CHAPTER 1 Background

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CHAPTER 1Background

• Mans curiosity fulfilled by his
  intellect, is the origin of all human knowledge.
  Knowledge refers to body of facts and hypotheses
  that enables one to understand phenomena and to
  solve problems.

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• In early days, a large body of human
  understanding about the world was based on mostly
  unsystematic, unreliable, and unverified sources.
  

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• Certain channels of obtaining knowledge, that is
  sensory experience, expert opinion and logic have
  assisted man through his life.

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• However, the inadequacies of accumulating
  knowledge through these sources (sensory
  experience, expert opinion and logic) forced
  scholars to develop what is presently known as
  the scientific method in research.

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Sensory Experience

• The information man takes in through his senses
  is the most immediate way of obtaining knowledge
  for him. The accumulation of information through
  senses forms ones personal experience.

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• Appealing to personal experience is a useful
  method of adding to mans knowledge. However,
  personal experience should not be taken as
  proven facts because people may make errors in
  their experiences.

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• Sensory data can be verified by multiple
  sensation by multiple people, but verification a
  piece of information with others cannot
  completely alleviate the problem of unreliability
  of the data through senses.

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Expert Opinion

• Another source of obtaining information is
  experts or authorities. An authority in a
  particular field has a considerable amount of
  knowledge to offer.

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• It should be mentioned that the nature of
  knowledge obtained through expert opinion is
  somewhat subjective.

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Logic

• Since non of the previously mentioned sources of
  information could prove empirically verifiable
  information, man started to use his mental
  faculties in a logical and systematic manner.
  

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• The earliest record of logic is credited to
  Aristotle who initiated deductive reasoning.
• In deductive reasoning, one moves from a general
  statement of truth to more specific one.

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• Deductive reasoning made an undeniably valuable
  contribution to mans systematic thinking.
  However, it could not always provide valid
  conclusions. Sometimes, false major or minor
  premises lead to false conclusions.

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Inductive reasoning

• In inductive reasoning, the chain of thoughts
  moves from specific facts to a general statement.
  The origin of inductive approach is attributed to
  Frances Bacon.

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• A deductive argument does not guarantee that the
  conclusion will be true unless the major and the
  minor premises are true. Similarly, in an
  imperfect induction, the conclusion is at most
  probabilistic.

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• A compromise between the deductive and inductive
  approaches minimizes the disadvantages of both
  approaches gives more versatility to human
  thinking.

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The Scientific Method

• The fist movement which helped shaping scientific
  method came from philosophers of science. Another
  movement was the interest of educators in the
  rigorous methods utilized in disciplines such as
  physical sciences.

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• Still another movement was the interest developed
  in studying the phenomena which were not overt.
  Some cognitive processes such achievement, affect
  etc. demanded more objective techniques to be
  investigated.

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• The scientific method, used both in natural and
  social sciences, is derived from a system of
  philosophy known as Positivism. The most
  influential school of positivism is the logical
  positivism.

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• Logical positivism is a system of philosophy that
  excludes everything from its consideration except
  natural phenomena and their interrelations.

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• One of the major principles of logical positivism
  is the verifiability principle.
• Verifiability principle states that something is
  meaningful if and only if it can be observed by
  human senses.

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• Positivism was less successful in its application
  to the study of human behavior because human
  behavior is too complex to be accounted for by
  observation alone. That was why positivism went
  under some modifications.

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• Post positivism was an important shift in the way
  philosophers perceived the facts in the world.
  Philosophers, following new positivism, tried to
  make the process of inquiry more systematic than
  before.

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• More simply, research can be defined as a
  systematic approach to answering questions. That
  is, research begins with a question, proceeds
  through a systematic approach, and ends with an
  answer.

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CHAPTER 2Principles of Research

• In this chapter, first, the characteristics of
  research are presented. Second, the goals of
  research are elaborated on. Third, the difference
  between kind and method of research is clarified.
  Finally, the steps in conducting research are
  delineated.

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Characteristics of Research

• An understanding of the characteristics of
  research would help students to be cautious in
  conducting research. Regarding these
  characteristics, research is systematic, logical,
  reductive, replicable, and generative.

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Research is Systematic

• Research is a systematic process. That is, a
  researcher should employ a structured procedure.
  Every step in research should follow certain
  pre-established rules and regulations.

