the emergence of research methods as interesting and important to psychologists and other social scientists.

We contend that the questions and concerns of psychologists that led to models for teaching research methods in the united states establish points of reference for comparing and contrasting methods of teaching research in other countries. Future studies, for example, can compare and contrast traditions to determine whether and how other nations have conformed to or departed from the approach in the united states.

it is interesting to understand the origins of research methods as a separate course because experimental psychology, statistics and research methods courses are intertwined in the psychology curriculum in a complex way. For example, experimental psychology courses have been part of the curriculum for more than

100 years, and statistics has been a separate course since the 1930s for psychology undergraduates (henry, 1938). in contrast, research methods courses emerged in the 1960s, spread in the 1970s, and became one of the more prevalent and most required courses in the undergraduate psychology curriculum in the united states (Jackson et al., 2001).

it is important to understand the origins of research methods as a separate course for two reasons. one reason is that psychology becomes a more diverse discipline every decade. despite the overwhelming diversity, the unifying theme is that psychologists understand behaviour using the methods of science (stanovich, 2007). in the contemporary psychology curriculum the task of instructing undergraduates about the unity in diversity largely occurs in research methods courses. a second reason is that the processes of change we explore in this chapter may apply to other social sciences in the college curriculum. it is quite plausible that other social sciences have followed the psychology model, as it was the first and most systematically developed approach to teaching research methods. in fact, many current social science instructors probably learned about research methods in classes designed primarily for psychology students.

We address three questions in this chapter:

• When did research methods emerge as a separate course in psychology?

• Why did research methods emerge as a separate course in psychology?

• how did research methods emerge as a separate course in psychology?

We answer the first question by reviewing studies of college catalogues to establish a timeline that tracks the incidence of research methods courses. We explore the second question by linking changes in the treatment of statistics/experimental psychology/research methods to discussions and recommendations from the major appraisals of the undergraduate curriculum in psychology. We address the third question by means of longitudinal studies of catalogues and by inspection of textbooks. We conclude by discussing recent trends, suggesting new research and considering to what extent our analysis applies to other social sciences.

When did Research Methods emerge as a Separate Course in Psychology?

content analyses of college catalogues provide one way to study trends in curricular offerings for undergraduates in psychology. in fact, psychologists have published major reviews of catalogues six times between 1938 and 1997. in the earliest study of the catalogues of 157 liberal arts colleges, henry (1938) reported that methodology was a highly-specialized course intended for graduate students, but sometimes enrolled undergraduates. henry also reported that 27 per cent of the institutions offered at least one laboratory course in advanced experimental psychology for undergraduates. sanford and Fleishman (1950), who studied a larger and more diverse sample of 330 institutions of higher learning, revealed

that 45 per cent of the institutions taught a statistics course and 57 per cent taught an experimental psychology course. daniel et al. (1965) found that statistics and experimental psychology courses were more common than research methods in their sample of 207 college and university catalogues. Their data reveal that research methods classes were taking root in doctoral universities but not in liberal arts and teachers’ colleges.

The data in the 1965, 1973, 1978 and 1997 college catalogue studies clearly show that the 1950s to 1970s were a formative period for undergraduate psychology, and only later in the period did research methods emerge as a separate course. kulik (1973) included a detailed analysis and discussion regarding statistics and methodology courses on the basis of the catalogues from 643 institutions (see Table 12 in the original report). Specifically, Kulik noted that 52 per cent of the catalogues identified their required course in methodology as experimental psychology and only 13 per cent listed research design as a separate course. lux and daniel (1978), who replicated the catalogue study of daniel et al. (1965) with 178 catalogues, noted that 50 per cent of the institutions taught experimental psychology courses and 34 per cent now taught a separate research methods courses. Perlman and Mccann (1999), who updated the lux and daniels study by reading 400 catalogues, indicated that the percentage of institutions listing research methods in their college catalogues increased from 0 per cent in 1961 to 42 per cent in 1997. during the same period, the percentage of college courses listing experimental psychology courses remained level at 40–45 per cent.

