According to faculty who teach graduate students, the most important research abilities for their students to have are understanding the ethics of using information, searching within library databases, and evaluating information sources. Faculty perceive that students are best at understanding the ethics of using information and especially need help with evaluating information sources.
Compare these ratings with graduate students’ level of comfort in performing research-related activities:
Off-Campus Graduates | On-Campus Graduates
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| Average Score for Importance of Ability (5 = “High Importance”) | Average Score for Perception of Ability (5 = “High Performance”) | |
| Choosing a research topic | 3.93 | 3.44 |
| Narrowing a research topic | 4.02 | 3.40 |
| Figuring out which library databases to use | 4.13 | 3.51 |
| Searching within library databases | 4.27 | 3.56 |
| Figuring out how to get or request full text | 3.93 | 3.44 |
| Evaluating information sources (e.g. determining quality, validity, bias) | 4.27 | 3.27 |
| Incorporating sources into a paper | 4.20 | 3.53 |
| Citing sources correctly | 4.24 | 3.51 |
| Understanding the ethics of using information | 4.30 | 3.57 |
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