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The supportive paper for my evidence-based practice within first semester includes a
quantitative research paper in which my group and I conducted an in-class questionnaire to
determine best and worst study habits within our occupational therapy class of 2015. Our paper,
A Survey of Academic Comprehension Levels in Different Environmental Settings, hypothesized
that a quiet setting would present with the highest number of responses for most efficacious
study time. Our hypothesis was disproved through the Likert scale distributed amongst our
classmates.
This assignment proved to be somewhat difficult due to the fact that study habits may
change day-to-day depending on assignments due or upcoming tests. The amount of urgency or
focus needed for class studies proved to be highly variable and frequently changing, which
further led us to believe this would be a difficult subject to conclude a definitive answer without
further clarification and specification within our chosen topic.
I learned many new and strategic techniques within the statistics realm of a Likert scale
research project and feel that I gained a vast amount of knowledge during the calculations of our
results. I also learned some ways that may work better than others when distributing this type of
questionnaire. Our scale was sent out via email, which proved to be difficult when collecting the
anonymous submissions.
Although this assignment proved to be difficult in many aspects, it helped challenge my
metacognition within research topics and the development and formulation of a proper research
question. The topic of choice seemed appropriate at the time, but once our research group
became more immersed within the topic, it was easy to see that we should have thought our
choice through more in order to develop the most applicable question within our topic of choice.

This experience also helped me to challenge myself to think outside of the box; what seemed
easier in the beginning proved to be much more difficult than expected due to the broad range of
information available within our chosen research question.
I have always dreaded research papers and the tedious work that is usually involved
within them, but this paper opened my eyes to many new aspects within research. Although this
was a difficult assignment, I was able to participate in all aspects of the project and experience
successes and struggles within the group. As a team, we were able to work together to find the
best solution to conclude our project. I have never been a part of the analysis involved within a
distributed scale, which I found to be interesting and intriguing in the research realm. My
experience within this paper has sparked my interest in the research realm much more than I
would have ever imagined. I appreciate the opportunities and learning experiences I gained from
participating in this quantitative research project.