Research Methods in FES

Course & Section: FES 6786

Credit Hours: 3

Spring 2019

** On-line

** THERE WILL BE TIMES SCHEDULED FOR ON-LINE MEETINGS.

Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey Lindsey, PhD, PM, EFO

Office Rinker School of Construction Management

Jeffrey.lindsey@ufl.edu

352-273-1199

Bio for Jeffrey Lindsey, Ph.D., PM, EFO, CFO 

Dr. Lindsey is an experienced leader, educator, lecturer, author, and consultant in emergency services. He has authored a number of textbooks for Brady Publishing. Dr. Lindsey earned his doctorate and master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from USF. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Fire and Safety Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and an associate in paramedic from Harrisburg Area Community College. He also has earned his Chief Fire Officer designation and completed the Executive Fire Officer program. He was the 2011 recipient of the IAFC EMS section James O. Page EMS award.

Dr. Lindsey has been involved in the emergency services industry since 1980. He has a diverse background with experience as a paramedic, firefighter, 911 dispatcher, and educator. He served in various ranks including fire chief. He is an associate member of the Pre-hospital Research Forum, representative to the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education EMS degree committee, liaison for the IAFC EMS section to ACEP, and a number of other appointments through his career. He served on the inaugural National EMS Advisory Council and was the safety chairperson of the Council. He has served in the past as a member of the State of Florida EMS Advisory Council, vice –chair of the Florida Fire Chief’s EMS section, NAEMT Governor representing Florida, board member of NAEMSE, and Chairperson of the Strategic Planning committee for the Lee County Fire Chief’s Association.

 

 

Office Hours:            I am in my remote office this semester. You can email me any time.

**Course Website: http://lss.at.ufl.edu

 

** Course Communications: There is a General Discussion tab that can be used, or send me an email through the course email. Urgent messages can be sent to my ufl.edu email.

 

Required Text: Methods of Disaster Research  (2002) Stallings, R. Xlibris Corporation ISBN: 1-4010-7970-9

Research design (2022) Creswell, J. 6th edition Sage Publications ISBN 978-1071817940

Publication Manual of the APA 6^th Ed ISBN: 978-1-4338-0561-5

 

You will also need a webcam and microphone.

**Additional Resources:  Use resources on the course site under the Resource tab

***Qualitative Disaster Research (2014) Phillips, B. Oxford Press ISBN: 978-0-19-979617-5 (Required if you are doing a qualitative research paper.)

1. Statistics in Research: Basic Concepts and Techniques for Research Workers, Bernard Ostle and Linda C. Malone, 4th Ed., Iowa State Press, Ames, IA, 1988.

2. The Conduct of Inquiry, Abraham Kaplan, Chandler Pub., Scranton, PA, 1964.

3. Inquiry by Design, John Zeissel, Brooks/Cole, Monterey, CA, 1981.

4. The Good Research Guide for Small-Scale Social Research Projects, M. Denscombe, Open University Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1998.

5. Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook, 2nd Ed., Matthew B. Miles and A.

Michael Huberman, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1994.NOTE: To check the truthfulness of contemporary statements, etc. go to this site from the University of Pennsylvania: http://www.factcheck.org/

http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/ct/dltop.html

http://www.rrc.usf.edu/index.html

http://thesaurus.reference.com/

http://www.distancelearning.ufl.edu/students/

http://www.usfa.fema.gov/training/lrc/

 

**Course Description: Covers the research proposal development process and the

statistical, computational, visualization, and presentation tools available to the researcher.

**Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills:  Students participating in, and completing, this course are expected to have the skill and ability to conduct research using a variety of resources, assimilate the information contained in those resources, and make appropriate inferences.  Students must also have the skills to effectively communicate through writing assignments and presentations.  In ALL of your writing assignments grammar and content will be considered when grades are assigned.

 

Purpose of Course: To provide students skills that will enable them to complete their thesis in addition to understanding how to conduct and implement research.  

Course Goals and/or Objectives: By the end of this course, students will:

1. Understand depth the scientific method.

2. Apply the scientific method in identifying problems and coming up with solutions to those problems.

**Teaching Philosophy:  I am looking for students to demonstrate a working knowledge of the subject. You need to be creative when you complete your assignments but maintain a professional appearance of your work. Your work needs to be complete and in such a manner that someone can pick up your document and understand what you are trying to convey. And most of all your work needs to be supported with research and cited in properly in APA format.

 

**Instructional Methods: The course is designed for individual and group interactivity. It is important to post and respond to discussion questions in the course within the time frame allotted. This provides a learning environment by networking with other students in the course. The assignments are individual base to give you the opportunity to do a variety of activities, in many cases, similar to what you will be doing in role as a leader in the profession.

 

Attendance Policy:  The course is designed in module format. You should check the site at least once a week. You are required to complete the assignments including discussion questions within the time period designated on the module. There will be meetings set up throughout the course.

**Quiz/Exam Policy:  There is a final project for this course.

Make-up Policy:  You must contact me if you are going to be late on any assignment and receive credit. Any late assignments will receive a 10% grade reduction for each week it is late.

**Assignment Policy:  All assignments have a due date. Please be sure to check the date and time it is due in each module.

**Course Technology:  Class meetings will require a web camera and mic/audio. If you are not able to use a web camera you will need to at least provide audio/mic, you can call in on a phone also.

USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) 

Any and all use of machines that emulate human capabilities (ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, DALLE, etc.) to perform assignments or other works in the course should be disclosed as it can border on plagiarism. AI-generated information, as long as this use is properly documented in the references and will need to include the prompt and the significant parts of the response. The use of generative AI tools is not permitted in this course for the following activities: 

1. Completing group work that your group has assigned to you. 
2. Writing a draft of a writing assignment. 
3. Writing entire sentences, paragraphs or papers to complete class assignments. 

University Policy on Accommodating Students with Disabilities: Students requesting accommodation for disabilities must first register with the Dean of Students Office (http://www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/). The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student who must then provide this documentation to the instructor when requesting accommodation. You must submit this documentation prior to submitting assignments or taking the quizzes or exams. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the office as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations.

** UF’s honesty policy    

UF students are bound by The Honor Pledge which states, “We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honor and integrity by abiding by the Honor Code.  On all work submitted for credit by students at the University of Florida, the following pledge is either required or implied: “On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment.” The Honor Code http://regulations.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/4.040.pdf specifies a number of behaviors that are in violation of this code and the possible sanctions.  Furthermore, you are obliged to report any condition that facilitates academic misconduct to appropriate personnel. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult with the instructor of in this class. Go to https://sccr.dso.ufl.edu/policies/student-honor-code-student-conduct-code/ for the Handbook. Keep in mind you CANNOT reuse work you already submitted for another class. You can ONLY submit work once for credit otherwise you will receive a zero for your grade.

**Netiquette: Communication Courtesy:  All members of the class are expected to follow rules of common courtesy in all email messages, threaded discussions and chats.  [Describe what is expected and what will occur as a result of improper behavior] http://teach.ufl.edu/docs/NetiquetteGuideforOnlineCourses.pdf

For issues with technical difficulties for E-learning in Sakai, please contact the UF Help Desk at:

• Learning-support@ufl.edu
• (352) 392-HELP - select option 2
• https://lss.at.ufl.edu/help.shtml

** Any requests for make-ups due to technical issues MUST be accompanied by the ticket number received from LSS when the problem was reported to them. The ticket number will document the time and date of the problem. You MUST e-mail your instructor within 24 hours of the technical difficulty if you wish to request a make-up.

Other resources are available at http://www.distance.ufl.edu/getting-help for:

• Counseling and Wellness resources
• Disability resources
• Resources for handling student concerns and complaints
• Library Help Desk support

Should you have any complaints with your experience in this course please visit http://www.distance.ufl.edu/student-complaints to submit a complaint.

 

 

Week 1	Introduction – online post Read Syllabus and review course content Assignments for semester
Week 2	Selection of Research Approach
Week 3	Review of Literature Use of Theory Methodological Problems of Field of Studies in Disasters Scientific Method assignment due
Week 4	Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations Class meeting
Week 5	Designing Research – Introduction, Purpose Statement, Research Questions and Hypothesis Behavior in Crisis Time Period of Disasters Research Statement assignment due
Week 6	Recognizing opportunities, Posing Interesting Questions and Implementing alternative methods Survey research
Week 7	Quantitative Methods Literature Review assignment due Class meeting
Week 8	Qualitative Methods and Disaster Research Economics of Natural Disasters Cross Natural and Comparative Disaster Research
Week 9	Mixed Methods Procedures Introduction assignment due
Week 10	Media Studies
Week 11	Historical research
Week 12	Electronic media and the globalization of data collection; GIS Research Methodology assignment due
Week 13	Problems and prospects of disaster research in the developing world
Week 14	Social change and the practice of disaster fieldwork Presentation techniques
Week 15	Future Disaster Research Presentations

 

Assignments: Homework and projects will be assigned throughout the semester. Although sketches and process diagrams may be drawn by hand, computer-generated drawings are preferred (schematics often can be completed with drawing features of common programs such as Word and Excel). These assignments must be completed in a professional manner incorporating the following elements:

• • Executive summary -summarizing the important features of the problem and solution and providing the information required by the problem statement. This section should appear first in the report but should be written last.
• • Introduction - Providing the problem statement and background of the problem solution. The introduction should include the background and theory associated with the technology used in the design.
• • Methods - providing the methodology (approach, assumptions, formulas and sample calculations).
• • Presentation of the Plan - providing the results of the design analysis including tables and graphics used to support conclusions.
• • Appendices – May include supplemental material not discussed in detail in the body of the report.

 

The grade is based on a point system. You divide the total number of earned points into the total amount of points available to determine your grade. A grading rubric for the final project is under the Resource Tab on the course. This same rubric is applied in general terms to assignments.

 

Assignment	Points or percentage
Assignments	700 points
Class meetings	200
Presentation	300
Total Grade	1200 points

 

Late Assignments

Initial posts are due one week before the due date. You must respond to two other students by the due date. Discussions are like being in class. You will lose 1 point per day of being late with initial post and 1 point per day lost for not responding to other student posts. 

Grading Scale

 A   = 90.0 to 100%     C   = 70.0 to 73.2
A-  = 86.7 to 89.9       C-  = 66.7 to 69.1
B+ = 83.3 to 86.6      D+ = 63.3 to 66.6
B   = 80 to 83.2       D   = 60.0 to 63.2
B-  = 76.7 to 79.9       D-  = 56.7 to 60.0
C+ = 73.3 to 76.6       E   = <56.7