UT School of Information - PhD Methods Courses

PHD METHODS COURSES

PhD Research Methods Course Listing

(Please check with your advisor and committee for approval of the courses you select.)

The methods classes are organized into the following sections:

Quantitative Methods
Qualitative Methods
Mixed Method Approaches
Quantitative Methods (Specific Techniques)
Qualitative Methods (Specific Techniques)
Other Methods (Discipline Driven)

Department Key:

School of Information INF = Information Science	LBJ School of Public Affairs P A = Public Affairs
College of Communication ADV = Advertising CMS = Communication Studies J = Journalism RTF = Radio-Television-Film	College of Liberal Arts ANT = Anthropology C L = Comparative Literature HIS = History PSY = Psychology SOC = Sociology
School of Education EDA = Educational Administration EDC = Curriculum & Instruction EDP = Educational Psychology SED = Special Education	McCombs School of Business MAN = Management MIS = Management Science & Info Sys MKT = Marketing
College of Natural Sciences M = Mathematics


Introductory Courses (Does not count toward 12 credits of Methods)
INF 397C	Introduction to Research in Information Science Nature of social science research and its role in library and information science. Critical evaluation of research in the literature. Performance and reporting of empirical research. Qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis techniques, including descriptive and inferential statistics.
EDP 371	Introduction to Statistics This course is designed to introduce students to various statistical topics, concepts, reasoning, and procedures (i.e. tools) that can help both consumers and producers of statistical data gain an advantage in what has come to be known as the "information age." A wide range of topics will be covered including assembling, organizing and graphically representing data; and statistical procedures and tests that enable us to make scientific inferences and predictions about large populations or groups based on samples from such groups or populations. Completion of this course should enable students to be more effective consumers and producers of statistical information. This course can also serve as the basis for research planning and decision making for theses and dissertations, and as groundwork for more advanced statistics courses.

