Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction To Educational Research
Introduction To Educational Research
Chapter 1
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
Discussion Topics
Sources of Knowledge
Some decisions are very, very important, others quite trivial Some decisions are made in very formal, deliberate manners, others quite capriciously
Sources of Knowledge
What is the likely basis upon which each of the following questions could be answered?
What is the best way to relax, today? What are we going to do for the holidays this year? What are the legal implications of the new attendance policy?
Sources of Knowledge
Sources of Knowledge
What is the likely basis upon which each of the following questions could be answered?
Will Gabrielle benefit by being held back in the second grade next year? How many students should be scheduled into Ms. Norths third grade class? Does block scheduling have an effect upon students achievement?
Sources of Knowledge
The systematic, testable, and objective nature of research permits careful examination of the process and results
Sources of Knowledge
Describe some of the more important decisions youve made recently in your work with students, faculty, or clients. On what basis did you rely to make these decisions?
Scientific inquiry is the search for knowledge using recognized methods in data collection, analysis, and interpretation The purpose of scientific inquiry is to develop knowledge
Describe phenomena Examine empirical relationships between or among phenomena Test whether such relationships are causal in nature
A theory is a set of propositions that explain the relationships among phenomena A theory is a means of simplifying and understanding complex realities
Educational Research
Lack of a single, appropriate methodological approach to study education Two major approaches
Quantitative Qualitative
Educational Research
Differentiating characteristics
Goals
Quantitative: tests theory, establishes facts, shows relationships, predicts, or statistically describes Qualitative: develops grounded theory, develops understanding, describes multiple realities, captures naturally occurring behavior
Research design
Quantitative: highly structured, formal, and specific Qualitative: unstructured, flexible, evolving
Educational Research
Differentiating characteristics
Participants
Quantitative: many participants representative of the groups from which they were chosen using probabilistic sampling techniques Qualitative: few participants chosen using non-probabilistic sampling techniques for specific characteristics of interest to the researchers
Quantitative: numerical data collected at specific times from tests or surveys and analyzed statistically Qualitative: narrative data collected over a long period of time from observations and interviews and analyzed using interpretive techniques
Copyright Allyn & Bacon 2008
Educational Research
Differentiating characteristics
Researchers role
Quantitative: detached, objective observers of events Qualitative: participant observers reporting participants perspectives understood only after developing long-term, close, trusting relationships with participants Quantitative: manipulated and controlled settings Qualitative: naturalistic settings
Context
Case Study
Non-Experimental Experimental Phenomenaology
Concept Analysis
Historical Analysis
Descriptive
Comparative
True
Quasi
Ethnography
Grounded Theory
Single Subject
Quantitative Designs
Experimental
The investigation of causal effects through direct manipulation of an independent variable and control of extraneous variables The investigation of the current state of a variable or the relationships, other than causal, between variables
Non-experimental
Quantitative Designs
Randomly assign students to one of two classrooms in which the same social studies unit is being taught. Teach the first class using the traditional lecture approach, the second class using cooperative learning groups. Examine the achievement differences between the two groups to see if the type of approach to instruction had an effect. This study is characterized by the investigation of cause (instructional approach) and effect (achievement), manipulation (choice of instructional approach), and control (same unit being taught, random assignment, etc.)
Quantitative Designs
True experimental
Random assignment of subjects to groups Non-random assignment of subjects to groups Non-random selection of a single subject
Quasi-experimental
Single subject
Quantitative Designs
Approximately 10% of Louisianas public school students do not finish high school. The GPA of students participating in extra-curricular activities is higher than that of student who do not participate Student attitude is moderately related to achievement Several factors are related to the high dropout rate in Louisiana. These include the students age, academic record, repetition of grade(s), gender, and ethnicity.
These studies are characterized by descriptions (dropout rate, GPA differences, opinions) or relationships (attitudes and achievement, factors related to dropping out)
Quantitative Designs
Descriptive
Makes careful descriptions of the current situation or status of a variable(s) of interest Compares two or more groups on some variable of interest Establishes a relationship (i.e., non-causal) between or among variables Explores possible causes and effects among variables that cannot be manipulated by the researcher.
Comparative
Correlational
Ex-post-facto
Qualitative Designs
Much less precision in the definitions of and distinctions between qualitative designs in comparison to quantitative designs Four major categories of designs
Qualitative Designs
Case Study
An examination of a specific instance of a phenomena in its natural context viewed from the perspective of the participants
This study explored the meaning of inclusion for three disabled students who had been placed in a regular education setting. This study examines in-depth a phenomena of interest to the researcher (i.e., the meaning of inclusion) in a natural context viewing it from the participants perspectives
Qualitative Designs
Phenomenology
The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning of being left out for an adolescent This study examines in-depth the experiences of being left out from the perspectives of the adolescent experiencing this phenomena
Qualitative Designs
Ethnography
The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the conflicts that experienced second-grade teachers encountered as they switched from a traditional approach to teaching mathematics to a constructivist-sociological approach This study examines the beliefs and practices of second grade teachers experiencing a common phenomena related to their approach to teaching
Qualitative Designs
Grounded theory
The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship of the bar to the teachers who frequented it on Friday evenings. We found that teachers used the bar to facilitate their movement from professional to personal self. This study examined a phenomena of interest to the researcher (i.e., teachers congregating at a particular bar on Friday evenings) and developed a conceptual understanding of it.
Analytical Designs
Descriptions of historical, legal, or policy issues through an analysis of documents, oral histories, and relics Two basic approaches
Concept analysis the study of educational concepts (e.g., co-operative learning, leadership, etc.) to describe the different meanings and the uses of the concept Historical analysis the systematic collection and criticism of documents that describe past events of relevance to education
Analytical Designs
The purpose of this study is to examine the meanings and uses of the term standards-based curriculum. This study examined the varied meanings, interpretations, and uses of an important curricular concept.
Analytical Designs
The purpose of this study is to examine the changes in standardized testing over the last 40 years. This study addresses the historical developments characterizing the use of standardized tests over a 40 year period.
The use of quantitative and qualitative designs and methods within a single study Allows the researcher to better match the approach to gathering and analyzing data to the research questions Relative emphasis given to any particular method varies widely
Systematic investigation Emphasis on teachers, counselors, and administrators Brings together characteristics of systematic inquiry and practice
Basic: research designed to test or refine theory Applied: research conducted in a field of common practice and concerned with the application and development of research based knowledge
Action: research designed to solve a specific classroom or school problem, improve practice, or make a decision at a single local site Evaluation: research designed to assess the merit and worth or a specific practice in terms of the values operating at a site
Quantitative: specific, narrow questions and hypotheses Qualitative: general, foreshadowed questions Quantitative: participants, instruments, and procedures Qualitative: participants and settings/sites
Results