Fall 2026

Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies

Covers research methods in human development and family studies, including quantitative and qualitative designs, participatory action research, and evaluation research.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Aaron SuiterEunhye AhnGeoffrey Brown

Summary

1 / 6

Historical reviews describe the course as difficult, requiring significant studying and attendance, with some noting that exams were hard and grading scales were elevated.

Grade history

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average GPA
letter grades
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AB
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

HDFS 262,ED PSYCH 320,PSYCH 460, or HDFS 263

HDFS 425

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026
Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Janean Dilworth-Bart: Janean Dilworth-Bart’s teaching style varies significantly between reviewers. One student found her lectures rambling and exams unfair, while others noted she is approachable and helpful despite moving quickly through material. Success often required significant independent study and attendance.

AOSAI LIU is recorded teaching in Fall 2024, Spring 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

CAROLYN LIESEN is recorded teaching in Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JANEAN DILWORTH-BART is recorded teaching in Fall 2011, Spring 2012, Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

JENNIFER PUTNEY is recorded teaching in Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Spring 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction34 / 400
LEC 002Classroom Instruction40 / 400

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

Historical reviews of Aosai Liu: Aosai Liu receives high praise for being kind, understanding, and responsive to student feedback, with one reviewer noting her positivity and generosity with extra credit.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.95 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=39 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.94 GPA, 97.9% A/AB (n=48 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.75 GPA, 88.6% A/AB (n=44 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Historical reviews describe the course as difficult, requiring significant studying and attendance, with some noting that exams were hard and grading scales were elevated.

Historical reviews of Carolyn Liesen, Jennifer Putney: Students found past instructors like Carolyn Liesen and Jennifer Putney helpful and caring, with structured assignments and clear study guides making the material understandable.

Topics

  • Family studies and individual development over the life course
  • Quantitative and qualitative research designs
  • Participatory action research
  • Evaluation research
  • Intervention and prevention programs

Skills

  • Research design for family studies and individual development
  • Quantitative and qualitative research designs, participatory action research, and evaluation research
  • Applying research to inform intervention and prevention programs

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.20 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records
HDFS 425 · Fall 2026

Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records 
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:230:022678",
    "course_id": "HDFS 425",
    "course_uid": "course_42ff0509640f8cab240f4ca0",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "022678",
    "source_subject_id": "230",
    "title": "Research Methods in Human Development and Family Studies",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "64349f94d5275904ec5df67196dd43e3c0194e1f180a419baa62d1dece04a88a",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}