Fundamentals OF RESEARCH

"Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose."

Zora Neal Hurston

Designing and conducting effective research is an essential skill, not only for academics, but for many in public, private, and non-profit sectors. In a basic sense, this involves the ability to identify a topic, formulate questions and/or hypotheses, marshal a set of design principles and methodological standards to systematically collect empirical data, analyze those data (to answer your question or test your hypotheses), and interpret and report results based on well-reasoned logic and empirical evidence.

As graduate students, this has immediate and practical relevance, since you need to develop a research project for your dissertation, thesis, or non-thesis project. This class is intended to give you the basic conceptual and practical tools needed to design your research. It also examines philosophical, conceptual, ethical, and practical issues involved with the design of social and biophysical research in natural resources management, environmental science, and sustainability.

Fundamentals of Research (NRS 5060) instructs students on the philosophical, conceptual, and practical foundations of modern scientific inquiry—i.e, fundamentals of research design and methodological principles common to all forms of scientific inquiry. These include the research paradigms and traditions used by social and biophysical researchers in natural resources management, environmental science, and sustainability. The course will develop fundamental research competencies and scientific fluency associated with the rigor and standards expected by modern scientific inquiry. The course provides space to refine research ideas and prospective inquiry that are both useful and meaningful. NRS 5060 is a required course for all graduate students advised by NRS faculty, but is appropriate and recommended campus-wide to all graduate students at UI and WSU.

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NRS 5060 is intellectually intensive—you are expected to curiously explore and operate at a high-level of academic scholarship. Curiosity and scholarship facilitate the opportunity to comfortably take risks with the course content, group discussions, and assignments. To operate at this level, you must:

• • • Proactively prepare: Students should read and re-read assigned materials, prepare notes, interpretations, and arguments, and have discussions with fellow students in advance of seminar. Work is due by the start of class unless stated otherwise by the instructor.

    • Actively participate: Students participations is expected and graded, defined as: (a) preparation, (b) punctuality, (c) attendance, (d) engagement, (e) staying on track with the course schedule, (d) completing assignments, and (e) seeking support as needed. Regular, in-person attendance is required; absence is only permissible as a university excused absence or for professional reasons discussed in advance with the instructor.

    • Act with professionalism: Professionalism includes the ability to express yourself clearly in written and/or verbal format. You are expected to provide summaries, analyses, interpretations, and opinions as called upon.

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

1. 1. 1. Identify valid sources of knowledge, evaluate knowledge claims, and compare and contrast inquiry used to generate knowledge.

         • Describe and explain science (i.e., a way to generate propositional knowledge) and research (i.e., the process of knowledge generation).

         • Describe and explain the building blocks of science and research.

         • Identify and understand the basic language of science and research.

      2. Describe and explain multiple paradigms and methodologies used in modern scientific inquiry across social and biophysical research.

         • Describe ontological, epistemological, axiological, and methodological positions and assumptions and how those influence research and practice.

         • Explain various research designs and methodological strategies, and when those are appropriately and optimally used (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods).

      3. Identify and apply quality criteria standards (e.g., reliability, validity, trustworthiness, credibility, and positionality).

         • Explain standards and expectations of rigor and quality regardless of your own positionality or discipline.

         • Explain the standards and criteria of research ethics in various disciplines and fields.

         • Explains the mechanisms to maintain rigor, mitigate bias, and establish trustworthiness.

      4. Communicate science per se and its features, principles, processes, and ethical considerations of research common to all scientific inquiry.

      5. Create a formal research proposal that is:

         • Grounded in a well-argued philosophical position and/or theory;

         • Guided by a well-formulated research question, objective, and/or hypothesis;

         • Informed by relevant scholarly literature and/or empirical evidence;

         • Adheres to established and defensible research design and methodology; and

         • Is in accordance with the standards and quality criteria of your research domain.

A letter grade will be determined by a student’s overall average during the semester:

• A/90%+: All expectations met or exceeded with high degree of skill, originality, and synthesis; displays in-depth comprehension; no substantive deficiencies or only minor.

• B/80%+: Most expectations met or exceeded with skill; displays good, if not in-depth, comprehension; only minor substantive deficiencies.

• C/70%+: Acceptable level of comprehension to satisfy the requirements of an assignment or course; despite deficiencies, demonstrates basic level of understanding.

• D/60%+: Less than satisfactory expectations met; more than one significant deficiency indicates a rudimentary level of understanding or application.

• F/60%-:Unacceptable level of expectations met and/or requirements of assignments; deficiencies indicate lack of understanding, effort, or engagement.