EDUR 9131
Advanced Educational Research

Group Topic Assignment


Topics for the Activity 1 Research Project follow for each group.

Each group is to develop a questionnaire for the topic assigned. As noted in the Activity 1 instructions, each group will conduct a literature review, develop methods for collecting relevant data, construct an instrument and field test it, and collect and analyze data.  

When developing the questionnaire, note that it should have items that are original or somewhat original (you cannot simply use existing wording or instruments). To help each group get started, I have provided citations below. At this point you should read the articles listed and try to find others on the variables I have provided. Use these citations, and others you find, as guiding work to help develop your instrument. Each citation provided can be obtained from the GSU on-line library. 

Since the sample for these projects will consist only of students enrolled in this course, keep in mind the diverse background of each student when developing items for your questionnaire. More general items will be best; specific items, such as those that reference a particular type of employment, for example high school administrator, may not work for all students enrolled in this course.

Lastly, for each construct assigned include one overall or global assessment item. I explain this in more detail Activity 1 instructions in the "Example Instrument for Research and Presentation Assignment"  section.

 

Group 1: Marla Bruner, Cordaryl Middleton, Tiki Middleton, and Patrick Sullivan

DV = Instructor/Course Evaluation -- questionnaire items should seek participants' evaluation, or rating, on various instructional dimensions such as course organization, instructor feedback, clarity of presentation, etc. (To help focus all participants, instructions should make clear which course should be evaluated -- this course, EDUR 9131, is a possible target, or another course recently completed by everyone in this class.)

To measure how students rate a course, consider this source and the references found therein: Student Rating Forms. There are many sources to course evaluation questionnaires on-line and in print, so perform an on-line search. 

IV = Student Perceived Competence on Course Content -- degree to which students judge themselves to be competent in a given area, such as with the content of this course. 

This site may provide ideas:  http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/perceived-competence-scales/ 

IV = Perceived Autonomy Support -- degree to which students perceive that the instructor offers some choice, some decision making capacity, to students, or degree to which instructor responds to students thoughts/concerns.

Some ideas: http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/perceived-autonomy-support/

 

Group 2: Matthew Dunbar

DV = Job Satisfaction -- degree to which an employee is satisfied with her/his job.

Any research on measuring job satisfaction, or satisfaction in general, will provide insight into development of an instrument to measure job satisfaction. One idea might be to have respondents rate, individually, their satisfaction with various common aspects of any occupation. Other measurement ideas are possible too. Below are two articles focusing upon job satisfaction. Others can be found in GALILEO.

http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/53/3/191.pdf

James Fredericks Volkwein and Ying Zhou (2003) Testing a model of administrative job satisfaction, Vol. 44, No. 2

Valle, M., & Witt, L.A. (2001). The moderating effect of teamwork perceptions on the organizational politics-job satisfaction relationship. Journal of Social Psychology, 141, 379-388.

IV = Occupational Stress --- level of stress one encounters from daily job-related activities.

Some examples of research with job-related stress:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1764750

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVTE/v16n1/adams.html

IV = Perceived Work-related Autonomy -- discretion an individual has in organizing and scheduling work (to what extent does the individual have choice in making decisions, etc.) 

One example of job autonomy measurement can be found here:

Lonergan, J.M., & Maher, K.J. (2000). The relationship between job characteristics and workplace procrastination as moderated by locus of control. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 15, 213-224.

 

Group 3: Kristin Blanton, Beth Cannon, Kelie Gebhardt, Torri Jackson, and Anitra Patrick

DV = Techno-stress --- Negative psychological state caused by introduction of technology in life and/or workspace

Example (see appendix for wording)

Brooks (2015). Does personal social media usage affect efficiency and well-being? Computers in Human Behavior, 46, 26-37.

