MA EDUCATION – Designing

Social Research/Evidence Based

Practice

Session Two
4 P`s of Educational Research &
Getting Started With Your
Research
Jack Frost

derby.ac.uk

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 Summative Assessment
Assessment Weighting: 100% CW

A critically reflective and evaluative presentation.

Equivalent to 3500 (+/- 10%) words (15 mins +/- 3 mins)

A critically reflective and evaluative presentation which provides

evidence of the acquisition of the knowledge, skills and understanding
required to devise, plan, implement, analyse, critically evaluate and
synthesize a small-scale piece of educational research at level 7.

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 Electronic Presentation Template
• Research Aim and Research Objectives
• Rationale.
• Literature Review.
• Methodology (Individual slides for the following)
i) Paradigm
ii) Philosophical Stance
iii) Methodological Approach to Research
iii) Research Methods
iv) Participants – how you will select them (Sampling)
v) Data Analysis – how will you analyse the data
• Ethical Issues.
• Reference List.

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 What is research?

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 Concern Opportunity Explore theory
Depth Purpose Finding out
Enquiry Subject Information
Extend knowledge Topic Investigation
Idea Understanding New ideas
Interpretation Conclusions Perspective
Measure Discovery Rigorous
Systematic Trends

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 What is educational research?
Educational research is systematic, critical and self-critical
enquiry which aims to contribute to the advancement of
knowledge and wisdom about the experience and
nurture of personal and social development towards
worthwhile living and the acquisition, development,
transmission, conservation, discovery and renewal of
worthwhile culture.
(Bassey, 1999:39)

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 A refined definition

Educational research is critical enquiry aimed at informing educational

judgements and decisions in order to improve educational action.

(Bassey,1999:39)

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 Research in education is a disciplined attempt to address questions or
solve problems through the collection and analysis of primary data for
the purpose of description, explanation, generalization and prediction
(Anderson & Arsenault, 2002:6)

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 Educational research can then be viewed as `the collection and analysis
of information on the world of education so as to understand and
explain it better`

(Opie, 2004:3)

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 `All social research sets out with specific purposes from a particular
position, and aims to persuade readers of the significance of its claims;
these claims are always broadly political`
(Clough and Nutbrown, 2007)

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 `The purpose of much research at Master`s or PhD level is not so much
to prove things – but more to investigate questions and explore issues.
Many researchers either want to understand a situation more clearly
or to change things by virtue of their research – some want to do both.
But all research, necessarily, is about asking questions, exploring
problems and reflecting on what emerges in order to make meaning
from the data and tell the research story. As such, research is also a
moral act within which the researcher holds responsibility for ensuring
that resulting change is for the better; in sense researchers work for
the social good.`
(Clough and Nutbrown, 2007)

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 What could be the possible purposes of
educational research?

Why might researchers engage in educational enquiry?

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 Social Research is Purposive

Take a few mins to discuss what you hope to achieve in the research
you intend to undertake i.e. What is the purpose of your research?

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 Positionality “reflects the position that the researcher has chosen to
adopt within a given research study”

Normally identified by locating the researcher in relation to three

areas: the subject, the participants and the research context and
process
(Baden and Major,2013:71)

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 Social Research is Positional
• Ways in which we conduct
our research (methodology)
• How we view reality? (ontology)
• How we view knowledge creation? (Epistemology) Expressions of
• How we shape our questions our positionality
• How we collect data?
• How we analyse data?
• How we interpret data?

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 Social Research is Political

`Research which changes nothing-not even the researcher- is not

research at all. And since all social research takes place in policy
contexts of one form or another, research itself must therefore be seen
as inevitably political`
(Clough and Nutbrown, 2007)

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 Think about how your research might be situated within a particular
policy context. Should we make our audience aware of this political
dimension? Why?

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 Persuasive Discourse

• Quantity: Information is complete and full.

• Quality: Information is truthful and accurate.
• Relation: Information is relevant to the conversation.
• Manner: Information is expressed in an easy-to-understand way and
non-verbal actions support the tone of the statement

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 Session Task

Briefly describe the research you found that might possibly inform your
own practice in the future.

