Reflections on the research methods course: should it be required for a graduate degree in professional communication

In defining what constitutes core knowledge that an academic program in technical communication should provide, one important question is whether a course in research methods should be required. This paper presents data from informal surveys of graduate students in a research methods course at the University of Memphis. Student perceptions of a course in empirical methods tended to be negative, even somewhat fearful, at the beginning of the semester. End-of-the-semester perceptions were far more positive, even on the issue of requiring the course for a master´s degree in technical communication. Although this change in attitude is encouraging, technical communicators may need to think about what can be done to dispel negativity in students, and perhaps others, when the topic of empirical research arises.