Initial Validation of an Instrument Measuring Psychology-Specific Epistemological Beliefs

Renken, Maggie; McMahan, Ethan A.; Nitkova, Martina

doi:10.1177/0098628315569927

Cited by 12 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(61 reference statements)

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“…The items load onto three factors: significance of psychological research (example item “Carefully controlled research is not likely to be useful in solving psychological problems”), subjective nature of psychological knowledge (example item “Psychologists in different eras may use different theories and methods to interpret the same natural phenomenon”), and predictability of human behavior (example item “Psychological research can enable us to anticipate people’s behavior with a high degree of accuracy”). Initial validation of this measure has included confirmatory factor analysis, test–retest reliability (correlations ranging between 0.65 and 0.78) and internal reliability (α = 0.54 to 0.80 for subscales, and 0.75 to 0.82 for overall measure; Renken et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Research in this area of attitudes has been hampered by the absence of reliable, validated measure of attitudes. However, the recent development and validation of measures of psychology specific epistemological beliefs ( Renken et al, 2015 ) and attitudes toward qualitative research ( Roberts and Povee, 2014 ; based on the qualitative research by Povee and Roberts, 2014 ), provide instruments suitable for this purpose.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“Having to Shift Everything We’ve Learned to the Side”: Expanding Research Methods Taught in Psychology to Incorporate Qualitative Methods

Roberts

Castell

2016

Front. Psychol.

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In Australia the tradition of conducting quantitative psychological research within a positivist framework has been challenged, with calls made for the inclusion of the full range of qualitative and quantitative methodologies within the undergraduate psychology curriculum. Despite this, the undergraduate psychology curriculum in most Australian universities retains a strong focus on teaching quantitative research methods. Limited research has examined attitudes toward qualitative research held by undergraduate psychology students taught within a positivist framework, and whether these attitudes are malleable and can be changed through teaching qualitative methodologies. Previous research has suggested that students from strong quantitative backgrounds experience some cognitive dissonance and greater difficulties in learning qualitative methods. In this article we examine 3rd year undergraduate psychology students’ attitudes to qualitative research prior to commencing and upon completion of a qualitative research unit. All students had previously completed two 13 weeks units of study in quantitative research methods. At Time 1, 63 students (84.1% female) completed online surveys comprising attitudinal measures. Key themes to emerge from student comments were that qualitative research was seen as an alternative approach, representing a paradigmatic shift that was construed by some students advantageous for meeting future professional and educative goals. Quantitative measures of attitudes to qualitative research were associated with general attitudes toward research, and psychology-specific epistemological beliefs. Changes in attitudes following completion of the qualitative research methods unit were in the hypothesized direction, but non-significant (small effect sizes). The findings increase our understanding of psychology students’ attitudes toward qualitative research and inform our recommendations for teaching research methods within the undergraduate psychology curriculum.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Having to Shift Everything We’ve Learned to the Side”: Expanding Research Methods Taught in Psychology to Incorporate Qualitative Methods

Roberts

Castell

2016

Front. Psychol.

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“…Psychology-Specific Epistemological Beliefs Scale (Renken et al, 2015) This scale comprises 13 items measuring psychology-specific epistemological beliefs. The items load onto three factors: significance of psychological research (example item "Carefully controlled research is not likely to be useful in solving psychological problems"), subjective nature of psychological knowledge (example item "Psychologists in different eras may use different theories and methods to interpret the same natural phenomenon"), and predictability of human behavior (example item "Psychological research can enable us to anticipate people's behavior with a high degree of accuracy").…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The items load onto three factors: significance of psychological research (example item "Carefully controlled research is not likely to be useful in solving psychological problems"), subjective nature of psychological knowledge (example item "Psychologists in different eras may use different theories and methods to interpret the same natural phenomenon"), and predictability of human behavior (example item "Psychological research can enable us to anticipate people's behavior with a high degree of accuracy"). Initial validation of this measure has included confirmatory factor analysis, testretest reliability (correlations ranging between 0.65 and 0.78) and internal reliability (α = 0.54 to 0.80 for subscales, and 0.75 to 0.82 for overall measure; Renken et al, 2015). One open-ended question at Time 1 asked "How do you feel about completing a unit in Qualitative Research Methods?…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research Methods Pedagogy: Engaging Psychology Students in Research Methods and Statistics

Roberts¹

2016

Frontiers Research Topics

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Frontiers is more than just an open-access publisher of scholarly articles: it is a pioneering approach to the world of academia, radically improving the way scholarly research is managed. The grand vision of Frontiers is a world where all people have an equal opportunity to seek, share and generate knowledge. Frontiers provides immediate and permanent online open access to all its publications, but this alone is not enough to realize our grand goals. Frontiers Journal Series The Frontiers Journal Series is a multi-tier and interdisciplinary set of open-access, online journals, promising a paradigm shift from the current review, selection and dissemination processes in academic publishing. All Frontiers journals are driven by researchers for researchers; therefore, they constitute a service to the scholarly community. At the same time, the Frontiers Journal Series operates on a revolutionary invention, the tiered publishing system, initially addressing specific communities of scholars, and gradually climbing up to broader public understanding, thus serving the interests of the lay society, too. Dedication to Quality Each Frontiers article is a landmark of the highest quality, thanks to genuinely collaborative interactions between authors and review editors, who include some of the world's best academicians. Research must be certified by peers before entering a stream of knowledge that may eventually reach the public-and shape society; therefore, Frontiers only applies the most rigorous and unbiased reviews. Frontiers revolutionizes research publishing by freely delivering the most outstanding research, evaluated with no bias from both the academic and social point of view. By applying the most advanced information technologies, Frontiers is catapulting scholarly publishing into a new generation. What are Frontiers Research Topics? Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial

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“…, Epistemic Curiosity: Feeling of Deprivation (FOD) & Feeling of Interest Scale (FOI; Litman, 2008), and Skepticism (Fighting Against Myth/Psychological Knowledge/10-Myths about Psychology; seeRenken, McMahan, & Nitkova, 2015;Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein, 2010).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Approach as Predictor of Students' Epistemological Development in the Framework of Self-Authorship Theory

Arifin¹,

Muluk²

2017

Makara Hubs-Asia

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Past studies have found that an individual's epistemological development is predicted from learning that is meaningful to the learner. The current research aims to address whether deep learning style is able to predict students' epistemological ability (self-authorship, which is defined as the internal capacity to construct and evaluate knowledge claims, to comprehend the nature of contextual knowledge, and to have independence in the acquisition of knowledge). The researchers hypothesized that the deeper the learning approaches adopted by students, the higher their selfauthorship. Conversely, the more students utilize a surface approach to learning, the lower their self-authorship. A total of 346 students enrolled in a university in Indonesia participated in the study. The results showed support for both hypotheses, and we discussed the role of cognitive dispositions in the development of epistemological ability.

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Initial Validation of an Instrument Measuring Psychology-Specific Epistemological Beliefs

Cited by 12 publications

References 34 publications

“Having to Shift Everything We’ve Learned to the Side”: Expanding Research Methods Taught in Psychology to Incorporate Qualitative Methods

“Having to Shift Everything We’ve Learned to the Side”: Expanding Research Methods Taught in Psychology to Incorporate Qualitative Methods

Research Methods Pedagogy: Engaging Psychology Students in Research Methods and Statistics

Learning Approach as Predictor of Students' Epistemological Development in the Framework of Self-Authorship Theory

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