Types of Research http://jerrygalloway.

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Types of Educational Research

This page includes excerpts from:

McMillan, J. H. (1996). Educational research: Fundamentals for the consumer, second edition. NY: Harper Collins College
Publishers.

Purpose Examples
Qualitative To provide rich narrative descriptions with Observations of school renewal teams to
words of phenomena that enhance understand the role of parents.
understanding.

Quantitative To describe phenomena numerically to answer The relationship between amount of homework
specific questions or hypotheses. and student achievement.

Basic To increase knowledge and understanding of Understand how feedback affects motivation or
phenomena. leraning styles of adolescents.

Applied To solve practical educational problems. Determine best approach to train teachers to use
portfolios for assessment.

Evaluation To make a decision about a program or activity. Decide whether to keep or phase out a
prekindergarten program.

Action To improve practice in a school or classroom. Determine which grouping procedure results in
the highest achievement for all students.

Non-Experimental To describe and predict phenomena without Determine the relationship between
manipulating factors that influence the socioeconomic status and attitudes.
phenomena.

Experimental To determine the causal relationship between Determine which of two approaches to teaching
two or more phenomena by direct manipulation science results in the highest student
of factors that influence student performance or achievement.
behavior.

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