Quantitative Methods
ANT 383M	Quantitative Analysis in Archaeology Archaeological data lend themselves to quantitative analyses. Virtually all modern archaeological research uses some form of computer based methodology, including the collection, storage, manipulation, and analysis of data, and the communication of results. This course is intended to be an introduction to the broad spectrum of quantitative methods available to archaeologists. It is not a course in statistics, and is not designed to give students a high degree of competency in abstruse multivariate analyses. Rather, the course is intended to help you learn to be comfortable working with quantitative data, and to be a sampler of commonly used quantitative methods in archaeology. The underlying philosophy of the course is that quantitative methods, especially those done using a computer, allow archaeologists to look at their data in new ways and gain greater insights than they could without them. Being able to see data in new ways involves learning and internalizing an exploratory approach to data analysis, and learning to be comfortable using a computer to search for structure and patterns within quantitative information. Gaining such proficiency requires experience and practice.
CMS 386N	Quantitative Research Methods Broad coverage of social scientific techniques for collecting and analyzing communication data; includes research paradigms, measurement, design, etc.
EDA 381P	Quantitative Research Design & Analysis Skills needed to conduct educational research: the understanding of empirical techniques and the ability to manage software and databases. Emphasis on theory and application of survey research, including sampling, measurement, questionnaire construction, validity and reliability, data reduction and analysis.
EDP380E	Fundamentals of Statstical Inference Ron Houston says: Conceptual development of stats up through ANOVA, including z, t, F, various correlations, and chi square. Great course, well-presented, 2 chances at every quiz, but a KILLER of a final exam. Fills up fast. You gotta talk to Sandy in the EDP office if it's full. Taught by Gary Borich.
EDP482K	Experimental Design & Statistical Inference This course is a second course in statistics that introduces the student to experimental designs most frequently used for dissertations and applied research in education and the social and behavioral sciences. It covers most variations of analysis of variance from one-way through multifactor and covariance designs. This course also introduces the student to the statistical package SPSS for deriving computer solutions to the above designs on the student's personal computer.
EDP 382K.4	Survey of Multivariate Methods The topics covered include: review of matrix algebra, multiple regression methods, Hotelling's T-squared, MANOVA and MANCOVA, discriminant function analysis, principal components and factor analysis, and canonical correlation.
EDC 684PA	Research Design & Analysis I
EDC 684PB	Research Design & Analysis I I
J 395	Advanced Social Science Methods Students will learn how to design effective experiments including the statistics necessary to analyze results. We will design and carry out both group and individual projects.
PSY 384M	Advanced Statistics This course will provide a foundation in data analysis and inferential statistics. The topics covered will include exploratory data analysis, graphing and data visualization, curve fitting, sampling theory, traditional hypothesis testing, and Monte Carlo/Bootstrap methods.
P A 397	Applied Quantitative Analysis I Applied Quantitative Analysis is a two-course sequence in the core curriculum. AQA-I introduces students to a wide range of basic concepts and techniques relevant for policy analysis. Its primary objectives are to foster analytic thinking and to develop communication skills through quantitative models. Analytic ability is an indispensable element of a successful policy professional. While most of the core courses in the MPA curriculum help develop this ability, this course focuses on one particular aspect: the rational approach to decision making with emphasis on mathematical and statistical methodology. The intent is not to advocate this as a policy approach or to dwell on the mechanics of specific techniques. Rather, the focus is on the abilities to conceptualize, to communicate, and to reason in precise, analytic terms. The mathematical and statistical techniques acquired in this course are beneficial side-products. Upon successful completion of this first course, students will be prepared to take any section of AQA-II, which will focus more on techniques within a specialized quantitative topic.
P A 397c	Applied Quantitative Analysis II
SOC 384L	Social Statistics: Basic Concepts and Methods This course covers basic statistical methods and concepts in the social sciences. It is intended to provide graduate students with the foundation in quantitative sociological methods as preparation for future courses in social statistics. Topics include: frequency distributions, probability theory, random variables and probability distributions, sample statistics and sampling distributions, estimation, and inference. The first half of the course deals primarily with methods for descriptive statistics and the theoretical foundations of inference. The second half of the course focuses on statistical techniques and various applications including the use of t -tests for comparing means and proportions, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for effects of categorical variables on a continuous dependent variable, contingency tables and measures of association for categorical data and ordinal data, and simple and multiple regression techniques for the analysis of effects of continuous and categorical variables on a continuous dependent variable.
ANT 388K	Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Methods Philosophically, the course emphasizes a critical, reflexive style of ethnographic practice that acknowledges poststructuralist, Marxist, feminist, and critical race critiques of ethnography. The more theoretical readings lead to discussions of epistemology, ethics, and writing style. We also read several practical books on interviewing, participant-observation, fieldnotes, and two ethnographies that I have written. The more practical readings lead to discussions about the nuts and bolts of collecting and analyzing empirical data. Ideally, the readings help students complete a semester-long fieldwork project. If students have finished their fieldwork for a master's thesis or PhD dissertation, they can write up an aspect of that experience in lieu of the fieldwork project. The course usually draws students from a variety of departments besides anthropology, e.g. education, journalism, Asian studies, geography, sociology, psychology, advertising, art history, RTF, and American studies. It works particularly well for someone doing their thesis or doing a pilot for their dissertation.
CMS 386N	Qualitative Research Methods This course emphasizes developing texts in the field for analysis and includes all areas of communication studies. Students complete a field research project using interview, observational, and archival methods.
EDA 381Q	Qualitative Research Design Types of qualitative research, including the broad categories of phenomenology, case study research, ethnography, and critical research. The philosophies, methodologies, and issues associated with various kinds of qualitative research.
EDA 381S	Advanced Qualitative Research Advanced philosophies and methodologies for conducting qualitative and ethnographic research. Includes development and research designs, interviewing and observation methods, document analysis, analysis of verbal data, and interpretation and representation of data. Also examines critical issues in qualitative research.
EDP 384.8	Qualitative Research Methods This course examines research methods that are descriptive, field-based, interpretive, and discovery-focused, in contrast to methods that use quantitative summaries of data in order to test null hypotheses or to produce numerical indicators of pre-determined psychological constructs. Topics covered include varieties of qualitative research (emphasizing grounded theory, but also including case studies, ethnography, and other forms of qualitative inquiry), identifying questions and phenomena for research, planning and conducting qualitative research, coding and other analytic procedures, developing an interpretation, and trustworthiness issues in qualitative inquiry. We will emphasize approaches that are more suited to smaller scale, lower budget projects conducted by a single investigator.

