2. Learning Outcomes
1. Describe the reasoning involved in the
scientific method
2. Describe the different approaches of
educational research
3. Define and state the characteristics of each
research approach
4. Identify and differentiate among research
purposes
5. Discuss the ethical obligations of researchers
3. Introduction to Research
Why is educational research significant?
1. Educational research contributes to
educational theory and educational practice
2. As a professional we need to know how to
find, understand, and evaluate findings
3. As a professional we need to be able to
distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate
research claims
Question: Can you think of another reason as to
why educational research is important?
4. The Scientific Method
Five steps in the scientific method
Recognition and definition of the problem
Formulation of hypotheses
Collection of data
Analysis of data
Stating conclusions
5. The Scientific Method: (Research
Process)
How do we obtain knowledge?
1. Reasoning: logical thought to reach a conclusion
a. Inductive reasoning: involves
developing generalizations based on
observations of a limited number of
related events or experiences.
(ex: page 4)
b. Deductive reasoning: involves essentially
the reverse process, arriving at specific
conclusions based on general principles,
observations, or experiences(i.e.,
generalizations)
(ex: Page 4)
6. Limitations of the methods of
obtaining knowledge
Experience, authority, inductive
reasoning, and deductive
reasoning, each approach to
understanding has limitations when used
in isolation
(Ex: page 4; Story about Aristotle)
These methods are very effective when
used in conjunction with one another as
components of the scientific method
7. Limitations of the Scientific
Method
1. Cannot answer all questions
2. Correctness
3. Cooperation
(all these things can limit and alter the results
of the study)
8. Application of the Scientific
Method in Education
Research is the formal systematic
application of the scientific method to
the study of problems
Educational research is the
formal, systematic application of the
scientific method to the study of
educational problems.
9. Approaches to Research
QuantitativeResearch: is the collection
and analysis of numerical data to
describe, explain, predict, or control
phenomena of interest
1. states the hypotheses
2. There is little personal interaction
3. Assumptions about the world
10. Approaches to Research
Qualitative Research: is the
collection, analysis, and interpretation of
comprehensive narrative and visual
(i.e., nonnumerical) data to gain insights
into a particular phenomenon
1. No uniform world
2. Believes in different perspectives
3. No hypotheses
11. Differences between
Qualitative and Quantitative
1. Qualitative research often involves the
simultaneous collection of a wealth of
narrative and visual data over an extended
period of time vs. Quantitative research
which is mainly the collection of numerical
data
2. Qualitative research data collection, as
much as is possible, occurs in a naturalistic
setting vs. Quantitative research which tends
to be done in more researcher controlled
environments
12. Classifying Research
By method By Purpose
Quantitative
Survey Correlational Casual Experimental Single subject
Comparative
Basic & applied
Qualitative
Evaluation
Ethnographic Research & Development
Narrative Case study Action research
13. Quantitative Design
Survey Research
Purpose – to collect numerical data to
test hypotheses or answer questions
about the current status of the subject
of study.
Example:
Howdo second grade teachers spend their
teaching time?
14. Quantitative Design
Correlational
Purpose – to determine the extent to
which two or more variables are
statistically related
Example:
What is the relation between intelligence and
self-esteem?
15. Quantitative Design
Causal-comparative
Purpose – to explore relationships
among variables that cannot be
actively manipulated or controlled by
the researcher
Example:
How does having a working mother affect a
child’s school absenteeism?
16. Quantitative Design
Experimental
Purpose – to establish cause and effect
relationships between variables
Example:
Isthere an effect of reinforcement on
students’ attitude towards school?
17. Quantitative Design
Single subject
Purpose – to investigate cause and
effect relationships with samples of one
(1).
Example:
What is the effect of a behavior modification
program on John’s conduct in class?
19. Qualitative Designs
Narrative
Purpose – focus on studying a single person
and gathering data through the collection of
stories that are used to construct a narrative
about the individual’s experience and the
meanings he/she attributes to them
Example:
how do teachers confront, and deal with, high
school students who have drug problems
20. Qualitative Designs
Ethnography
Purpose – to obtain an understanding of the
shared beliefs and practices of a particular
group or culture
Example: what are the beliefs and
practices of making a sandwich in an Indian
culture?
