Exploring social work students’ attitudes toward research courses: comparing students in Australia and Switzerland

Figures & data

Table 1. Sociodemographic and study-related characteristics of the respondents (Australia, N = 165, Switzerland, N = 245)

Variable	Descriptor	Swiss university			Australian university
		n	%	N	n	%	N
Year of survey	2017	245	100	245	81	49	165
	2018				84	51
Gender				245			165
	Female	176	72		142	87
	Male	69	28		23	13
Entry qualification				245			165
	Professional baccalaureate	89	36
	General baccalaureate	37	15
	Specialized baccalaureate	83	35
	Professional college diploma	1	.4
	Intermediate diploma school certificate	16	6.5
	High school certificate				109	66
	Graduate diploma				44	27
	Bachelor’s degree				3	2
	Other	18	7		9	5.5
Study modality				245			165
	Full-time study	103	42		143	87
	Part-time study	61	25		22	13.3
	Part-time study with concurrent field placement	81	33
Campus				245			165
	North campus CH	68	28
	South campus CH	177	72
	North campus AUS				156	95
	South campus AUS				9	5

Table 2. Description of the construct variables among students entering a BSW programme of an university in Australia or Switzerland

Variable	Scale	Minimum/maximum	Range	Mean	SD	Median
Students entering a BSW programme in Australia (N = 165)
Interest in research courses	1–5	1.17/4.67	3.50	3.42	0.64	3.50
Perceived importance of Research	1–5	2.20/5.00	2.8	3.55	0.51	3.60
Attributed usefulness of Research	1–5	2.20/5.00	2.80	3.80	0.50	3.80
Perceived unbiased nature of research	1–5	2.17/4.83	2.67	3.62	0.47	3.66
Fear of research courses	1–5	1.00/4.67	3.67	2.83	0.65	2.83
Statistics anxiety	1–35	9.00/35.00	26.00	21.61	5.68	21.00
General self-efficacy	1–40	10.00/39.00	29.00	30.54	3.85	30.54
Students entering a BSW programme in Switzerland (N = 245)
Interest in research courses	1–5	1.83/5.0	3.17	3.61	0.58	3.66
Perceived importance of research	1–5	1.80/4.60	2.80	3.06	0.47	3.00
Attributed usefulness of research	1–5	2.00/5.00	3.00	3.39	0.57	3.40
Perceived unbiased nature of research	1–5	2.00/4.83	2.83	3.33	0.50	3.33
Fear of research courses	1–5	1.00/4.33	3.33	2.51	0.68	2.50
Statistics anxiety	1–35	7.00/34.00	27.00	18.77	5.91	19.00
General self-efficacy	1–40	15.00/38.00	23.00	29.84	3.22	30.00

Table 3. Comparisons of the scores among the entrant students of the Australian and the Swiss programme regarding interest in research courses, research orientation, fear of research courses, statistics anxiety and general self-efficacy

Variable	Cohort	N	Mean rank	Mann-Whitney U	p
Interest in research courses	Australian university	165	189.47
	Swiss university	245	216.3	17,567.0	0.024
Perceived importance of research	Australian university	165	270.57
	Swiss university	245	161.68	9476.0	0.000
Attributed usefulness of research	Australian university	165	257.93
	Swiss university	245	170.19	11,562.0	0.000
Perceived unbiased nature of research	Australian university	165	245.86
	Swiss university	245	178.32	13,553.5	0.000
Fear of research courses	Australian university	165	236.30
	Swiss university	245	184.76	15,130.0	0.000
Statistics anxiety	Australian university	165	237.94
	Swiss university	245	183.66	14,860.5	0.000
General self-efficacy	Australian university	162	219.51
	Swiss university	245	193.74	17,332.0	0.029

Figure 1. Path model explaining student’s interest in research courses entering a BSW programme of a university in Australia (N = 161).

Note: GFI = 0.951, AGFI = 0.902; CMIN/df = 1.741; SRMR = 0.084; RMSEA = 0.068.

Table 4. Results of the structural equation modelling (standardised regression weights Beta, confidence intervals (95%) and p values) regarding students entering a BSW programme in Australia

Regressions Variables			Βeta	Confidence interval (95%)		P value
				Lower	Upper
Fear of research courses	<—	Statistics anxiety	0.181	−0.034	0.304	0.013
Fear of research courses	<—	General self-efficacy	−0.310	−0.480	−0.152	≤0.001
Fear of research courses	<—	Age	0.230	0.103	0.383	0.002
Perceived importance of research	<—	Research orientation	0.251	0.041	0.449	—
Attributed usefulness of research	<—	Research orientation	0.801	0.493	1.000	0.025
Attributed unbiased nature of research	<—	Research orientation	0.604	0.427	0.787	0.019
Interest in research courses	<—	Research orientation	0.390	0.163	0.635	0.015
Interest in research courses	<—	Fear of research courses	−0.296	−0.437	−0.069	≤0.001
Interest in research courses	<—	Age	0.161	−0.011	0.262	0.044

Note: GFI = 0.951, AGFI = 0.902; CMIN/df = 1.741; SRMR = 0.084; RMSEA = 0.068.

Figure 2. Path model explaining student’s interest in research courses entering a BSW programme of a university in Switzerland (N = 244).

Note: GFI = 0.968, AGFI = 0.941; CMIN/df = 1.304; SRMR = 0.0682; RMSEA = 0.035.

Table 5. Results of the structural equation modelling (standardised regression weights Beta, confidence intervals (95%) and p values) regarding students entering a BSW programme in Switzerland

Parameter			Βeta	Confidence interval (95%)		P value
				Lower	Upper
Statistics anxiety	<—	Gender: female	0.198	0.066	0.323	.002
Fear of research courses	<—	Gender: female	0.156	0.035	0.275	.010
Fear of research courses	<—	Statistics anxiety	0.226	0.065	0.349	≤0.001
Fear of research courses	<—	General self-efficacy	−0.319	−0.444	−0.157	≤0.001
Perceived importance of research	<—	Research orientation	0.501	0.176	0.636	–
Attributed usefulness of research	<—	Research orientation	0.717	0.547	1.005	≤0.001
Perceived unbiased nature of research	<—	Research orientation	0.442	0.251	0.607	≤0.001
Research orientation	<—	Age	0.186	−0.066	0.393	0.031
Interest in research courses	<—	Research orientation	0.383	0.153	0.527	≤0.001
Interest in research courses	<—	Fear of research courses	−0.395	−0.490	−0.252	≤0.001
Interest in research courses	<—	Entry qualification: specialised baccalaureate	−0.115	−0.240	−0.023	0.042

Note: GFI = 0.968, AGFI = 0.941; CMIN/df = 1.304; SRMR = 0.0682; RMSEA = 0.035.