Sociology 346: Social Research and Program Evaluation was one of the most challenging courses I have taken thus far in my academic career. Prior to taking this course I had written a multitude of research papers for other classes during my time at Longwood University but I had never actually conducted my own research study. I was very much intimidated by this task and unsure of my capability to produce and conduct high level social research. I was informed on the first day of the high degree of difficulty and the commitment I was going to have to make if I wished to be successful in the course. Driven by my competitive nature I decided to embark on the challenge set before me. I can truly say this was one of the most educational and rewarding experiences in my academic career. Throughout my research experience my cognitive process has been remodeled, allowing me to process information through a more scientific way of thinking and respond to research challenges more effectively.
My process of conducting academic research has changed dramatically since the beginning of the semester. Through this course I have learned skills to better my planning process for academic research. For example I now have an understanding and mental checklist of not only the proper way to format a survey question but also the most effective way to order survey questions for academic research. I have always been in the past overly thorough when compiling research for annotated bibliographies, this course has taught me how to evaluate and compare research for literature reviews in a more efficient way by breaking down each into sections highlighting the importance of each that can later be compared to one another.
In evaluating and selecting sources of academic research to use in this process there were many variables that I considered. When compiling sources I made sure that all of the sources that I used were peer-reviewed, relevant to the topic at hand, and from reliable publishers, authors, and organizations. The sources that I choose to use for this study were previous academic studies that had been conducted measuring the relationship between student anxiety in online learning.I included a source conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic about the relationship between student anxiety and online learning to show that student anxiety is not an issue solely brought about by COVID-19 but rather an issue that had been possibly amplified due to the pandemic. In addition to this other sources included were studies done throughout the globe about anxiety and online learning at the university level that had been conducted closer to the beginning of the pandemic in 2019. I analyze the purposes, methods, and findings of each of the studies in order to identify their shortcomings and highlight the need for the research study that I was going to conduct. I flaws I found were that previous research often had sample sizes that made it hard to generalize findings to the large majority of college students around the globe and more research needed to be done to follow up with student anxiety in online/hybrid learning at the university level due to the fact that COVID-19 has existed in the world longer than researchers initially expected.
After turning in my annotated bibliography I did not have to revise my sources for my final project. However, I did encounter other problems while doing research assignments in class. When analyzing data I was very intimidated using the R-studio program. I initially was very overwhelmed believing that the system was too difficult and daunting for me to understand. In order to fix this problem I carefully reviewed lectures and took a multitude of notes on how to properly operate R-studio in order to process and properly report my data. In the end I was able to learn and become very confident in using the system, even aiding classmates in operating the system. Another challenge I encountered during this course was that I lacked confidence in my ability to write in a scientific voice. I am a criminal justice major with a double minor in political science and sociology and scientific writing has always been a struggle for me. Through careful practice and thorough revisions I was able to find my scientific voice and grow in my confidence to properly report my research findings in an APA style research report, this is a skill that can very much benefit me in my academic career in the future.
My confidence level in being able to conduct academic research has increased dramatically over the course of the semester. In the beginning I was very unsure in myself and afraid to ask for help. As the semester progressed I began to invest more time, building more confidence in my understanding in the subject matter and meeting with my instructure when I had questions and to review assignments. Upon completing this research project I now believe I know what it means to “Think Like a Researcher.” To me this phrase means that you need to question the world around you, to “Think Like a Researcher” you must look at the causes and effects of variables in the world and how they work together or against one another to create an outcome. Researchers believe that there is always more work to be done and knowledge to be created. After completing the research in this course I believe I have molded my ability to “Think Like a Researcher” and gained the academic skills required to conduct further research, a level of confidence I did not previously have and grateful to have gained.