21. Qualitative Design
Case Study
Purpose – to conduct research on a unit
of study or bounded system . an
individual teacher, a classroom, or a
school can be a case.
Example:
How do Dowling College
manage Doctor of Education Program
in PhD?
22. The Purpose of Research
Basic research
Collection and analysis of data to develop
or enhance theory
Example: Learning theories
Piaget
Constructivism
Gardener’s multiple intelligence
23. The Purpose of Research
Applied research
Collection and analysis of data to
examine the usefulness of theory in
solving practical educational problems
Example:
Will
the theory of multiple intelligences help
improve my students’ learning?
24. The Purpose of Research
Evaluation research
The collection and analysis of data to make
decisions related to the merit or worth of a
specific program
Example:
Is the new reading curriculum better than the old
one?
Is the new geography curriculum meeting the
students’ and teachers’ needs?
25. The Purpose of Research
Research and development
The development of effective products for
use in schools
Examples
Thedevelopment of a Smart Board to
enhance a teacher’s use of technology in the
classroom
26. The Purpose of Research
Actionresearch
The collection and analysis of data to
provide a solution to the practical, valued
problems of educators within their own
school or organization
Examples
How can disciplinary policies be enforced
consistently in our school?
28. Ethics
Moralprinciples that govern a person's or
group's behavior.
Questions which deal with Right and
Wrong.
Norms of Conduct.
29. Ethics in research
The researcher has to think whether the
study is ethically “Right” to conduct.
If
the research study will bring any
negative influence on participants?
Ifthe participants will face any
embarrassments after conducting the
research study?
30. Cont …
Ifthe researcher can keep the
confidentiality and privacy intact after
the research?
Ifthe researcher sought the participants
consent to make them part of his or her
research?
31. The Best Practice
Two rules of Ethics of research are following
:
Participants should not be harmed
Physically, Mentally and Socially.
Researchersobtain participants informed
consent before conducting the research.
32. Development of Ethical codes
for Research
Different organizations developed Code
of Ethics for Research.
In 1974 US Congress passed the NATIONAL
RESEARCH ACT OF 1974 which gives
permission to National Commission for the
Protection of Human Subjects of
Biomedical and Behavioral Research.
33. Discussion Questions
What did you learn from the video in terms of
Ethical Considerations in Research?
Do you think that the methodology used in the
research was Ethical? Explain.
If you were in the researcher’s place what would
you have done differently, based on what you
have learnt from the video?
How important are the ethical considerations in
the research?
34. Closing Arguments
It is important to understand different
approaches to educational
research, such as qualitative and
quantitative, and how a researcher
applies the approaches while conducting
the research.
It is also important to keep in mind the
ethical context when developing the
research methodology.
35. Reference
Gay, L.R.; Mills. G. E.; Airasian, P. (2012).
Educational Research: Competencies for
analysis and applications. New York:
Pearson.
Editor's Notes
The five steps in scientific method include, recognition and definition of the problem, the formulation of hypotheses, the collection of data, the analysis of data and stating conclusion. Scientific method has its own limitations. For example, scientific method is unable to answer value-based questions, unable to capture the full richness and complexities of the participants. Other limitations include Limitations of our measurement instruments and ethical and legal responsibilities.
questions of personal philosophy, values, and ethics cannot be solved using the scientific method, it gives a simplified version of realityApplication of the scientific method cannot capture the richness or uniqueness of individuals being studied. (many other variables not examined) It gives us a simplified version of realityInstruments of measurement always have a degree of error. All educational research is done with the cooperation or non-cooperation of people who agree to provide data. There are ethical concerns that must be taken into account. a. sheltering participants from potential harm b. informing participants of the nature of the research c. address the expectations of the participants
Despite the difficulties of applying the scientific method in educational settings, the steps are similar to those used in other controlled settings.
