The course provides an introduction to the purpose and method of empirical social science as it is used to collect information about people, specifically how people relate to and are impacted by a designed, planned, managed or natural environments. The course introduces fundamental research concepts and multiple quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Students develop their own research problem and devise and critique a method to study that problem.
Course material attempts to be relevant to the applied science professions of recreation, landscape architecture, leisure, tourism, and architecture. Develop a problem statement and conceptual model relevant to a topic of the student's choosing. Develop a qualitative interview or quantitative survey method for application to a problem of the student's choosing. Develop library and literature review skills.