RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY
BY

GABURA SSEMBUSI
 INTRODUCTION O EDUCATIONAL
RESEARCH
• RESEARCH MEANS SEARCH FOR NEW KNOWLEDGE
• CAREFUL INVESTIGATION OR INQUIRY/SEARCH FOR NEW FACTS IN
ANY BRANCH OF KNOWLEDGE
• SYSTEMATIC EFFORT TOGAIN NEW KNOWLEDGE/INFORMATION
• CAREFUL AND SYSTEMATIC INQUIRY INTO A GIVEN PROBLEM
WITH A VIEW OF GETTING SOLUTION
• SYSTEMATIC WAY OF COLLECTING INFORMATION AND
INTERPRETING IT SO AS TO SOLVE A GIVEN PROBLEM
 EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH.
• DFN:CAREFUL AND SYSTEMATIC INQUIRY INTO EDUCATIONAL
PROBLEMS WITH A VIEW OF SOLVING THEM.

• J.W BEST: IT’S A FORMAL AND SYSTEMATIC APPLICATION OF

SCIENTIFIC METHOD TO THE STUDY OF EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS
• Human beings are inquisitive, when confronted by an unknown, by nature they
probe into it and gain understanding of it.
• This inquisitive leads to reseach, hence researchis the mother of all knowledge
 FEATURES OF RESEARCH
• It uses scientific problem solving approach.
ie
 identification of the problem
Formulating the suspected causes (hypothesis/research questions) provide an
intelligent guess for the cause of the problem
Gathering information/data to test the hypothesis. This can be through observation,
experiments or testing
Organising, analyzing, describing and interpreting the gathered information/data
 FEATURESOF RESEACH
CONT……….’’’’
• Goal directed /aimed at solving a specific problem
• Based on concrete envidence
• Scientific/based on carefully designed procedure
• Corrects new information hence increases knowledge
• Requires expertise or skill in conducting it
• Obtained information is carefully recorded and reported
 QUALITIES OF A GOOD
RESEARCHER
• Must be observant, patient,scholarly and of high integrity
• Must be imaginative and creative. Able to understand a problem and get a
solution
• Must be original in approach
• Must be courageous and persistent
• Organised and truth seeker
 PURPOSE OF EDUCATIONAL
RESEARCH
Generate/obtain new knowledge about issues in education
Help educators improve on the process learning through testing theories in practical
situations
Help to determine how successful something has been

Help to test the viability of existing theories e.g Piagets theory of cognitive
development.(Sensorimotor stage: 2, Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7, Concrete
operational stage: ages 7 to 11, Formal operational stage: ages 12
and up)
 Cont…..
 Helps to come up with knew ways of doing things
Helps to accurately portray the the characteristics of a particular
individual. situations or phenomeno.(e.g attitudes, opinions etc)

 APPROACHES TO RESEARCH
QUALTATIVE RESEARCH.
 concerned with qualitative phenomena
Involves subjective assessment of attitudes, opinions and behavior
It’s a function of the researchers’ insight into the impressions
about the problem
Data is not expressed in numerical terms
 CONT…….’
 Data is analysed using word descriptions and is not subjected to rigorous
statistical analysis
APPROACHES OF RESEARCH CONT….

QUANTITATIVE RESEACH.
Involves generating data in quantitave form and
subjecting it to rigorous statistical analysis so as
to determine the relatioship
 TYPES OF RESEARCH
• Research can be categorized into the following;

BASIC RESEARCH
 Type of research done with the basic aim of increasing/generating new
knowledge
 Most of all the academic research falls in this category
 It is also called pure research
 It involves gathering knowledge for the sole purpose of knowing more
 TYPES OF RESEARCH cont…….

APPLIED RESEARCH
Also known as action research
Aims at finding a solution for an immediate
problem facing an institution/community etc
 TYPES OF RESEARCH cont…..

Fundamental research
Carried out with a view of forming
generalization or develop a theory
E.g a study can be carried out on human
behavior with the aim of developing a theory
 TYPES OF RESEARCH cont…….

Evaluation research
Aims at assessing the level of worth of something
Or extent ro which the project objectives have been
achieved.
E.g it can be carried out to determine whether UPE is a
worthy program or not
 PROCEDURE OF RESEARCH

• Research is a systematic and purposeful study of a

given problem

• This implies that research follows a logical set of

steps in its implementation
• These steps include;
Identifying and clarifying the problem to be
studied.
• a research problem is an issue that the researcher wants to investigate
• It can be an idea or a question the researcher wants to find out more
about
• E.g academic performance, gender, HIV, absenteeism e.t.c
 Cont…………
• After identifying the problem and clarifying it
• Its then necessary to isolate the variables to be studied. i.e,
independent, dependent and extraneous variables
• Then state the problem in stated in a researchable form.
• The researcher needs to conduct a literature search.i.e, reading and
discussing, observing the problem as it occurs before fine tunning
it into a researchable form
 2nd step Cont….
• Formulating research questions/hypothesis.
a). A hypothesis is a statement declaring the likely findings of a study
.e.g
Gender has no effect on pupils’ performance in mathematics
It is what the study wants to prove or disapprove.
Some times it is stated in question form,
When stated in question form, it becomes research question.
Hypothesis is normally used in quantitative research while qualitative research uses research
questions.
 3rd step
• Establishing the study design.
• Involves writing the research proposal and having it approved
• The design states what tools to be used in collecting data
• The researcher states the who, what,how,where why and to whom
• e,.g
• Who will participate
• What will be the content
• Where will it be done
• Why is it done
• etc
 4th step

