The Research Methods Script

Abstract

In a classroom activity for a research methods course, students identify and evaluate their own procedural knowledge of the research process. For comparative and diagnostic purposes, students generate scripts from their event-based mental representations of the research process. Students then compare their own research scripts to a script derived from expert psychologists. The activity familiarizes students with the major steps of the research process and guides their further organization and comprehension of course material. The activity also can be used to open class discussions on specific methodological topics that are script events, such as formulating hypotheses, obtaining subjects, and reporting research findings.