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• Constancy means that some phenomena do not change
  their characteristics in a given period of time.
  The concepts of constancy and uniformity form the
  foundation of the systematic approach in
  research.

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Research is Logical

• Logic is another characteristic of research which
  is employed in formulating a question, in
  choosing a systematic way, in interpreting the
  results, and in making conclusions and
  generalizations.

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• Great care should be exerted on the nature of
  logical reasoning. The accuracy and validity of
  the premises must be carefully examined. Further,
  the use of language which can lead to false
  conclusions should be strictly controlled.

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Research is Reductive

• Reductivity in research has both conceptual and
  practical implications. As a conceptual
  phenomenon, it refers to observing, classifying,
  and thus reducing many individual instances into
  a general statement.

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• As a practical phenomenon, reductivity refers to
  reducing researchers responsibility. This means
  that findings of one researcher is transferred to
  other researchers to prevent them from repeating
  the same research.

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• In most cases research is additive. Findings are
  accumulated, sometimes from one generation to
  another, in order for scientists to use them in
  their endeavor to uncover the mysteries of nature.

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Research is Replicable

• Sometimes, the researchers are interested in a
  previously investigated question because they
  want to confirm the findings of the previous
  research in a new environment, with a new group
  of subjects.

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• In fact replication acts as a validation
  technique in research. To do so, researchers
  should have access to detailed, precise, concise,
  and reliable pieces of information from previous
  projects.

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Research is Generative

• Through the process of research, researchers face
  many unexpected situations leading to new
  questions. This is the generative characteristic
  of research because answering one question leads
  to generating many other new questions.

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Goals of Research

• Researchers try to achieve the goals set forth by
  scientists for the development of science. The
  main goals of scientific research are to
  describe, to predict, to improve, and to explain
  a phenomenon.

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Description

• One of the major goals of research is to describe
  phenomena- how they are formed, what their
  structures are, how they function, how they
  develop or change over time, and so on.

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• Description is often based on the information
  obtained from some sort of instrumentation such
  as observation (direct or indirect),
  questionnaires, or paper and pencil tests.

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Prediction

• A major objective of a researcher is to go beyond
  description and try to predict the future course
  of action with a fairly high degree of confidence

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Improvement

• Research is to help scholars answer questions in
  order to solve some of the pressing problems of
  human life. Otherwise, research would turn into a
  useless activity.

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Explanation

• The ultimate goal of research is to explain
  phenomena. If researchers can explain a
  phenomenon, it means that they can describe,
  predict, and control the improvement of that
  phenomenon.

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• Researchers are in query of formulating theories
  and finding laws. They try to go beyond simple
  generalization and find the most comprehensive
  explanation for the phenomena.

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Kinds and Methods of Research

• The term kind refers to the nature of research,
  whereas method refers to the procedures employed
  in order to answer the research question.

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• In terms of kind, there are two kinds of research
  called explanatory and conformity. Each of these
  terms has two levels of pure and applied.

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• Historical, descriptive, and experimental methods
  are three major methods each of which has some
  subcategorizations. Methods of research will be
  explained in separate chapters. Kinds are the
  focus of this chapter.

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Exploratory Confirmatory Research

• Exploratory research is to explore the mysteries
  of the universe. Confirmatory research refers to
  exact or partial replication of previous research
  in order to consolidate already discovered facts.

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Pure Research

• Pure research is research for the sake of
  research. This kind of research is conducted to
  find out the relationship among different
  factors.

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• Applied research attempts to utilize the findings
  of the pure research. An applied researcher tries
  to apply the findings of pure researchers to the
  real world.

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• It should be mentioned that the two dimensions of
  classification of the kind of research, i.e. pure
  vs. applied and confirmatory vs. exploratory, are
  not mutually exclusive.

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Steps in conducting research

• The steps in conducting a research include
  procedures dealing with a) formulating a
  research question, b) selecting a research
  method, c) testing hypotheses, and
  d) preparing a research report.

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Forming a Research Question

• Formulating a research question is the starting
  point for research. The researcher feels a
  problem, observes some relevant events, and asks
  a question.

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• A hypothesis is a tentative statement about the
  outcome of research. That is, when the research
  question is formulated, the researcher has
  certain expectation about the outcome of the
  research.

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• In order to state a hypothesis, the researcher
  should identify the factors involved in research.
  A hypothesis usually states a relationship
  between two or more factors. These factors are
  called variables.