Mixed Method Approaches
ADV 380J	Quantitative and Qualitative Research
EDA 387Q	Introduction to Systems of Human Inquiry Designed for doctoral students. Introduction to different epistemological orientations and to the fundamental issues within each paradigm. Covers both quantitative and qualitative approaches, such as postpositivism, interpretivism, postmodernism, critical theory, and feminism.
SOC 388M	Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods This course seeks to examine the possibilities and problems associated with the integration of qualitative and qualitative methodologies, and the importance of mixed methodological approaches for cross case comparison. It uses a Òhands onÓ approach to data collection and analysis, with assignments geared toward gaining experience with specific methodological approaches. By the end of the course you will be familiar with research ethics, the basic issues associated with qualitative and quantitative questions, probability and non-probability sampling/case selection, basic survey analysis, observational investigations, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. As our time in the course is limited, a grant proposal takes the place of a formal research paper as the final project, in order to enable participants to design complete mixed methods study with expanded time and resources. Our goal is examining the ways in which combining methodological tools can be used to strengthen the validity or generalizability of research findings. Mixed methodological approaches are strongly encouraged. However, even those anticipating a career as an advocate of ethnography or an unapologetic analyst of secondary data can benefit from learning about the norms, methods, and principles concerning how the Òother halfÓ works. In each seminar we will cover key methodological elements of a variety of specific methods, explore examples of research utilizing the methodology, and discuss linkages and fissures between the key assumptions of and data generated by various methodologies.

