Teaching Research Methodology from Z to A

Abstract

This paper describes the authors' experiences in teaching basic research methods courses to graduate social work students. It proposes a model of research learning based on introducing topics in a reverse order from that of the conventional basic research course. The rationale derives from the authors' contention that data analysis should be the initiating point of research learning, not the final phase. The core analytic skills upon which all steps of the research process are dependent can be taught by computer-assisted data analysis, which should be introduced from the very onset of the basic course.