Program Goal I
This program goal requires an understanding and demonstrated practice of different research methods and how to use results to inform stakeholders and to implement solutions for real-life problems. The mastery of this program goal includes designing, applying, and interpreting several research methods, and applying a variety of sampling techniques. This program goal also requires learning to write research style papers in order to transfer results to a stakeholder, to then use the data to make informed decisions (Curtis, 2020).
I demonstrated my competency in this program goal during LIM504: Research Methods in Library and Information Management. During this course, I read and applied several research methods and learned how to write a research project. During this course, we were put into teams of four and together we conducted a survey, conducted a focus group, and performed a content analysis. Additionally, I learned how to write a research paper, which included describing the problem, discussing the method in which the research was conducted, and discussing the results of the study.
The first research method we learned about was how to conduct a survey. For this assignment, my team and I decided to conduct a survey on libraries in Southern California. The survey contained seventeen questions and was divided into 4 sections: Looking for information, Search behavior, library/librarian use, and demographic questions. The first section, looking for information, assessed where and how participants searched for information. The next section examined how users chose the best source of information. The next section focused on if users used the library or a librarian for help. The last section examined the demographic information of the participants. After we closed the survey, we exported the results of the survey into a statistical software called Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and run analytical tests with the data. I then wrote up my findings in my own individual research format paper where I described the study, the methodology used to conduct the survey, and a discussion of the results. In the assignment, I discussed the descriptive statistics of the data such as the mean, median, and mode of the results. I also described the significant and non-significant correlations and the results from an independent samples t test of the data. At the end of my research paper, I discussed what the data meant and recommended a solution for the librarians on how to provide different types of media to teach information literacy for users who may not have the time or resources to get to the library for an instructional session.
This assignment demonstrates my competency in this program goal because I was able to conduct a survey on a real-life library problem. With my team, I used the concepts of a survey research method to choose the population sample, create a set of questions, run analytical tests of the data, and infer solutions according to the results. This assignment addresses the program goal objectives of designing, applying, and interpreting a research method to gain insight and make appropriate decisions.
In this same course, I worked on a research project where I performed a content analysis. With my team, we decided to focus on the differences and effectiveness of public and private college libraries’ mission statements. For this study, we gathered twenty Southern California college library mission statements and we coded them with variables to understand if there are significant differences between public and private academic library’s mission statements. We also wanted to know how libraries were conveying their mission to their stakeholders and if they specify who their stakeholders were. Lastly, we wanted to know whether the mission statements were accessible and clear to read and whether the mission statements were committed to information literacy.
As a team, created a coding dictionary with terms to look for in the mission statements that would merit a specific rating on the scale of the variable. Variables were grouped into 2 subsections, Manifest and Latent variables. The Manifest section coded was the Type of Institution (private or public), (2 years or 4 years), Word Count of the Mission Statement, Number of Clicks to access the Mission Statement from the library’s homepage on a web browser, and the Number of Themes seen in the Mission Statement. The latent section variables were the Number of Unique Themes, Clarity, Stakeholder Description, Easiness to Find, and Commitment to Information Literacy. The latent variable used a Likert Scale from 1 to 5 rating on the mission statement’s commitment to information literacy. After coding the mission statements, we individually exported the data into SPSS software and ran a correlational analysis and t tests with the coding that was ranked. I then wrote up my findings in my research paper and discussed the results of the differences in the mission statements between public and private colleges in Southern California. In my paper, I also identified the shortcomings of the study and how to make it more effective next time.
This assignment is another example of how I am competent in the program goal’s objective because I designed, applied, and interpreted a research method to a real-life scenario. With my team, we designed the study and coding dictionary in order to analyze the content. We decided on a population sample of content. I ran analytical tests and wrote up the findings and I also interpreted the data for the reader in the assignment.
I demonstrate my competency in this program goal by showing an understanding and practice of different research methods. In my assignments, I describe how I designed and conducted the research methods to gain insight into a topic, assess its impact, and make appropriate decisions on the findings. In these assignments I also learned to write research style papers in order to transfer results to a stakeholder, to then use them to make data-driven informed decisions.
Reference
Curtis, M. 2020. LIM504: Research Methods in Library and Information Management [Syllabus]. Los Angeles, CA: Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California. https://ia601402.us.archive.org/5/items/lim-504-research-methods-in-library-information-management-syllabus-/LIM504_Syllabus_SP20.pdf
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