Quantitative Methods (Specific Techniques)
CMS 386N	Designing Effective Surveys
EDP 380P.1	Measurement and Evaluation This course provides a basic background in measurement and evaluation necessary to be appropriately critical of tests and instruments that are used in educational and psychological measurement situations. Topics include general principals and basic concepts, types of reliability and validity, basic elements in item response theory, and applications of measurement devices in evaluating tests, schools and programs.
EDP 380P.4	Evaluation Models and Techniques Teaches basic concepts and procedures for evaluating educational and human service programs in applied settings. The course serves as a graduate-level introduction to program evaluation for students preparing for careers in the social and behavioral sciences. Major goals of the course include: 1) to trace the contemporary development of evaluation in education and human service; 2) to examine the relationship between research and evaluation; 3) to present and synthesize evaluation strategies and concepts; 4) to provide a description of evaluation methodologies; 5) to present critical considerations on evaluation design, criteria for judging evaluation, and measurement problems related to evaluation.
EDP 380P.14	Applied Psychometrics Topics to be covered include: methods of equating test scores (equipercentile; linear; and item response theory); methods of setting standards (judgements based on test items; judgements based on individual examinees; and judgements based on a group of examinees); selection, placement, and classification (regression technique; multiple cutoff score technique; bias in selection); methods of detecting differential item functioning (item response theory;Mantel-Haenszel).
EDP 380P.6	Item Response Theory Content includes background, theory (classical true score theory, objectivity in mental measurement, the Rasch test model, normal ogive and logistic item response theory, dichotomous and polytomous models, item parameter and ability estimation, information functions, multidimensional IRT models), and applications (relative efficiency of tests, flexilevel and two-stage tests, computerized adaptive tests, mastery tests, test equating, differential item functioning, affective measurement).
EDP 382K.2	Correlation and Regression Methods The first part will introduce correlation and its properties, testing correlation for statistical significance, applications to measurement theory, and range restriction. The second part of the course explores linear regression, both simple and multiple, least squares estimates, F-tests, analysis of residuals, and some applications.
EDP 382K.2	Factor Analysis Basic matrix algebra; Spearman's one-factor model; review of correlation and regression; principal components analysis; common factor analysis (principle axes); rotation procedures; factor scores; image and alpha factor analysis; Procrustes factor analysis; maximum likelihood factor analysis; confirmatory factor analysis; full-information factor analysis.
EDP 382K.6	Structural Equation Modeling This course will build upon students' knowledge of multivariate statistical analysis by introducing them to one of the newer and more sophisticated multivariate techniques ? structural equation modeling. This technique encompasses an entire family of methods known by many names, among them covariance structure analysis, latent variable analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, and causal modeling. An understanding of structural equation modeling will be developed by relating it to students' previous knowledge of multiple linear regression and exploratory factor analysis, and expanding to allow for correlated and causally related latent constructs.
M 384D	Mathematical Statistics This course is designed to provide a solid theoretical foundation in mathematical statistics. It focuses on the theory of point estimation, interval estimation, and hypothesis testing. Although this is largely a course in classical methods, some materials on hierarchical models, Bayesian methods, and decision theory are included.
M 384E	Analysis of Variance This is one of two courses in analysis of variance and the design of experiments. The analysis of variance is the main statistical tool used in the design and analysis of experiments. The first applications were to agriculture. Its applications spread to engineering experiments after World War II. We shall cover the material in the first part of Design and Analysis of Experiments by Douglas Montgomery, published by Wiley. A considerable amount of additional material will be included. In the first half of the course I shall discuss the basic ideas of experiments with one and with two factors, interaction, blocking, components of variance, and nested designs. In the second half I shall discuss the larger experiments that are commonly used in agriculture and by engineers in gauge studies. These involve questions of fixed, random and mixed models. I shall also include split plot designs which occur in both the agriculture and engineering contexts and, if time permits, an introduction to incomplete block designs. A moderate knowledge of multiple regression will be an advantage. I shall use the MINITAB software package to do the computations. Grades will be determined on the basis of two take-home examinations - mid term and the final that will involve the use of the computer.
