Over my time in this course, Social Research and Program Evaluation, I gained the understanding of scientific research with qualitative and quantitative methodologies with an emphasis on social science research. In the past I knew how to discover academic articles to build my research but never understood the key points and being able to point out the methods and purpose. One of the biggest changes I noticed during the process was the quality of work, having to go more in depth into research to find the true root of the research question. During this social research class I could see my process of growth when learning how to complete successful academic research. I am capable of reading a scholarly article and pinpointing what kind of methods were used, the research question, the research issue, and the important findings. When doing research I am able to focus my investigation on the particular issue and word it in a way that can help the audience understand. When deciding what sources to use in my research assignments I first see if they were trusted peer review articles. I would use an online library or google scholar where I knew I could find up to date peer review journals. I use information relevant to my research and look to see if the author has used credible citations that are clear and also recent. I strayed away from websites, magazines, or news articles due to personal opinions and not reliable resources. When writing my final research paper I added two more sources because I felt they were fitting to my research question and would help support the issue I was addressing. One of the challenges I experienced when doing my research was finding the correct resources that could support my work. I knew how and where to find them but often in peer reviewed articles there are pieces of information that create a disconnection between your research and the article. Finding the exact information can often take time and be tedious. How I overcame this was trying different keywords in my search so that I can condense the articles that come up that don’t relate. For example, I was researching family involvement within single family households. Many articles about single family households in Africa or China came up but what I needed was young children in the United States and it was difficult to find both in one. Another challenge I faced in my research assignments was narrowing down the information I found to be the most useful. I overcame this by asking myself what topics would relate most to the majority of the families and something the audience could relate to. For example, there are many factors on why there is or is not family involvement in the household. While researching I had to narrow down the topics that would benefit the most in the research. Having to throw out research that did not have a lot of data compared to another. My perceptions have changed while doing research because I could feel my confidence level grow and naturally know what to do. I know exactly where to find the best research and waste no time. For example, when reading an article I am looking for the findings, data, methodology, and the overall research question that is being proposed. While I was doing research on family involvement I had to evaluate the survey data that was sent home to the families. My attitude was positive when learning how to look at the data, graphing it and finding qualitative and quantitative analysis. Over the course I knew how to find the percentage and mean of the data and apply it to my research findings. To think like a researcher it has many different definitions to me. One being able to observe the data and analyze the patterns and concepts, then taking them and creating theories that relate. Another characteristic of a researcher is being determined to create the best research not just for myself but wanting my audience to get the full grasp of the issue. To think like a researcher I want to stay open minded to new ideas and stay unbiased with arguments that I may not align with but still think critically and rationally. Shifting my mindset to not relate to my personal experiences but putting myself in someone else’s shoes to get their perspective as well. Also, collaborating with others because two heads are better than one. Another researcher may approach an issue in a different way than I do so collaborating with them and hearing their ideas allows me to gain insight and expand my research furthermore.