Research Anxiety Reduction Among Undergraduates in a Senior Research Psychology Course: One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design

Most undergraduate programs in psychology require research methods training, although students are often anxious about the topic. Past research has shown that perceptions of research skills increase after completing a research methods course, but does research anxiety decrease with the improved skills? Based on exposure therapy and cognitive behavior therapy concepts, researchers predicted students would report a reduction in research anxiety using a one-group pretest-posttest design to compare scores on the Research Anxiety Scale (RARS) between the start and end of the research course. As a secondary hypothesis, researchers also predicted the overall effort dedicated towards the project, the number of drafts of a final paper, and the course grade earned would be related to changes in research anxiety. A convenience sample of undergraduate Psychology students (N = 97) enrolled in multiple sections of a senior thesis course completed a research anxiety measure at the beginning and end of the course, along with other demographic questions. Using paired t-tests, results supported the primary hypothesis and revealed that student RARS scores decreased from the beginning to the end of the course. Surprisingly, the overall effort dedicated towards the project, the number of drafts of a final paper, and the course grade were not related to changes in research anxiety. Completing a research project in a course can be an effective way to reduce research anxiety. Psychology programs should consider designing curriculum to include research methods and senior thesis courses if reducing research anxiety is an important goal of their program.