IV = Internet Usage --- degree (frequency) to which an individual uses the internet and components of internet

Example measures of internet usage:

Online Network Size, Efficacy, and Opinion Expression: Assessing the Impacts of Internet Use in China. Fei Shen, Ning Wang, Zhongshi Guo and Liang Guo, International Journal of Public Opinion Research Vol. 21 No. 4, 2009: http://ijpor.oxfordjournals.org/content/21/4/451.full.pdf+html

A factor analytic study of the internet usage scale. 2011. Monetti, D, et al. Journal of Research in Education, 21, 2.  

IV = Computer Competence -- self-assessment of computer understanding and ability

Example measures:

Shuster and Pearl 2011. Computer Competency: A 7-year Study to Identify Gaps in Student Computer Skills. International Education Studies, 4, 4.

van Braak 2004. Domains and determinants of university students' self-perceived computer competence. Computers & Education, 43,3, 299-312. (see Table 1)

 

Group 4:  Robbie Dollar, John Jordan, and Jennifer Syno

DV = General Happiness with Life -- general, overall feelings or thoughts regarding one's level of happiness with life as a whole. Some examples of possible measures/studies:

Michael W. Fordyce; A review of research on the happiness measures: A sixty second index of happiness and mental health; Social Indicators Research; Volume 20, Number 4 / August, 1988; 355-381

Sonja Lyubomirsky and Heidi S. Lepper; A Measure of Subjective Happiness: Preliminary Reliability and Construct Validation; Social Indicators Research; Volume 46, Number 2 / February, 1999; 137-155

Todd B. Kashdan; The assessment of subjective well-being (issues raised by the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire); Personality and Individual Differences; Volume 36, Issue 5, April 2004, Pages 1225-1232

Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larson, R.J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.

Pavot, W. G., Diener, E., Colvin, C. R., & Sandvik, E. (1991). Further validation of the Satisfaction with Life Scale: Evidence for the cross-method convergence of well-being measures. Journal of Personality Assessment, 57, 149-161.

IV = Religiosity -- to what extent does an individual consider themselves religious? Create an overall measure of one's religiosity--this measure should not focus on any one religion in general, but should highlight spiritual-religious expression. Some examples of studies that include religiosity are:

    "The Dimensions of Religiosity: A Conceptual Model with an Empirical Test" Marie Cornwall, Stan L. Albrecht, Perry H. Cunningham and Brian L. Pitcher;  Review of Religious Research, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Mar., 1986), pp. 226-244  

    "Religiosity and its association with happiness, purpose in life, and self-actualisation." Sarah French; Stephen Joseph; Mental Health, Religion & Culture, Volume 2, Issue 2 November 1999 , pages 117 - 120

    Jose Orathinkal and Alfons Vansteenwegen. Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction; Contemporary Family Therapy, Volume 28, Number 4 / December, 2006; Pages 497

IV = General Physical Health -- an individual's assessment of their general physical health. Some possible leads to creating this measure include:

The relationship between religion/spirituality and physical health, mental health, and pain in a chronic pain population.  Pain , Volume 116 , Issue 3 , Pages 311 - 321; A . Elizabeth Rippentrop , E . Altmaier , J . Chen , E . Found , V . Keffala

BMC Public Health. 2006; 6: 101; Published online 2006 April 21; Do teachers have more health problems? Results from a French cross-sectional survey; Viviane Kovess-Masf?y,corresponding author1 Christine Sevilla-Dedieu,1 Carmen Rios-Seidel,1 El?a Nerri?e,1 and Christine Chan Chee1, link below:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1523205

 Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2006; 4: 10; Published online 2006 February 21. Using individual growth model to analyze the change in quality of life from adolescence to adulthood; Henian Chen and Patricia Cohen; link here:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1397823

BMC Public Health. 2008; 8: 48; Published online 2008 February 6.; Working conditions, self-perceived stress, anxiety, depression and quality of life: A structural equation modelling approach; Bin Nordin Rusli, Bin Abdin Edimansyah, and Lin Naing; link here:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2267182