We have collated the data from these studies regarding the percentage of all undergraduate psychology programmes at three levels of institutions (that is, doctoral, masters, bachelors’ and a two-year course) listing the statistics, research methods and experimental psychology courses in college catalogues for the period 1961–2005. our data supplement those of Perlman and Mccann (1999) with recent results for 463 schools from the APA Office of Research for The Profiles of undergraduate Programs in Psychology for 2003–2005 (http://www.apa.org/ed/

pcue/offerings.html). note that Figure 2.1 plots the data as a function of the year of the catalogues rather than the publication date. Thus, the 1961 figure represents the data published by daniel et al. (1965).

Figure 2.1 reveals the experimental psychology, statistics and research methods courses as distinct entities. experimental psychology courses have been part of the curriculum for more than a hundred years and statistics has been a separate course since the 1930s (and perhaps earlier). Furthermore, offerings of statistics have grown slightly over the years, with the largest gains in the last few years.

historically, statistics courses have been more prevalent than either experimental psychology or research methods courses. The story is different for research methods. Research methods appeared as a separate course in the late 1960s and early 1970s and gained in popularity in the last 35 years while the experimental psychology course is less common now than 40 years ago.

Figure 2.2 shows the percentage of doctoral, bachelors’ and a two-year course, institutions in the united states listing undergraduate research methods in their catalogues. The trend for the three institutions is the same as the overall trend in Figure 2.1; however, the percentages are elevated for bachelors’ and even higher for doctoral institutions. By 2005, research methods is well entrenched at doctoral institutions (79 per cent) and bachelors’ institutions (77 per cent), and making inroads at colleges that offer a two-year course (20 per cent). Bachelors’ degree institutions narrowed the gap by 2005; however, colleges that offer a two-year course still lag far behind the doctoral and bachelors’ degree institutions. it appears that doctoral institutions always have led the way with respect to offerings of research methods courses. henry (1938) described a similar pattern in which larger (that Figure 2.1 Research courses in psychology curricula from 1961–2005

in the united States

Figure 2.2 Frequency of research methods courses in different types of institutions from 1975–2005

is, doctoral institutions) colleges led the way with respect to offering advanced laboratories in experimental psychology for undergraduates. We speculate that concerns about the methodological competencies of graduate students led doctoral programmes to provide opportunities for their own undergraduates to develop their research methods skills. Presumably, the additional methods courses would help undergraduates enter and succeed in graduate programmes.

Why did Research Methods emerge as a Separate Course in Psychology?

We explore the answer to this question by linking changes in the treatment of statistics/experimental psychology/research methods to discussions and recommendations from the major assessments of the undergraduate curriculum in psychology:

• the cornell conference in 1951 (Buxton et al., 1952),

• the Michigan conference in 1960 (Mckeachie and Milholland, 1961),

• the kulik Report (1973),

• the st. Mary’s conference (Mcgovern, 1993),

• the guidelines for psychology majors (aPa, 2007).

all the reports appraised the prevailing curricula and all except the kulik Report (1973) provided recommendations about the content and structure of undergraduate curricula.

lloyd and Brewer (1992) and Brewer (1997) provided a synopsis of the four conferences and the recommendations of the conference committees. The cornell conference in 1951 resulted in the Buxton et al. Report (1952). The committee recommended a curriculum (p. 17) in which the intermediate or core courses included statistics and topical courses. although the committee plan included the requirement that method be taught with content, the committee also wrote:

The omission of a course on experimental psychology and the inclusion of one on statistical reasoning require explanation. a separate course on experimental psychology has survived as a token of an earlier day when certain areas in the field of psychology were experimental, others not. In recent years it has been a methodology course, but the persisting problem has been that of finding a content.

Methodology empty of content is difficult, dry stuff for the undergraduate, and not productive of much transfer. Basic methodology and scientific attitudes seem to be essentially the same throughout all psychology. if that is true, the learning of methodology as part of each core course is pedagogically an improvement over the traditional separate laboratory course. With regard to statistics, however, a different arrangement seems more efficient. To accomplish anything of permanent value in statistics, a special course seems necessary (Buxton et al., 1952, 27).

clearly, the main concern here was to champion curricular change in the experimental psychology course. The same concern also set the stage for a new genre of courses and textbooks.