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Selecting an Appropriate Research Method

• The second major step in conducting research is
  to select an appropriate method. In order to
  select the most suitable and efficient method,
  the researcher should construct a research
  design.

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• A research design is a schematic representation
  of the factors involved in research. There are
  different research designs depending on the
  nature, kind, number, and characteristics of the
  factors being investigated.

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Testing the Research Hypotheses

• The third major step in conducting research is to
  test the hypothesis. In order to test the
  hypotheses, the researcher should collect
  information on the factors involved in research.

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Preparing the Research Report

• The last step in conducting research is to
  prepare a well-organized report on the whole
  process of research. The purpose of preparing a
  report is to share the findings with the other
  researchers.

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CHAPTER 3Areas of Research in Language
Education

• Students in the field of TEFL/TESL may be
  considered the most fortunate of all because
  their field of study has numerous areas for
  exploration and investigation.

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• Most scholars would agree that TEFL/TESL involves
  many areas for research. The terms teaching,
  language, leaner, and learning include an
  unbelievably large number of questions to be
  answered.

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• The term applied linguistics is defined by Kaplan
  as the point at which all the braches of
  linguistics come together. Applied linguistics is
  also the point at which all the braches of
  linguistics intersect with other disciplines.

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Questions in Linguistics

• The fist area of research in TEFL centers around
  language itself. Linguistics attempts to describe
  the system of language. This complex field of
  study provides a vast network of problems to be
  investigated.

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Questions in Teaching Methodology

• The second major area of research in TESL/TESL is
  the area of teaching. should. Teaching involves
  many factors each with many possibilities for
  research.

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• In any teaching situation, factors such as
  curriculum development, syllabus design, teacher
  training, materials preparation, methodology, and
  testing the achievement of the leaner can be
  topics to be investigated.

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• The word curriculum refers to a systematic group
  of courses or sequence of subjects required for
  graduation or certification in a major field of
  study.

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• The first area of research in curriculum
  development involves the time at which English
  language instruction should be offered.
  Furthermore, the length and intensity of
  instruction should be determined through research.

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• It is acceptable to take a curriculum as a model.
  However, its adaptation, application, and
  implementation must be executed through the
  findings of research.

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• An educational system also requires research to
  determine the content of the course as well as
  the sequence in which they should be offered.
  This an area for extensive research.

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• To the consolidation of the correspondence
  between the materials to be taught, the way the
  materials are to be taught, and the way the
  outcome of the instruction is to be evaluated is
  not possible but through research.

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Questions in Factors influencing TEFL

• The third major area of research centers around
  the factors influencing language learning which
  can be classified into three categories
  cognitive factors, personality factors, and
  social factors.

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• Brown (1987) presents three concepts of process,
  style, and strategy in cognitive domain. He
  defines process as a general mental activity and
  style as an individual mental activity.

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Strategy

• Brown also believes that both concepts are
  different from the concept of strategy which
  refers to idiosyncratic mental activities.

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• The mere existence of, differences between,
  degree of overlap, interactions, and simply the
  way the cognitive factor function in relation to
  different language elements are all open to
  empirical investigation.

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Affect

• Affect refers to emotions and feelings. They
  interact with other variables in two dimensions.
  One dimension involves the interactions within an
  individual, and the other involves the
  interactions among individuals within the social
  structure.

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• One factor in affective domain is self-esteem,
  i.e., the evaluation an individual makes and
  customarily maintains with regard to himself or
  herself.

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• Previous research indicates that self-esteem
  plays an important role in language learning
  process. Both the validity and the extent of this
  influence are waiting to be investigated.

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• Another factor in affective domain is inhibition,
  referring to the defence system one builds around
  himself.

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• Anxiety is another factor in the affective domain
  which has considerable effect on language
  learning.

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• Motivation, as one of the most important factor
  in affective domain, has been the topic for many
  research projects. Motivation is an inner derive,
  impulse, emotion, or desire to achieve something.

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Social Factors

• One of the main social factors is attitude which
  refers to ones likes towards a particular
  language or the speakers of that language.

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Questions in Language and Literature

• The relationship between language and literature
  is of utmost importance because language is a
  medium to understanding literature.

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• Research in linguistic aspect of literature will
  help language learners to benefit from literary
  materials in order to improve their language
  ability.

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• Regarding the linguistic aspect of the texts, two
  lines of research are needed. The first line
  should investigate the lexical difficulty and the
  second involves with syntactic complexity of the
  text.

