time: Monday and Wednesday, 12:30-1:45 PM
location: Manning Hall, Room 208
instructor: Diane Kelly, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
email: dianek [at] email [.] unc [.] edu
telephone: 919.962.8065
office: Manning Hall, Room 307
office hours: Thursday, 2:00-4:00 and by appointment
home page: http://ils.unc.edu/~dianek/
Description
780 research methods (3). Prerequisite: completion of twelve semester hours including INLS 500 and (INLS 501 or 509). An introduction to research methods used in library and information science. Includes the writing of a research proposal.
Objectives
Students will gain an understanding of the concepts and terminology used in social science research and of the methods used to perform this research. This course introduces students to: (1) scientific inquiry and ethics; (2) research design and the various methodological approaches used to collect data including qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches; and (3) basic techniques for data analysis. Course assignments include take-home and in-class exercises, peer-review workshops, the writing of a research proposal, and a final examination.
Primary Texts
Babbie, E. (2004). The practice of social research (10th ed.). CA: Wadsworth. [unc bookstore][required]
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). CA: Sage. [unc bookstore][optional]
Pyrczak, F. (2005). Evaluating research in academic journals (3rd Edition). CA: Pyrczak Publishing. [SILS PAM Box][required]
Additional Readings
Bao, X.-M. (2003). A study of web-based interactive reference services via academic library home pages. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 42(3), 250-256. [unc online access]
Dilevko, J. (2007). Inferential statistics and librarianship. Library & Information Science Research, 29, 209-229. [unc online access]
Doob, A. N. & Gross, A. E. (1968). Status of frustrator as an inhibitor of horn-honking responses. Journal of Social Psychology, 76, 213-218.
Fiske, S. T. (2004). Mind the gap: In praise of informal sources of formal theory. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8(2), 132-137. [unc online access]
Hernon, P., & Schwartz, C. (2007). A need for a greater commitment in the profession to research and evaluation (editorial). Library & Information Science Research, 29, 161-162. [unc online access]
Mabry, C. H. (2003). The reference interview as partnership: An examination of librarian, library user, and social interaction. The Reference Librarian, 83/84, 41-56. [unc online access]
O'Connor, D. O., & Park, S. (2001). Crisis in LIS research capacity (guest editorial). Library & Information Science Research, 23, 103-106. [unc online access]
Park, S. (2004). The study of research methods in LIS education: Issues in Korean and US universities. Library & Information Science Research, 26, 501-510. [unc online access]
Ryan, K. J., Brady, J. V., Cooke, R. E., Height, D. I., Jonsen, A. R., King, P., Lebacqz, K., Louisell, D. W., Seldin, D., Stellar, E., & Turtle, R. H. (1979). The Belmont Report. [available online]
Rieh, S. Y. (2002) Judgment of information quality and cognitive authority in the Web. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53(2), pp. 145-161. [unc online access]
Shachaf, P., & Horowitz, S. (2006). Are virtual reference services color blind? Library & Information Science Research, 28, 501-520. [unc online access]
Shea, C. (2000). Don't talk to the humans: The crackdown on social science research. Lingua Franca, 10(6). [available online]
Williams, J. F., & Winston, M. D. (2003). Leadership competencies and the importance of research methods and statistical analysis in decision making and research and publication: A study of citation patterns. Library & Information Science Research, 25, 387-402. [unc online access]