The concluding lecture synthesizes the counselor’s research identity, emphasizing professional integrity, ethical reflection, and the transformative power of evidence-based and spiritually informed practice. It calls students to unite critical inquiry, compassion, and action, demonstrating how research functions not only as academic pursuit but as a means of service and stewardship within the counseling vocation.

Building on the foundations of action research, this lecture explores its application in political, educational, and social contexts. It reviews the historical and philosophical contributions of figures like Paulo Freire, Kurt Lewin, and Bronfenbrenner, framing action research as a model for practitioner-driven change, civic engagement, and ethical leadership within counseling and education.

Focused on mixed-method design and action research, this session integrates quantitative and qualitative paradigms to illustrate their complementary roles in counseling inquiry. It highlights methodological sequencing, weighting, and triangulation before introducing action research as a participatory, reform-oriented approach for addressing real-world counseling and community issues.

This lecture addresses narrative research and survey design, contrasting the interpretive nature of storytelling with the quantitative precision of survey methods. It explores narrative phases, cultural contexts, and ethical storytelling practices, while introducing longitudinal and cross-sectional survey strategies for data collection and analysis in counseling research.

Continuing the study of qualitative methods, this session delves deeper into phenomenological research, emphasizing lived experience, subjective meaning, and researcher-participant interaction. It discusses credibility, bracketing, triangulation, and the essence of human experience while defining characteristics of effective qualitative researchers such as empathy, flexibility, and narrative awareness.

This lecture examines qualitative research with an emphasis on case study methodology, grounded theory, and phenomenological inquiry. It outlines procedures for data collection, coding, and analysis while underscoring reflexivity, cultural sensitivity, and the interpretive depth required in narrative-based research. Students learn how qualitative approaches illuminate human experience beyond statistical generalization.

Drawing from Isaiah 61:1–3, this session develops a theological framework for counseling centered on healing, restoration, and hope. It connects biblical themes of liberation and comfort with professional counseling roles, portraying therapists as compassionate agents of renewal who walk with clients through grief, trauma, and transformation.

The focus here is on predictive and correlational research, examining how relationships between variables inform forecasting in counseling outcomes. It introduces correlation coefficients, regression models, and single-case research designs, emphasizing their practical application for practitioners in individualized settings.