Quantitative research states the hypotheses to be examined, and specifies research procedures that will be usedThere is little personal interaction with participants because data is usually collected using paper-and-pencil, non-interactive instrumentsAssumption that we inhabit a stable, uniform, and coherent world that we can measure, understand, and generalize about, (prevalent in the scientific world)
Do NOT accept the view of a stable, coherent, uniform worldThey argue that all meaning is situated in a particular perspective or context and because different people and groups have different views and contexts the world has many different meaningsOften avoid stating hypotheses before data are collected
There are two ways to classify research. One is classification of research by method and another is classification of research by purpose. Classification of research by method shows the overall strategies followed to collect and analyze data. Whereas classification of research by purpose shows the degree of direct applicability of research to educational practices and settings.The largest distinction we can make in classifying research by method is the distinction between quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative and qualitative research in turn include several distinct types or methods, each designed to answer a different kind of research question. Quantitative research approaches are applied to describe current conditions, investigate relations and study cause-effect phenomena. For example, survey research is often designed to describe current conditions. Studies that investigate the relations between two or more variables are correlational research. Experimental studies and causal-comparative studies provide information about cause-effect outcomes. Studies that focus on the behavioral change an individual exhibits as a result of some intervention fall under the heading of single-subject research. Qualitative research seeks to probe deeply into research settings to obtain in-depth understandings about the way things are, why they are that way, and how the participants in the context perceive them. In order to achieve the detailed understandings, qualitative researchers undertake sustained in-depth, in context research that allows them to uncover, subtle, less overt, personal understanding. For example, in narrative research, the focus is to study how different humans experience the world around them. The researcher typically focuses on a single person and gathers data by collecting stories about the person’s life. In ethnography, , the focus is on a group’s cultural patterns and perspectives to understand participants behavior and their context in their natural settings. In case study, we focus on a unit of study or a bounded system, that may include a teacher, a classroom, an organization itself.Research designs can also be classified by the degree of direct applicability of the research to educational practices or settings. When purpose is the classification criterion, all research studies fall into one of two categories i.e. basic research and applied research. Applied research can be subdivided into evaluation research, research and development and action research. Basic research is conducted solely for the purpose of developing or refining a theory. Basic researchers may not be concerned with the immediate utility of their findings. Applied research as the name implies, is conducted for the purpose of applying or testing a theory to determine its usefulness in solving practical problems. For example, evaluation research is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing data about the quality, effectiveness, merit, or value of programs, products, or practices. Research and development is the process of researching consumer needs and developing products to fulfill those needs. The purpose of research and development is not to formulate or test a theory, but to develop effective products for use in schools. Action research, in education is any systematic inquiry conducted by teachers, principals, school councilors, or other stake holders in the teaching learning environment to gather information about the ways in which their particular schools operate, the teachers teach, and the students learn. Its purpose is to provide teacher researchers with a method for solving everyday problems in their own settings.
One common type of survey research involves assessing the preferences, attitudes, practices, concerns or interests of a group of people. In this particular example, teachers are asked to fill our questionnaires, and results are presented as percentages e.g. teachers spent 50% of their time lecturing, 20% asking or responding to questions, 20% in discussion and 10% in providing individual student help.
In this example scores on intelligence test and a measure of self-esteem are required from each member of a given group. The two sets of scores are analyzed and the resulting coefficient indicates the degree of correlation.
In this particular example, the grouping variable is the employment status of the mother with two possible values i.e. the mother works or does not work. The dependent variable is absenteeism, measured as number of days absent. The researcher identifies a group of students with working mothers and a group whose mothers do not work, gathers information about their absenteeism, and compare the groups.
In this example, the independent variable is type of reinforcement with three values; positive, negative, or no reinforcement; the dependent variable is attitude towards school. The researcher randomly forms three groups from a single large group of students. One group of students receive positive reinforcement, another negative reinforcement, and the third no reinforcement. After the treatments are applied for a predetermined time, student attitudes towards school are measured and compared for each of the three groups.
In this particular example, how the behavior modification program affected Johns conduct in the class. Johns conduct before the program implementation could be compared with the conduct after the modification of the program.
In this particular example, teachers can be asked to write their experiences about students who have drug problems. The researcher can collect descriptions of events through interviews and observation and can synthesize them into narrative or stories.
In this particular example, the researcher might go to India to be part of Indian community to see how Indians make sandwich, why do they make the sandwich in that particular way? How their making of sandwich is different from the other people in India? Is their any religious restricts what or what not to include in sandwich?
In this particular example, the researcher might ask the key management personnel of Dowling College to be part of the study, Other stake holders such as students can also be included in the study to depict their over all view about the management of the program and its impact on stake holders.
