When entering the first class of any course, I always try to assess the professor and the course. Is this going to be an easy teacher? Will he or she be able to convey the material to me? Is this going to be a fairly easy class, or will I have to really work hard for my grade? What papers will I have to write? How many tests will I have to take? Will the final examination be cumulative or not? Will I even like this class?

I had questions similar to the above when I listened to the first lecture of Counseling 585, Introduction to Research Methods. Ironically, my first observation was the name of the instructor, Dr. Tony Norman, and I immediately wondered if he was Don Norman’s son.

I found the first lesson to be of a very introductory nature, and I liked that. The instruction started off by talking about some things that I already knew a little something about, like learning by experience, living by certain traditions, learning by deductive and inductive reasoning, and learning by the scientific method, and it moved into some areas that were less familiar to me, like the characteristics of a good theory and the limitations that are associated with each source of knowledge. As a Mathematician, I always perk up when I hear deductive and inductive reasoning and the scientific method because I like to compare what the professor is saying to what I already know so that I can hopefully expand my own knowledge base.

As I listened to the first class and became more familiar with the professor and the course, I concluded that this class will teach me many things about Counseling Research that I do not now know. Therefore, I think it will be a good class.

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Lesson 2. Scientific Research

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