introduction to research (scientific inquiry)

Introduction to Research (Scientific Inquiry)

What is Research?

• research is an unusually stubborn and persisting effort to think straight which involves the gathering and the intelligent use of relevant data

H. M. Hamlin, What is Research? American Vocational Journal, September 1966.

What is Educational Research?

• The ability to answer a question or concern facing many of us in the area of Education.

• Teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and students continually need to seek information in order to perform their jobs.

Origin of the Word “Research”

• From the French word "recherche" which means to travel through or survey

How do we know what we know and why do

we do what we do?

• Personal Experience (Sensory Experience)– Our personal experiences are limited– We may be mistaken in our observations– We may fail to see things clearly because

of our biases

The Fallacy of Personal Experience

• You might have eaten some type of food and got sick. Therefore, you never eat this food again because it makes you sick.

The Case Against Bread• More than 98% of convicted felons are bread users. • Fully half of all children who grow up in bread consuming

households score below average on standardized tests. • In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the

home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years. • More than 90% of all violent crimes are committed within 24

hours of eating bread. • Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low

incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease.

Is it True?

• Do women make nicer bosses?– Most of have seen the movie 9-5!


we do what we do?

• Tradition (Agreement with Others)– Advice, rules, and approaches to handling

problems are passed from year to year and accepted as truth

– Reliance on tradition eliminates the need to search for knowledge, makes accepting new knowledge difficult, and mitigates our desire to question existing practice.

The Fallacy of Tradition

• Trees for building purposes should be felled in December.

• When transplanting a tree, be careful to have the same side facing the south.

• Wood from a tree struck by lightning should never be used in the construction of a house, or barn, or they in turn may also be struck by lightning.

• Rain drops on a child under a year will cause freckles.


we do what we do?

• Authority (Expert Opinion)– Authorities can be wrong, and the public

has a tendency to accept as fact what are actually opinions.

The Fallacy of Authority

• In 1992 the Catholic Church reversed their decision charging Galileo with heresy. He had claimed the earth was round and revolved around the sun, which went against the teachings of the church.

Logic

• All human beings are mortal

• Sally is a human being

• Therefore, Sally is mortal

Research (The Scientific Method)

• In contrast to sources of knowledge that are primarily idiosyncratic, informal, and influenced heavily by subjective interpretations, research involves a systematic process of gathering, interpreting, and reporting information.

The Scientific Method• Testing ideas in the public arena by formulating a hypothesis

(a tentative, testable assertion about certain behaviors, phenomena, or events) within a rigorous format.

• Must be reproducible and described in sufficient detail through 5 distinct steps:– State the problem

– Define the purpose of the study

– How to gather the information

– How to organize and analyze the information obtained

– How the information is interpreted

Ways of Knowing

Two Approaches to Research• Quantitative

– Emphasizes numbers, measurements, control, and experimentation

– This is the traditional approach in educational research

• Qualitative– Emphasizes natural

settings, observations, verbal narratives, and interpretations

– Emerged in the mid-1970s as an approach to educational research

Goals

• Quantitative– Test theory– Establish facts– Show relationships– Predict– Statistically

describe

• Qualitative– Understand theory– Develop

understanding– Describe multiple

realities– Capture naturally

occurring behavior

Design

• Quantitative– Structured

– Predetermined

– Formal

– Specific

• Qualitative– Evolving

– Flexible

– General

Sample

• Quantitative– Large

– Representative

– Random Selection

– Control Groups

– Stratified

• Qualitative– Small

– Nonrepresentative

– Purposeful

Data

• Quantitative– Quantities– Counts– Measures– Instruments– Numbers– Statistics

• Qualitative– Verbal descriptions– Field Notes– Observations– Documents– Photographs– People’s own words– Narrative

Methods

• Quantitative– Experiments– Quasi-experiments– Surveys– Structured Interviews– Structured

Observations

• Qualitative– Observation– Open-ended

interviewing– Review of

documents and artifacts

Which Approach is Best?

• The problem you are studying determines which approach to take.

• One is not better than the other.• However, some researchers tend to look

down their nose at the qualitative researcher!

Which Would You Select?

• Job turnover is a major problem in teaching!• Get with a partner and quickly design a study to

investigate this problem.– Decide whether to approach this problem

quantitatively or qualitatively– Tell What you would do and Why– What are the advantages and disadvantages of your

approach

“Mixed Methods”

• Some researchers used both qualitative and quantitative methods in a single study. This is known as a “mixed method” approach.

Categories of Research

• Basic• Applied• Action

The process used in the 3 types of research is the same; the setting and outcomes are different

Basic Research

• Also called pure or fundamental research• The goal is to understand and explain, to provide

broad generalizations about how phenomena are related.