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Questions in Language and Technology

• The textbooks written on the basis of programmed
  instruction aimed at presenting materials in an
  orderly manner which would match individuals
  learning strategies and abilities.

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• The most important aspect of technology can be
  attributed to the development of computers.
  Extensive research is required to investigate the
  efficiency of computer-assisted instruction .

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Questions in Language and Politics

• The last area of research to be mentioned here is
  the relationship between language and politics.
  The word politics is used here to refer to policy
  making.

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CHAPTER 4 The Research Question

• For certain reasons many students do not feel at
  ease in formulating sound research questions. It
  is because students have not developed the habit
  of asking questions.

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• The second reason is that, even graduate
  students, do not develop a good sense of
  self-esteem to trust their potentials.

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• The third reason is that the concept of research
  is not appropriately treated in the educational
  centers. Therefore, it seems very difficult for
  students to select a topic for research.

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Characteristics of a Good Research Question

• The important factors in asking a research
  question are
• 1) interest of the researcher.
• 2) relevance.
• 3) manageability.

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Interest

• The most important factor in asking a research
  question is the interest of the researcher.
  Students are recommended to select a topic in
  which they have genuine interest.

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• The second factor in asking research question is
  relevance. Relevance means that the researcher
  should have either immediate or long-term
  relevance to the needs of society.

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• Manageability refers to the availability of all
  sorts of facilities required to complete a
  research project.

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Narrowing down the topic

• Research questions would not be formulated
  clearly from the onset. Initially formulated
  questions almost always need clarification
  because they are often ambiguous, broad, and
  imprecise.

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• Manageability refers to the facilities available
  to the researcher. On many occasions, the
  researchers do not have enough facilities. In
  such cases, the topic question should be narrowed
  down.

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• Through step by step elimination of the variables
  involved in the research question, the researcher
  narrows down the topic to its most specified form
  possible.

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• One more step in narrowing down the question is
  the elimination of the qualitative words. The
  word How is a qualitative question.

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• Qualitative words are not appropriate to be
  included in the research questions. The research
  questions should be stated in a way that it
  addresses a quantitative phenomenon

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• Research question should be narrowed down
  following an atomistic procedure. As the atoms
  are the smallest possible units of all
  substances, the research question should be
  limited to its most specific form possible.

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Types of research questions

• Descriptive questions are asked to find out the
  frequency, duration, and intensity of an event or
  the frequency, duration, intensity and the range
  of behavior performed by a subject.

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• Correlational questions ask about the degree of
  relationships between two or more factors. These
  types of questions are usually asked in the form
  of What is the relationship between X and Y?.

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• Cause-effect questions seek to find causal
  relationships between the factors of interest.
  This type of question requires experimentation.
  It is usually asked in the form of What is the
  effect of X on Y?.

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Forming a Hypothesis

• A hypothesis is stated in such a way that it
  expresses the relationship between two or more
  factors. In most cases, converting the research
  question into a statement will form a hypothesis.

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• The relationship between the factors in a
  hypothesis is hypothetical not factual. After
  collecting the data and testing the hypothesis,
  the relationship may be supported.

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• Two major forms of hypotheses are directional or
  alternative and nondirectional or null
  hypothesis. A directional hypothesis is
  represented by Ho a nondirectional one is
  represented by H1.

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• In directional hypothesis, the researcher
  predicts a direction, i.e. the existence of a
  relationship between two factors. When a
  relationship is hypothesized between two factors,
  it can be a positive or a negative one.

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• A kind of hypothesis in which no relationship is
  predicted is called a null hypothesis. A
  nondirectional or null hypothesis predicts no
  relationship between the variables.

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Chapter 5Review of literature

• The process of documenting related materials is
  referred to as the review of literature. This
  chapter is devoted to explaining the procedures
  of literature review.

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Goals of Literature Review

• The goals of literature review are to
• 1) help researchers put the topic within a
  scientific perspective.
• 2) avoid mere duplication of previous research.
• 3) avoid inadequacies of previous research.

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• Due the important role of literature review, some
  scholars believe that it should be exhaustive.
  Nevertheless, it does not seem quite justified to
  expect researchers study all possible pieces of
  information.

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• Selectivity in reading is definitely required
  because it is just physically impossible to
  exhaust the literature. Therefore, researchers
  should decide on what to read and how to get most
  out of what they read.

