Craigmore Christian School

Mrs DeGraaf and Mrs Davies

Introduction to Research Practices

• What is Research? • Why is it important?• Locating, Selecting and Organising

Information…• Guest Presenter• Qualitative and Quantitative research• Identifying Research Methods

OVERVIEW

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

Research is: Search for knowledge Investigating, establishing facts, solving problems, proving new ideas, developing new theories…

The new approach to SACE, which endorses learning ownership and choice

Beyond high school

Research Assistant No. 3340 13 months fixed-term, part time (0.5) $62,764 - $68,790 (G05)

Do you have the analytical and communication skills to support high-quality research at Curtin University?

As Research Assistant at the School of Built Environment National Research Centre you will support the work of a multi-disciplinary team undertaking coordinated, state-wide intervention-based research in the area of road safety.

You will be responsible for liaising with external organisations including government agencies and members of collaborative research committees. You will also assist in the development of questionnaires and conduct subsequent interviews, data collection, and analysis. The position also supports the drafting of grant and tender applications, reports and journal articles.

Ant Man: Nigel franks

How are ants able to form complex societies and how can they help us with our own society?

Result?“They’re more than the sum of

their parts.”

Research DiscoveriesFrank’s research has shown that ants’ rules can be represented as

algorithms… which are the instruction sets that guide computer programs to predictable results.

How can ant research be applied to the human world?

Election Committees

Computer Design

* CHOOSING A TOPIC

• Pinpoint what you hope to achieve during your research.

• Mind Mapping

• Websites- search engines• Surveys• Print• Conversations/interviews/emails• Diaries• Film clips• Newspaper articles• Fieldwork• Photos• Translations• Databases/court records• School /family• Library /archives/journals

SOURCES

ExamineCompare and contrastTo what extentDetermineExamine the connection betweenResearchA collection of A comparison between Assess the extent to which …

USEFUL DEFINING & REFINING WORDS

1. Useful & relevant

2. Primary and secondary sources

3. Opinion V Fact

4. Gaps: return to locating information

5. Review and modify topic

SELECTING INFORMATION

Useful and Relevant

Surveys and Interviews• specific questions relevant to your topic

• do not double up or repeat similar questions

• be sensitive to the people being surveyed: ETHICS

• Target the group you plan to survey/interview carefully

• How will you reach them? Are they under age? Permission?

• Respecting people’s privacy – anonymous and secure

• Their right to say no – always be polite and appreciative

Remember: Wikipedia is not always a valid source of information!

Useful FormatsSurveys and Interviews.... Continued: • Manipulating data/answers into a useful format

• excel• Pivot tables / pie charts / bar graphs• summary describing the number of similar comments

• Selecting useful information from everything you have collected• Skim reading (especially if you have gathered a lot of information)• Selecting out material / data that supports the outcome you seek• Focus on information central to your topic• Avoid information that clouds or confuses the issue

Sample Size

Jen Clark, 1st August 2011Facebook

Trip AdvisorPublic opinion blog on travel providers, restaurants etc

Opinion V Fact

Australian GovernmentDept of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communitieshttp://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mbp/publications/east/fs-afa.html

Coffs Coast Tourism Associationhttp://tourismcoffscoast.com.au/0061.php

ORGANISING INFORMATION

ORGANISING INFORMATION

Referencing (or Citing) What? Acknowledging someone else’s work

Why? To prove your work is factual To show you can draw your own conclusions To allow readers to retrieve the references When? All sources whether you are directly copying words of the author (‘quoting’) or putting these into your own words (‘paraphrasing’)

PART 2: Identifying Research Methods

SOURCE 1

Photographs and text messages

SOURCE 2

Survey

SOURCE 3

Scholarly Journal Article

Thank you & Good Luck!