M 394C	Sampling This is an initial course in the theory of statistical sampling. Most of the earlier applications were in the the field of agriculture. Lately sampling has become an important area in business and politics. In the first part of the course I shall discuss the standard topics, such as: simple random samples from finite populations, stratified sampling, ratio and regression estimates, cluster sampling and two stage sampling. I shall be referring to the book "Sampling: Design and Analysis" by Sharon L. Lohr, published by the Duxbury Press. In the second part of the course I discuss industrial applications to acceptance sampling, including such topics as single and multiple sampling plans, average outgoing quality, and sequential sampling. I may also include some lectures on cumulative sum control charts. I shall be using the MINITAB software package. Many of the calculations can be done on a spread sheet such as Excel. My present plan is that grades will be determined on the basis of two take-home examinations - mid term and the final - that will involve the use of the computer.
SOC 385K	Discrete Multivariate Models This course provides an introduction to the methods and models for the analysis of categorical data. Examples of categorical data include outcomes typically studied by social scientists, such as birth, marriage, schooling, employment, migration, divorce, and death. Techniques for analysing categorical data have undergone rapid development in the past 25 years but these developments have often been spread across many disciplines. This course provides a systematic treatment integrating two approaches common to categorical data analysis: the transformational approach familiar to researchers in demography and biostatistics and the latent variable approach taken by economists. In keeping with the applied nature of this course, we will draw many examples from sociological research.
SOC 385L	Social Statistics: Linear Models/Structural Equation This course provides an introduction to the use of multiple regression models in sociology. We consider the basic concepts needed to apply these models, but we do not emphasize mathematical statistics beyond that covered in an introductory course such as SOC384L. Basic statistical concepts are reviewed in the first two weeks of the course. After taking this course, students should be prepared to understand many quantitative sociological research articles. They should also be better prepared to undertake a major quantitative research project of their own.
SOC 386L	Social Statistics: Dynamic Modeling/Longitudinal Data Analysis The main objective of this course is to review the nature and illustrate the applicability of techniques for the analysis of longitudinal data. The subject matter includes methods related to multiple regression analysis that are designed to handle data collected on the same subjects over time, as well as methods for analyzing event histories. The first half of the course provides an introduction to growth curve models, which are appropriate for the analysis of change in a continuous dependent variable over time. We will also cover latent growth curve models, which use a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. This approach can handle more complicated models, including parallel growth processes.
SOC 391L	Basic Demographics Methods and Materials
C L 381	Methods of Cultural Studies As a seminar in cultural studies, this course looks at the period 1945 to the present, focusing on German-speaking countries. The course is designed around a series of case studies in how the literary and sociopolitical emphases interrogate one another in literature and films, cultural debates, and historical events in the FRG, the former GDR, Austria, and Switzerland, and Germany today. Dominant theoretical approaches illustrate current foci in cultural studies: concepts of national identity, public and private spheres, memory and counter-memory, as well as the relationship between mass and elite culture, public reception, and works of art. We will identify links or parallels between the messages (stylistic and semantic) in these works and their reception and cultural contexts within and among German speaking countries. Assigned readings and short papers give participants opportunities to practice such analyses in German as well as English and to draft work in stages that build toward a conference paper on a topic of their choice.
CMS 386P	Conversation Analysis Interaction Analysis is a course designed to acquaint you with some of the more common methods of discourse analysis. More specifically, we will be examining approaches to message analysis, common methodological arguments in the field, and several theoretical questions often asked of message analysts. The goal of the course is to provide you with the opportunity to learn about discourse analysis both in an abstract way (via readings and class discussions) and in a more concrete, Òhands-onÓ fashion (by conducting your own study).
HIS 397K	Historiography Survey of historical writing and historiography from colonial times to the present. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Required of all entering graduate students in United States history. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of the graduate adviser; additional prerequisites vary with the topic and are given in the Course Schedule.
SOC 388K	Field and Observational Methods
SOC 388L	Historical and Comparative Methods