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• Most researchers agree that the focus of
  literature review should be on three areas of
  theory, method, and data analysis of previous
  research.

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• The foundation of research is a theory from which
  hypotheses are generated. In fact, research which
  is not based on a solid theory may not lead to
  fruitful rules.

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• The second area of relevant information a
  researcher should seek is the method section of
  the previous research.

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• The method section includes information about the
  subjects, the instruments of data collection,
  the procedures employed in data collection, the
  kind, method, and design of research, and the
  statistical analyses used in the research.

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• Last but not least is the utilization of
  statistical analyses, the presentation of the
  results, and the interpretation of the findings
  in previous research.

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Finding the sources of information

• The researchers should know the procedures to
  find and examine the relevant sources. Depending
  on the familiarity of the researcher with the
  topic, various procedures can be followed.

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• If the researcher is not familiar with the topic,
  probably an appropriate technique to start
  literature review is to refer to an encyclopedia.

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• Encyclopedias are used to check for factual
  information to get an overview of the topic.
  Encyclopedias provide an acceptable
  bibliographical information which a researcher
  can start an in-depth search.

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• A researcher who is familiar with the topic might
  go straight to more specialized references. In
  such cases, probably the most informative source
  of information is the citation of abstracts.

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• Another source of information for the researchers
  familiar with the topic of investigation is
  reference books and articles.

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• Due to abundance of materials, the researcher
  should concentrate on some key authors, key
  topics, and key studies.

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• Dictionaries, almanacs, year books, educational
  handbooks, statistical information published by
  different organizations, directories,
  governmental publications, book lists, book
  reviews, and periodicals are well-known sources
  of information for researchers.

125

• One more source of information is the Educational
  Resource Information Center, abbreviated as ERIC,
  and established in1964. Ever since, almost all
  articles and books have been stored in
  computerized forms in this organization.

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Reading and Organizing the Materials

• Looking the sources of relevant materials is not
  the end of literature review process. In fact, it
  is the beginning of the real activity, i.e.,
  reading the materials and extracting information.

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Recording Bibliographical Information

• The researcher takes careful notes which include
  the following pieces of information
• 1- Full name of the author
• 2- Full title of the document
• 3- Place, publisher, and the date of publication
• 4- The page numbers

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Taking Notes from the Materials

• In note taking, first of all, copying exact words
  of the author, unless on extremely important
  issues, is not recommended. The researcher should
  read the materials and paraphrase the authors
  words.

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• Second, certain pieces of information may seem
  unimportant at the time of reading. However,
  seemingly unimportant points may prove useful at
  later stages. Therefore, the
  researcher should not ignore such pieces of
  information.

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• Third, the notes should be kept in a file and
  organized based on a favorite system.

131

• Some people organize the notes according to
  authors, some others on the subject matter, and
  still some others on the basis of different
  sections of research report.

132

• The notes must be comprehensive. All aspects of
  the phenomenon should be taken into account quite
  impartially.

133

• The researcher should not limit the literature
  review to only supporting statements. Pros and
  cons of the issue and reactions to the references
  should be fairly included in the literature
  review.

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• In the note-taking, you should
• 1) Write only on one side of the card
• 2) Write the notes legibly in ink
• 3) Use the abbreviation of frequently-used terms
• 4) Label the cards for easy reference later.

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Documenting the Sources

• When a particular source of information is used
  in literature review, it is essential that the
  researcher write it in the bibliography which
  comes at the end of the paper.

136

• In order to prepare a bibliography, there are
  different styles to be followed. However, there
  exist two internationally known formats for
  preparing bibliographies. They are MLA and APA.

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CHAPTER 6Characteristics of a variable

• This chapter is devoted to
• 1) giving a definition of variable
• 2) introducing the scales of variable
• 3) presenting the functions of variables

138
Definition of a Variable

• A variable is defined as an attribute which
  changes from person to person, object to object,
  place to place, or time to time..

139

• Some of the variables such as height can be
  measured objectively. These variables are called
  concrete variables.

140

• Some other variables, such as happiness cannot be
  directly measured. These variables are called
  abstract variables.

141

• Some of the variables are of all-or-nothing
  nature. For instance, nationality and
  left-handedness are variables which either exist
  or do not exist. Such variables are called
  discrete variable.

