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Topic1 AR
Topic1 AR
TOPIC 1
SYNOPSIS
This topic provides you with an overview of the aims of educational research. It
discusses research paradigms and describes the purposes and ethical procedures
that a practitioner follows to generate new knowledge through educational enquiry. It
also provides a brief overview of the different types of educational research: the
positivist approach (quantitative), the interpretive approach (qualitative) and summary
of research ethics will also be given some coverage.
By the end of the module you should have an enhanced understanding of the
principles of educational research and how this operates in a range of educational
contexts. You will also be better equipped to identify opportunities for educational
research in your own practice. You will have the opportunity to explore how you think
the ideas relate to your own practice as a clinical teacher and supervisor, and be
provided with information about how to further develop your and others research
skills.1
LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of this topic, you will be able to:
give the definition of research paradigms in educational research
understand the aims and purposes of educational research
know the different types of educational research
Definitions of
educational
research
Aims and
purposes
educational
research
Types of
educational
research
Ethics of
educational
research
Factors
influencing
ethical
approaches
Preview
Guided discussion
What do I already know about educational research?
Can you list (write down) the main reasons why you might want to do research?
What do you think are some of the issues or barriers to carrying out
educational research for teachers in the Malaysian classroom?
Extrinsic reasons
Academic pressures
To increase status
To improve practice
For collegial approval
For pleasure
To meet a challenge
This type of research is called positivism where the people in the study are treated
as objects and the researcher attempts to establish distinct relationship between
2
Hawkins, ELTC (2011): Strengthening English language pedagogy with action research.
Positivist
Quantitative
natural laws.
understanding, traditions,
knowledge.
sufficient sampling.
application.
2nd Person
Qualitative
Research
and culture.
people or area.
quantitative predictions
from data.
It is difficult to make
influenced by researchers
needs.
1st Person
Action
Research
influenced by researchers
practice.
natural setting.
generalisable.
needs.
people or area.
fashion.
Research designed to
Positivism
The positivist paradigm of exploring social reality is based on the philosophical ideas
of the French philosopher August Comte, who emphasized observation and reason
as means of understanding human behaviour. According to him, true knowledge is
based on experience of senses and can be obtained by observation and experiment.
Positivistic thinkers adopt his scientific method as a means of knowledge generation.
Hence, it has to be understood within the framework of the principles and
assumptions of science. These assumptions, as Conen et al (2000) noted, are
determinism, empiricism, parsimony, and generality. 4
Determinism means that events are caused by other circumstances; and hence,
understanding such casual links are necessary for prediction and control.
Empiricism means collection of verifiable empirical evidences in support of theories
or hypotheses. Parsimony refers to the explanation of the phenomena in the most
economic way possible. Generality is the process of generalizing the observation of
4
Interpretive approach
The interpretive approach (qualitative research) relies primarily on words as its unit of
analysis and its means of understanding. However, it can also use voice tone,
loudness, cries, sighs, laughs, and many other ways of human communication (the
human context of the story). The words may be spoken in individual interviews (face
to face or on the telephone) or groups, or they may be written, so you may have to
analyse the spoken words of an interview, focus group or conversations (for example
between a student and teacher or student and student), or the written words of an
account or description or journal record.
On the whole, qualitative research tends to be small scale, simply because it is
hugely labour intensive. For example, interviews or focus groups will usually need to
be transcribed before they can be analysed. In addition, the researcher is often more
involved with the person producing the words, and so it is sometimes helpful for
others to conduct the analysis; again this can be costly. Having said that, nothing
else can provide the same level of richness as qualitative data, and at the very least,
adding space for respondents to provide some words to describe what might be
otherwise gathered by numbers is immensely useful to the researcher, and may
even, in some situations, be a help to the subject. Dash (2005) highlights the
educational research field in Figure 4:
Participants will be kept informed at all times and will have access to the
research report before it is published;
We will report only that which is in the public domain and in accord with
Malaysian Law;
All participants have the right to withdraw from the research at anytime and all
data relating to them will be destroyed.5
Your signature_________________
Contact information:
McNiff & Whitehead (2010: 81) You and Your Action Research project, SAGE.
Answer the following questions with examples from the course reading.
1. Why is it important for teachers to do educational research?
6. What is personal bias and how does that impact research outcomes?
Exercise 2
Work with a partner and think of as many intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for doing
research into your teaching or educational practice.
.My Intrinsic reasons
-helps make informed decisions
My extrinsic reasons
-to receive a high marks in this course
Strength
Weakness
Type
3rd Person
Positivist
Quantitative
natural laws.
2nd Person
Interpretive
Qualitative
and culture.
people or area.
Research
Exercise 4: My Reflection
In the box below reflect on what you have learnt today.
What I learnt today:
References
Cohen, Louis; Lawrence, Manion and Morrison, Keith (2000). Research Methods in
Education (5 th Ed.). London .
Dash, N.K. (1993). Research Paradigms in Education: Towards a Resolution. Journal
of Indian Education 19(2), pp1-6.
Habermas, J. (1970). Knowledge and Human Interests (J. Shapiro.Trans.). London :
Heinemann.
Keat, R. (1981). The Politics of Social Theory. Oxford : Basil Blackwell.
Kuhn, T.S. (1962) The Structure of Scientific Revolution. Chicago : University of
Chicago Press.
Lakomski, G. (1999). Critical theory. In J. P. Keeves and G. Lakomoki (Eds.). Issues
in Educational Research. Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd., 174-82.
Downloaded from the world wide web: 25/9/2012:
http://www.faculty.londondeanery.ac.uk/e-learning/introduction-to-educationalresearch/getting-started