Learning Statistics: Theoretical vs. Research Courses

Abstract

Statistics is an important service theme employed in most of the social sciences research studies. However, most of the statistical courses are taught theoretically so that students spend several times in proving theorems and applying theoretical formulas. Indeed, students, especially in social sciences research studies, are in need to apply only statistical methods in their project dissertations or theses. This paper aims to show that learning statistics as a research method for data analysis is more valuable than learning it as a theoretical course. To examine this importance, a survey study is conducted on research students at Ahlia University who have taken statistical courses during their undergraduate study. A t-test statistical method is used to test the difference between two population parameters. The results indicate that there is a difference between the two teaching-learning methods, and that students do prefer to learn statistics as a service course for research.