The Michigan conference in 1960 produced the Mckeachie and Milholland Report (1961). The committee identified and discussed various weaknesses in the undergraduate curricula. In fact, the committee specifically addressed the dissatisfaction of many psychologists with the traditional course in experimental psychology. as commonly taught with a laboratory exercise each week, the course seemed infrequently to achieve the objectives of developing positive attitudes toward scientific methods in psychology or of giving students an overall view of scientific investigation (p. 14).

chapter 6 of the Mckeachie and Milholland Report (1961) focused on the experimental–statistical area in part because the committee members ‘were unanimous that methodology should be included in the curriculum for majors’

(p. 73). The committee further assumed that the introductory course would introduce both quantitative (statistics) and laboratory (experimental) methods to undergraduates and the real question was how to structure further training. The committee proposed three models:

Present experimental methods and quantitative methods as part of the laboratory work in other courses (Model 1).

institute separate but parallel or sequential courses, one in experimental methodology, and the other in quantitative methods (Model 2).

establish a separate course in quantitative methods, with experimental methodology covered in the other laboratory courses (Model 3).

The committee also considered and delineated the pros and cons of the three options: infuse both; separate courses; or require statistics and infuse research methods. it is clear that there was much less consensus about teaching research methods than about teaching statistics. The committee also proposed an inverted pyramid curriculum in which methodological and statistical training occurred early in undergraduate education in psychology.

an advisory panel, meeting from July 1969 to June 1972, issued the kulik Report (1973), which, as Brewer (1997) concluded, was a largely descriptive rather than prescriptive assessment of the undergraduate psychology curriculum.

one chapter in the kulik Report presented a detailed analysis of statistics and methodology courses (that is, statistics, experimental psychology, research design and senior research projects) that allowed psychology departments to evaluate the relative status of their own curricula. For example, the Report affirmed the importance of instruction in statistics and methods for psychology majors and noted that most schools offer separate courses rather than infusing statistics and methods into core courses.

in 1988 the association of american colleges convened various disciplinary study groups. The psychology study group produced an article by Mcgovern

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et al. (1991). one of the many common goals (pp. 601–602) was that undergraduates have research methods and statistical skills. Specifically, the committee recommended three courses: statistics, research methods, and testing and measurement, and that:

these skills should be fostered in separate courses, developed in laboratory work, and reinforced by the use of critical discussion of research findings and methods in every course. Whatever the mode of instruction, students should become increasingly independent in posing questions about the study of behaviour and experience and in selecting effective methods to answer those questions (Mcgovern et al., 1991, 601).

The aPa national conference on enhancing the Quality of undergraduate education in Psychology was held at st. Mary’s college of Maryland during 18–23 June 1991. The resulting handbook (Mcgovern, 1993) entailed the ‘most comprehensive analysis and recommendations about undergraduate psychology since bipeds appeared on the evolutionary totem pole’ (Brewer, 1997, 438).

Furthermore, the Report advocated that:

the crucial methodology courses should cover experimental, correlational, and case study techniques of research, and they should involve firsthand data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Methodology courses should cover statistics, research design, and psychometric methods, and they should be prerequisites for some of the content courses (Brewer, 1997, 439).

it is noteworthy that the recommendations regarding teaching research methodology did not mention anything about qualitative methods. Furthermore, Jackson et al. (2001) distinguished between experimental and non-experimental (that is, observational, survey, correlational and quasi-experimental) methods, but did not include qualitative methods as a category in their analysis of the demographics of research methods textbooks in psychology.

The cornell, Michigan, kulik and st. Mary’s Reports all evaluated the prevailing undergraduate curriculum in psychology and typically offered recommendations.

