Understanding The Negative Graduate Student Perceptions Of Required Statistics And Research Methods Courses: Implications For Programs And Faculty

Abstract

The authors of this study endeavor to explore the negative opinions and perceptions of graduate students in business and social science programs, regarding their required statistics and research methods courses. The general sense of instructors of such courses is that students dread and resent having to take courses dealing with statistics and social research because they are both intellectually demanding and require students to call on mathematics skills. Students also seem to put a low value on such courses in terms of application to their own careers.  Clearly, the above-mentioned perceptions derive from intuitive knowledge and anecdotal statements by students. The authors of this study devised a research design to test the validity of the perceptions of negative attitudes among students in their graduate programs and to gain some understanding of the basis of the negativity.