Your Comfort with Research Methods
Why This Matters
YPAR invites students to engage in real-world inquiry—and that means navigating the research process together. This section supports you in reflecting on your own comfort with various research methods, from surveys to interviews to data analysis. By identifying your strengths and growth areas, you can better anticipate where students might need scaffolding and where you can confidently guide them as co-researchers.
Reflection Prompts
Have you used any of these methods before—either in class or in other contexts? (Feel free to jot down examples or experiences.)
What type of research would best align with your content area or standards?
☐ Qualitative (Interviews, observations, focus groups, analyzing documents)
☐ Quantitative (Surveys)
☐ Both / Either
Why?
What key skill do you want students to walk away with after the research phase?
(e.g., analyzing interviews, designing strong survey questions, interpreting graphs)
Based on your comfort level, what method(s) might you focus on first?
How could you adapt these to your classroom context?
What scaffolds could help students succeed with those methods?
(Think: templates, modeling, sentence stems, roles, paired research, peer feedback)