Other Methods (Discipline Driven)
C L 382	Field Survey/Research Seminar in Ethnic & Third World Studies This course is intended as a core course in the Department of English's Graduate Ethnic and Third World Literatures Specialization and is designed to provide a grounding in the basic issues and backgrounds that continue to generate academic investigation and debate in ethnic, colonial and post-colonial studies, such as nationalism and national identity, materialist, and theoretical approaches to empire and colonialism, the intersections of gender, race, class, and sexuality and race and visual culture, or human rights and development. Topics are organized geographically and geopolitically, focusing on the historical inter-relations and aesthetic legacies of particular regions -- Africa and its diaspora, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia, Europe and its postcolonies, and the United States -- as well as interdisciplinary approaches to literature, film, performance and the visual arts that test and trespass these conceptual boundaries. The biweekly presentations, organized around readings and assignments from contributing colleagues, both provide instruction on existing work in the field and indicate new directions in the area. The course also introduces students to the research resources available on our campus and the preliminary tasks of graduate level research writing, and prepares them to begin participating in professional conferences.
EDC 385G	Interactive Multimedia Research The purpose of this course is to provide you with a background in interactive multimedia/hypermedia research with specific emphases on (1) identifying major research issues in the field (2) examining major research findings (3) understanding appropriate theoretical frameworks and (4) conducting research in one's own interest area.
EDC 385G	Analysis of Research in Instructional Technology The focus of this course is to examine multiple research paradigms currently used to document and evaluate instructional technology. This course is designed to help students determine appropriate research methods to analyze the design and implementation of educational technologies in real-world settings. We will investigate these research paradigms by examining published research on IT that relies on quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method approaches. This course will be conducted as a seminar. Students will apply their methodological understanding by spending the second half of the semester conducting a pilot-study aligned with their interests in instructional technology.
MAN 390.1	Research in Organizational Science
MAN 390.2	Research Methods in Management This course is a conceptual introduction to scientific inquiry in organization studies and related fields. The goal of the course is to acquaint you with some of the fundamental conceptual issues surrounding the design, implementation, and evaluation of empirical research. Methodology is as much a way of thinking as it is a set of specific rules, guidelines, and techniques. Indeed good methodology is much more than the sum of the many specific rules, guidelines, and techniques that serve it. Although some of these specifics will be covered, this is not primarily a "how to" course. A researcher once said of his craft "What we do is figure things out, and then we tell people about them." Most concepts in research methodology bear on either the figuring, or the telling, or both. In this course, we will seek to develop an understanding of how various aspects of methodology bear on these two objectives. In addition, you will continue to expand and enrich your methodological knowledge throughout your career, and this course will help to provide some conceptual building blocks for future learning.
MAN 393.3	Research in Strategic Management
MIS 381N.26	Research Methods in Information Systems The information systems (IS) field is very diverse in terms of problems addressed, theoretical foundations and reference disciplines, and methods to analyze, collect and interpret data. This course is intended as a comprehensive overview of the variety of research methods used to study IS problems. The course explores fundamental concepts and criteria for use and evaluation of both quantitative and qualitative and positivist and interpretive research methods. The use of methods is illustrated through both classical and the most current state-of-the-art articles published in top IS journals. The students are not expected to become experts in each method discussed in the course, but rather to become familiar enough with each method in order to (a) pursue in detail the ones they are more interested in, and (b) become educated consumers of others' research.
MKT 382	Seminar: Marketing Research Data Mining is a field that is currently in such great demand among businesses that the supply of professionals that understand the discipline is sadly inadequate. The purpose of this course is to provide you with sufficient training that you will be a more intelligent consumer (if not a superb data miner yourself) of data-to-information services. In that light, the course seeks to integrate the disciplines required to produce good business decisions (data quality, interpretation, application, evaluation) so that a useful form of Ôthe big pictureÕ is clearly understood.
RTF 380G	Theory and Practice of Communication Research This is an advanced graduate course that examines epistemological, theoretical and applied issues in communication research. The course aims to fulfill three principal objectives. First, to introduce students to the main epistemological and methodological debates that have shaped communication research with particular emphasis on an examination of positivist and post-positivist methodologies. Second, to develop an in-depth understanding of the theoretical and conceptual building blocks of communication research methodology including issues of design, selection, observation, and inference. Third, to develop a grasp of quantitative and qualitative communication research methods, their techniques, assumptions, strengths and weaknesses, and applications. These three objectives will be achieved through multiple means. At the core of the course is a set of methodological readings available in a required course packet. These will be supplemented by empirical readings that will provide students with an opportunity to review, criticize and analyze published readings. The readings and class discussions will be synthesized through a number of in-class and take-home assignments. The final assignment of the course will be the development and analysis of a research proposal with the focus on the methodological issues involved.
RTF 387F	Research in Cultural Practicies in Latino Communities This seminar is structured as a collective research group or team both to improve individual research skills and to learn how work in collective research projects. The course will start with discussion of epistemology and some theories about social construction of knowledge and the practices of culture in daily life. That will be followed by a discussion of methods that serves as tools for our research. Last is a practical/research component, which will both conduct some preliminary research and plan a larger project for Spring 2004. Participants will be able to choose between joining the research of the RTF/CMAS Emerging Research Community in East and South Austin, or elaborating their own work in a rich environment that encourages multidisciplinary and multi-method approaches.
SED 396T	Single-Subject Research Design The purpose of this course is to provide advanced training on single-subject research design. Emphasis will be given to the use of single-subject research designs in the development and evaluation of educational and behavioral interventions for students with special educational needs. The course will include a consideration of ethical issues. We will also explore application of the scientific method to the study of behavior and learning. Students will gain competencies in behavioral observation and data collection, designing single-subject research studies, evaluating data from studies using single-subject designs, and disseminating research findings. The course will include a discussion of the use of single-subject research as part of a more general approach to implementing evidence-based education.
SOC 387J	Fundamentals of Research Methods