About Me

During my interdisciplinary Bachelor degree studies, I had the opportunity to complete research methods courses across several disciplines, i.e., sociology, communications, psychology, education, justice studies, etc. The more I learned, the more fascinated I became with the methodology of scientific inquiry. In graduate coursework I delved into methods used in counseling, psychology, geography, and adult education and developed a healthy respect for research in the social and behavioral sciences. Then, my studies in geographic information systems (GIS) and crime analysis took me to a more quantitative posture of inquiry, while post-Master’s studies in applied statistics and research methods was the piece de resistance that told me I was on the right path to travel the world of analytical inquiry. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I seriously reviewed the literature on distance education, specifically online and/or computer-facilitated learning. And I’ve been trying to find the connecting pieces ever since.

Looking at research methods as a discipline in its own right allows students, instructors, social scientists to adapt any research questions to any population in any discipline and any industry. This macro perspective takes you out of the comfort zone of one specific discipline. I know first-hand the effects of anxiety, study skills, social, cognitive, and attitudinal constructs on grade performance in introductory research methods and stats courses irregardless of major, program type, age, gender, or computer literacy level. Imagine that feeling multiplied exponentially when an individual in the workforce is asked to perform a task involving analytical thinking skills and is unfamiliar with either the task or the tools required or both. So, that brings me to one of my current points of interest… investigating mandatory training in the workplace using online or hybrid delivery formats.

Did you know: Statistical analysis is considered a component of research methods? Most people don’t think about statistics at all, until forced to complete a course for their degree program. And even then the concept of stats is so intertwined with the natural sciences it’s considered one more dreaded math class.