What was the purpose of the research?

How did the researcher position themselves? (or wasn’t this evident)
What political landscape did the research situate itself within?
Were the researchers persuasive?

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 Empirical Fields, Empirical Setting &
Theoretical Spaces

Identify your own empirical field, empirical setting and possible

theoretical space for the research you intend to conduct.

Opening your theoretical space: Lets take one class member and
explore how we might identify a theoretical space for their research.

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 Research Questions/Research Objectives

Research questions/objectives shape your research. They refine your

review of literature, determine your methodology, focus your analysis
of data and structure discussion of findings. Ultimately, they will define
the limits of your study and identify the empirical field and setting you
will engage with.

Generally, we would expect to see 2 – 4 research objectives in total.

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 “Good research questions/objectives do not necessarily produce good
research, but poorly conceived or constructed questions will likely
create problems that affect all subsequent stages of a study.
Ultimately, the quality of the initial research objectives impacts
whether or not a study is approved by a dissertation committee,
published, or funded”
(Agee,2009:431)

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 “Qualitative inquiries involve asking the kinds of questions that focus
on the why and how of human interactions”
(Agee,2009:431)
Qualitative research ‘from its inception emphasized the necessity for
grasping the actors’ viewpoints for understanding interaction, process,
and social change’
(Strauss 1987/1990, 6)

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 Creswell (2007, 107) noted, qualitative research questions/objectives
are ‘evolving.’ First iterations of questions are tentative and exploratory
but give researchers a tool for articulating the primary focus of the
study.

Marshall and Rossman (2006) described research questions/objectives

that perform four different functions: exploratory, explanatory,
descriptive, and emancipatory.

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 Maxwell (2005, 67) also cautioned that starting with
researchquestions/ objectives that are too focused can lead to ‘tunnel
vision’ and can inhibit a researcher’s understanding and analysis.
Creating discovery-oriented research objectives can help a researcher
use the process of developing and refining objectives as a basis for a
more rigorous and reflexive inquiry

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 Is there a difference in research objectives
based upon the paradigm of research?
Quantitative Research Objectives – Closed and make claims based
upon statistical analysis of numerical data.
e.g. To investigate the whether the use of games enhances pupils
ability to recall multiplication facts in a Yr 8 class

Qualitative Research Questions – Open and make claims based upon

the interpretive analysis of categorical data.

e.g. To investigate what support parents receive in assisting their

children with HW in a primary school in Derby.

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 Generating Research Objectives
• Russian Doll principle – stripping away layers of complexity to get to
the heart of the question through selective editing, modification and
rephrasing.

• Goldilocks Test –
Is it too BIG? (Scope)
Is it too SMALL (lacks substance)
Is it too hot?
Is it relevant?

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 Crowsfoot School Case Study
Read the case study notes associated with Crowsfoot School. Discuss the
following research questions generated by UG students through applying the
Goldilocks and Russian Doll Principles:

What is going wrong with attempts at inclusion at Crowsfoot?

Which teachers can successfully include pupils with learning difficulties at
Crowsfoot School?
Is the inclusion policy at Crowsfoot School working?
Why are some staff against inclusion at Crowsfoot School?
What can be done to implement the inclusion policy at Crowsfoot School?
What staff attitudes prevent inclusion at Crowsfoot?
What do staff do when they successfully include pupils with learning difficulties at
Crowsfoot School?

Agree on suitable research questions for this piece of research.

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 Task – let`s assume that your IS will fall under the qualitative
paradigm. Generate 12 field questions you would like to ask
participants in your chosen empirical field. Don’t think hard
about this.

Try to group these field questions under broader questions.

(These broader questions can help you generate your research
objectives.)

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 Anderson,G. & Arsenault, N. (2002) Fundamentals of
Educational Research (2nd ed) London: RoutledgeFalmer

Bassey, M. (1999) Case Study Research in Educational Settings,

Buckingham: Open University Press.

Clough, P. & Nutbrown, C. (20017) A students guide to

methodology, London: Sage Publishing.

Opie, C.( 2004) `What is Educational Research?` in Opie,C (ed)

Doing Educational Research, London: Sage, pp.1 -14

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