• Data collection
• The data required for reseach is collected at this stage
• At this stage the researcher goes to the field of his/her
interest, observes, interviews,experiments, or does
what ever is necessary to obtain data for the study.
 5th STEP
• DATA ANALYSIS AND INTEPRETATION;
• Is a process of converting the data which has been collected into sensible ideas that
can be used to prove or disapprove the hypothesis or answer research questions.
• Qualitative data may require the researcher to categorize the raw data through
editing, coding and tabulation.(drawing percentages, tables)
• This will help the researcher to determine important findings in the study.
• Editing involves perusing through the data, sorting out the relevant from irrelevant
data.
 Cont…..
• Coding is putting the data into categories ready for tabulation
• Tabulation is the technical procedure where categorized data is organized
and put into tables.
• After tabulation, statistical analysis is then applied on the data.
For qualitative data, this is through the use of word descriptions.
Quantitative data uses special mathematical formulae relevant to the study
 6th step
• Hypothesis testing/answering research question:
• At this point the researcher is in position to test the hypothesis stated
earlier or answer the research questions that were set.
• If the facts collected support the hypothesis, the hypothesis is accepted
and if they don’t support it is rejected.
 7th step
• Data interpretation/generalisation:
• When the hypothesis is tested and upheld several times, a generalization
can be made or a theory
• In analyzing the facts found in the study, new questions may emerge
which in turn can be recommended for further research
 8 step
• Report writing:
• The researcher organizes the findings and puts them down/document
them
• After documenting the findings, he/she disseminates the findings to
respective groups
• These groups may include, the public, the research supervisor, and
others whom he/she feel like the findings are significant to them.
 X-STICS OF GOOD RESEARCH
• It should be systematic: ie follows specific steps, sequence and according to
specific rules
• Should be logical: the conclusion drawn must be supported by facts discovered.
• Should be empirical. Deals with testable data in real life situation. Research
does not deal with abstract things.
• Should be replicable: can be repealed, it should allow the findings of a given
study to be rectified by other researchers hence making its conclusion
 Methods of research
• Qualitative methods.
• Among these include;
• Observation.
• Information is obtained through watching the subjects
• The method is best suited to research design involving a small sample which
needs to be watched in a naturalistic setting to obtain correct information.
• It tends to be expensive and time consuming and prone to subjective
interpretation.
 Cont……
• Observation must be carefully planned systematically executed and data
accurately recorded and analyzed if it is maintain scientific aspect.
• Data must be subjected to checks for its validity and reliability
 Case study method
• This is a depth study of an individual unit (person, family, institution or
culture)
• Emphasizes a complete and thorough investigation of a particular unit so
as to determine how it functions or its relationship with other variables in
a group
•
 Advantages of case studies;
• Enables full understanding of the unit under study, giving better
perceptions and clearer insights into its functions
• Detailed information about the case is obtained
• Clarifies the history of a social unit since the method emphasizes
understanding of the back ground of the case being studied.
• Best way to study social changes. e,.g cultural or developmental changes
 Documentation
• Involves obtaining information by carefully studying written documents or
visual information from sources like books, newspapers, speeches, adverts
etc on the subject of interest
• It is useful in that it can present historical information which could otherwise
be lost.
• It requires much time and commitment on the part of the researcher
• Untrue information can be taken as truth if it has been written/recorded
• Some information is out dated
 Ethnographic research
• Used to obtain indepth information about a community
• Its basically done in sociological studies of culture
• Researcher interacts with participants in their real life situation for a long period of
time hence becoming absorbed in their community’s life
• Involves active participation in the community even learning the language and culture
• The method is very expensive, time consuming and limited in scope
• Its advantage is that it has the ability to give detailed and real life information about
the life of a given people
 Simulation
• Involves the participants acting certain roles while the researcher codes
the data and the conclusion is done
• It is important in psychological trauma and rehabilitation among the
young children.
• Involves gathering informed people and having a discussion with them
regarding the matter of interest
• The researcher records all the information during the discussion and later
sorts out only the relevant information and uses it to draw the conclusion.
 Developmental study
• Commonly used to establish to establish the developmental characteristics at
various stages of growth.
• It may be;
• Longitudinal: data is obtained from a specific sample at different times of their
growth.
• Its carried out over a number of years e.g at 2 years, 4 years and six years.
• Cross sectional : data is obtained from different age groups at the same time.
E.g group of 4 yrs, 6yrs,8yrs etc
 Quantitative research methods
• Survey:
• Common method of collecting data in educational research
• Involves obtaining information from large numbers of respondents at a particular
time. E.g gorl child schhol drop out
• Involves asking many questions
• Pparticulary good when immediate information is need. e,.g policy perception
• Involves counting respondents giving a particular response and tallying the counts
in order to draw a conclusion