The developing picture suggests that research methods emerged as a separate course in the psychology curriculum after the Mckeachie and Milholland Report (1961) and gathered momentum following the kulik Report (1973).

in 2001 the american Psychological association’s Board of educational affairs appointed a task force on undergraduate psychology major competencies that produced guidelines subsequently approved by the aPa council of Representatives in August 2006. The APA Report (2007) identified ten undergraduate psychology learning goals and a series of suggested learning outcomes for each goal. goal 2 pertained to research methods in psychology: ‘students will understand and apply basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation’. none of the suggested learning outcomes for this goal includes

terms such as ‘experiment’, ‘experimentation’ or ‘experimental psychology’. Quite clearly, a full transformation from the original view of research in psychology as an exclusively experimental/laboratory one, which is methodologically more inclusive, was now complete. nonetheless, the goals and related learning outcomes do not mention qualitative research per se.

How did Research Methods emerge as a Separate Course in Psychology?

one possibility is that the individuals attending these successive conferences played a role in the evolution of the research methods course, at least at their home institutions and perhaps more widely. of course, the picture is murky because we do not know the extent to which the reports were disseminated, read and discussed by academic psychologists throughout the united states. in addition, other factors were contributing to a zeitgeist of curricular change. For example, holder et al.

(1958) reported the results of a survey about the views of departmental chairs regarding an ideal undergraduate curriculum for prospective graduate students.

some departments may have been prompted to make curricular changes to better prepare their students for graduate school. in addition, hepler (1959) addressed the prevailing discontent with the traditional experimental psychology course by depicting students mindlessly performing pre-planned experiments rather than engaging in meaningful research that could stimulate and develop the creative talents of students. hepler also concluded that the appropriate course was ‘basically a methodology course’ (p. 638) that engages students in research projects of their own design. This challenge was met by authors who modified the format of existing experimental psychology textbooks or created ones for the new genre, a topic we address later in our discussion of research methods textbooks.

Longitudinal catalogue studies

We can explore how research methods emerged as a separate course by performing a longitudinal analysis of selected course catalogues. We limited the scope of our longitudinal analysis to the curricular offerings by institutions actively represented at the Michigan conference in 1960. The conference directors, Wilbert Mckeachie and John Milholland (university of Michigan); William hunt (northwestern university); and Robert leeper (The university of oregon) were full-time participants from doctoral institutions. in addition, lawrence cole (oberlin college) and Wilbert Ray (Bethany college) were full-time participants from liberal arts institutions. We contacted archivists at these institutions and requested copies of the psychology course listings from 1955 to 1970. once we had these materials we looked for changes in the curriculum. We expected that there would be considerable change in the course offerings related to research methods at these schools. in particular, we anticipated a move from experimental psychology courses to research methods courses.

The university of Michigan had elementary experimental and statistics courses in place in 1955. They introduced an honours course in research methods in 1960.

in 1961, they removed the elementary statistics course and apparently replaced it with an upper division statistics course. in 1962, the elementary experimental course was removed and replaced, apparently, by upper division courses with laboratories (comparative, physiological, language, perception and motivation).

This approach resembles Model 3 recommended by the Mckeachie and Milholland Report (1961) (require statistics and infuse methods).

The university of oregon had an upper division course in research methods in psychology in 1955. They added a statistics course in 1957. one year later, the research methods course was eliminated and in 1964 several new lower division courses in content areas such as perception, motivation and social psychology were added, each with a laboratory. in 1968, an introduction to experimental psychology was added as an honours course. This approach resembles Model 3 recommended by the 1961 Report (require statistics and infuse methods).

in 1955, oberlin college already had courses in introductory experimental psychology and advanced experimental psychology. in 1961, they introduced a new course in design and analysis in behaviour research. By 1968, the research course was required for their experimental course. in 1970, a new course in research designs and psychometric analysis was introduced and replaced the

in 1955, oberlin college already had courses in introductory experimental psychology and advanced experimental psychology. in 1961, they introduced a new course in design and analysis in behaviour research. By 1968, the research course was required for their experimental course. in 1970, a new course in research designs and psychometric analysis was introduced and replaced the