• Not concerned with immediate application of the results to practical situations

• Most educational research does not fall into this category!

Examples of Basic Research in Education

• How does the memory system work

• How are language skills developed

• How does one learn psychomotor skills

Applied Research

• The purpose is to test theories and other ideas in the context of naturally occurring educational settings.

• Usually focused on a problem that needs to be solved to improve educational practice.

Examples of Applied Research

• Does computer aided instruction improve student learning?

• What is the effect of immediate feedback and delayed feedback on student achievement?

Action Research

• Typically done in a school setting• Is designed and conducted by

practitioners who analyze the data to improve their own practice. Action research can be done by individuals or by teams of colleagues.

Action Research

It has been said, "Teachers often leave a mark on their students, but they seldom leave a mark on their profession" (Wolfe, 1989). Through the process and products of action research teachers can do both.

Examples of Action Research

• Does “flash cards” of horticultural plants with scientific names improve student learning?

• Do leaf collections really help students learn tree identification?

• Do classes with assigned seats have less discipline problems than classes without assigned seating?

Action Research

• Get back with your partner and identify three examples of action research a teacher or administrator could conduct in their local setting.

Types of Research

• There is no general agreement on the types of educational research which exist. The list that follows is fairly comprehensive.

Types of Research

• Historical* - What was• Descriptive (sometimes called Survey) – What is

– Ethnographic– Correlational– Ex Post Facto (also known as Causel-Comparative)

• Experimental – What can be

*Some researchers classify Historical research as Descriptive research

Types of Research• Historical - descriptive research that involves

describing and interpreting events, conditions, or situations of the past. As with all history, the purpose is to study the past in order to understand the present, and maybe to plan for the future.

• It generally relies on qualitative data such as written documents and oral histories.

Historical Research

• It is possibly the least popular form of educational research in terms of the number of studies produced on an annual basis.

• Grant and other types of educational research funding tend to favor current issues and conditions.

Historical Research• Historical research also can be difficult if the

period is far enough back in time that records are not readily available and individuals associated with the event are no longer alive.

• However, if done well, historical research can be most interesting particularly if a connection is made to a present issue or situation.

Historical Research Examples

• What was the predecessor of the Cooperative Extension Service?

• What does John Dewey say about the integration of academic and vocational education?

• What did FFA members read in the past and what are the implications for the present?

• How did Farm Life Schools differ from regular high schools?

Historical Research

• Basic characteristics of historical research are:– rich descriptive narrative.

– mostly qualitative data presented.

– broad research questions are frequently used rather than narrowly defined hypotheses.

Historical Research

• Data Sources– Persons such as former teachers, students, parents.– Historical Documents such as policy statements,

curricular guidelines, etc. – Records such as student transcripts. – Relics such as desks, writing instruments,

equipment.

Historical Research

• Research Tools– Structured interviews. – Visits to historical sites and buildings. – Archives– Libraries

Types of Research

• Descriptive - attempts to describe and explain conditions of the present. It relies on qualitative and quantitative data gathered from written documents, personal interviews, test results, surveys, etc. Often people will call this type of research “Survey Research”

Descriptive Research

• Because of its flexibility and the fact that it deals with current topics, descriptive research is probably the most popular form of research in education today.

• It is also popular because data can be collected from a wide variety of sources.

Descriptive Research• Basic characteristics of descriptive research

are:– It provides a descriptive analysis of a given

population or sample. Any inferences are left to the readers.

– Qualitative, quantitative or a combination of both types of data can be presented.

– Hypotheses or broad research questions are used .


• Data Sources– Persons such as teachers, students,

parents, administrators, etc. – Documents such as policy statements,

curricular guidelines.– Records such as student transcripts.


• Research Tools– Structured interviews.– Structured questionnaires and surveys – Standardized tests.

Descriptive Research Examples

• What are the characteristics of career and technical education students?

• What is the level of job satisfaction of Career and Technical Education teachers?

• Why do teachers leave the profession?

Types of Research

• Ethnographic - attempts to describe group behavior and interactions in social settings. It relies on qualitative techniques especially observation and careful recording of events and social interactions.

Ethnographic Research

• Ethnography is from the Greek "ethnos" for people, tribes, or nations and "graphy" for writing.

• Ethnographic research is the writing about people in their natural setting.

• It comes from the social sciences and was made popular by the likes of Margaret Mead, the noted anthropologist.

Ethnographic Research…

• It is a form of descriptive research and is also referred to as "observational research" and "naturalistic inquiry."

