The impact of the Sports Science Students' Attitudes towards the Scientific Research Methods Course on their Critical Thinking Skills

Background: Scientific research processes are of capital significance in defining problems from a critical perspective, identifying the variables, determining the relationships between these problem variables, and finding solutions to existing issues. Aim: Based on this direction, the current study aimed to examine the effects of sports science students' attitudes towards scientific research methods course on their critical thinking skills considering various variables. Methods: The study group, determined by a simple random sampling method, comprised 412 students with an average age of 21.92, studying in sports sciences. Attitude Scale Towards Scientific Research Course and Critical Thinking Skills Scale were used to scale students' scientific research and critical thinking skills. Results: The study determined that while there was no significant difference between the students according to the gender variable, there were differences according to the department and class variables. Conclusion: As a result, there is a positive relationship between students' attitudes towards scientific research methods and their critical thinking skills.