• Ethnography is well-suited for educational research because so much of what we do in education is based on human interaction in social settings.

Ethnographic Research…• The major benefit of ethnographic research is that it

provides rich descriptions of human behavior in natural settings not in artificially constructed, experimental settings.

• In addition to the question of subjectivity, the major drawback of ethnography is that the researcher cannot infer from a small sample to larger populations.

• Any inferences made in an ethnographic study are left to the readers to accept or reject.


• Data Sources– Persons associated with the subject of study.

– Observations.

• Research Tools– Structured Interviews.

– Careful recording of events.


• Examples– What is the impact of peer pressure on student

behavior?– Does the gender of the teacher affect class

participation?– Does teacher movement in the classroom

contribute to desirable student behavior?

Types of Research

• Correlational - attempts to explore relationships or make predictions. It relies on quantitative data such as test scores, grade point averages, attitudinal instruments, etc. which can be correlated and shown that some relationship exists between or among them.

Correlational Research

• A caution has to be advised when considering correlational research and cause and effect.– Establishing cause and effect is very difficult and

may be impossible due to the myriad interactions of many variables in social science research.


• Data Sources– Raw scores such as standardized test scores.

– Measures such as grade point averages.

– Dichotomous data , data which has two possibilities such as male/female or pass/fail.


• Research Tools– Standardized tests are the most common

tools for doing correlational studies.


• Correlation is the relationship between two or more variables or sets of data.

• It is expressed in the form of a coefficient with +1.00 indicating a perfect positive correlation; -1.00 indicating a perfect inverse correlation; 0.00 indicating a complete lack of a relationship.

• You can start getting excited if the correlation is .40 or higher.


• Commonly used statistics to calculate correlations– Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation– Spearmans Rank Order Correlation– Kendall’s Tau– Point Biserial– Phi Correlation Coefficient

Correlational Research Examples

• Is there a relationship between family income and grade point average?

• Is there a relationship between part time employment and grade point average?

• Is there a relationship between years of teaching experience and VoCATS scores?

• Is there a relationship between education and income?

Types of Research

• Causal Comparative (Ex Post Facto) - attempts to explore cause and effect relationships where causes already exist and cannot be manipulated. It relies on both qualitative and quantitative data such as written documents, interviews, test scores, etc.

Ex Post Facto Research• In educational research there are some things we can not

manipulate, but we can study the effects after they have occurred:– Malnutrition– Twins– 4-H or FFA member– Growing up on a farm– Sexual abuse– Race, gender

Ex Post Facto Research

• In experimental research:– If X, then Y

• In ex post facto research:– Y is observed, X, Q or Z may have caused

it

The researchers job is to discover if it is X, Q or Z.

Ex Post Facto Research• Examples

– Are former FFA members more likely to hold community leadership positions?

– Do malnourished children have lower grades in school?– Do agriculture teachers who were state FFA officers

have more active FFA chapters?– Do people who were reared on a farm have a stronger

work ethic?

The “treatment” has already occurred!

Types of Research

• Experimental - attempts to explore cause and effect relationships where causes can be manipulated to produce different kinds of effects. It relies mostly on quantitative data such as test scores and measures of performance.

Two Types of Experimental Research

• Quasi-Experimental– Specific Hypothesis– Researcher manipulates at

least 1 variable– Assigns treatment at

random to each group– Has a control group– CANNOT RANDOMLY

ASSIGN SUBJECTS TO GROUPS

• True Experimental– Specific Hypothesis– Researcher manipulates

at least 1 variable– Assigns treatment at

random to each group– Has a control group– Randomly assigns

subjects to groups

Typically uses intact classes

Experimental Research Examples

• Is teaching method A better in bringing about student learning than method B?

• Does a teaching unit on “Race Relationships” improve students’ racial tolerance?

Why Conduct Research?

• To better understand various phenomena• To disprove fraudulent claims• To improve education, agriculture or your

discipline• To obtain grants• To get promoted (if you teach at the university)

Types of researchPurposes or end soughtTo become familiar with phenomena; to gain new insights; to formulate a more specific research problem or research hypothesis.

To portray accurately the incidence, distribution, and characteristics of a group or situation. (Usually not begun with specific hypothesis.)

To investigate relationships between variables. (Begins with specific hypotheses.)

To test hypoteses of causal relationships between variables. (Begins with specific hypotheses.)


Survey Research

Independent variables (X) not controlled by investigator

Independent Variables

Correlational/Ex Post Facto

(Explore) (Describe)(Explain – Predict) (Control)

Independent Var. (X) controlled by investigator

Exp./Quasi-Exp.