142

• Some other variables, such as height and
  population, can range from a minimum point up to
  a maximum point. These variables are called
  continuous variables.

143

• It should be noted that a variable can be
  discrete and at the same time concrete or
  abstract. For instance, left-handedness is a
  variable which can be considered discrete and at
  the same time concrete.

144

• In fact, the processes of narrowing down the
  topic and manageability rest upon the number and
  nature of variables. That is, by reducing the
  number of variables, the topic of research is
  narrowed down.

145

• By specifying the characteristics of the
  variables, the topic becomes manageable. A
  variable is specified by defining it as clearly
  and objectively as possible. A variable should be
  defined from two different perspectives
  theoretical and operational.

146

• Any variable operates within some sort of
  theoretical framework. That is, a variable has a
  theory behind it. Therefore, the theoretical
  characteristics of a variable should be defined.

147

• When a variable is defined theoretically, it
  should be defined in operational terms as well.
  An operational definition deals with the variable
  in terms of its measurable characteristics.

148
Nominal Scales

• Nominal scale refers to naming variables and
  determining the presence or absence of a
  characteristic. Usually the researcher assigns 1
  to those with one characteristic and 2 to those
  with another.

149
Ordinal Scales

• Through ordinal scaling, people or objects are
  ranked on a particular variable along a scale
  from high to low or vice-versa. Different cut-off
  points can be identified by a number.

150

• Contrary to nominal scaling, where the assigned
  numbers do not have mathematical values, in
  ordinal scaling numbers refer to the superiority
  or inferiority of the class to which they are
  assigned.

151
Interval scales

• Similar to ordinal scaling, interval scaling
  determines how much of an attribute exists. The
  difference is that in interval scaling, the
  difference among ranks are equal and have
  mathematically specifiable values..

152
Ratio scales

• Ratio scale is quite similar to interval scales.
  The difference between them is that the ratio
  scale has a true zero. It means that the negative
  values can also be determined.

153

• Variables are attributes of people or objects.
  They are selected, operationalized, and assigned
  certain functions in different research projects.
  

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Dependent variables

• Dependent variable is the variable that the
  researcher observes and measures to determine the
  effect of independent variable.

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Independent variable

• The independent variable is the major variable
  which is investigated, i.e., the variable which
  is selected, manipulated, and measured by the
  researcher.

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Moderator variable

• The variable which change the general outcome of
  research is called a moderator variable. It is
  selected in order to investigate whether the
  results of research are modified because of this
  variable or not.

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Control variable

• The control variable is a variable which is held
  constant in order to neutralize the potential
  effect it might have on the outcome of the
  research.

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Intervening variable

• The intervening variable, which cannot be
  measured or observed, is the variable which
  stands between the dependent and independent
  variable.

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CHAPTER 8Historical method of research

• Historical method of research is concerned with a
  systematic collection and objective evaluation of
  the data related to past events.

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Steps of conducting a historical research

• a. formulate the problem,
• b. formulate hypotheses to explain the events,
• c. collect data,
• d. criticize data,
• e. interpret the findings.

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The major sources of information

• In historical research, the major sources of
  information are
• Official Records
• Nonofficial Records
• Physical Remains

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Primary Sources of Information

• Primary sources of information include documents
  and records written and kept by actual
  participants in or witnesses of an event.

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Secondary Sources of Information

• Secondary sources of information are the reports
  and documents provided by people who were not
  present at scene but somehow obtained information
  about an event.

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External Criticism

• External criticism is to establish the
  authenticity or genuineness of the document. Is
  it truly written by the person which is claimed
  to have been written?

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Internal Criticism

• After the establishment of the authenticity of a
  document, the researcher should evaluate the
  accuracy and truthfulness of the content of the
  document.

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The comparison of external and internal criticism

• Through external criticism, the researchers
  answer the question whether the document is
  genuine or not.

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• Through internal criticism, the researcher tries
  to answer the question whether the content of the
  document is true or not.

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CHAPTER 8 Descriptive method of research

• Through descriptive method, researchers attempt
  to describe and interpret the current status of
  phenomena. Descriptive method of research plays
  an important role in education.

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Classification of Descriptive Method

• Descriptive methods can be classified into three
  major groups of survey, interrelational, and
  developmental methods each with own subcategories.

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• Survey methods are probably the oldest methods
  available to the researchers. Through survey
  methods, participants are asked questions
  directly.

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• Through surveys, researchers gather data with
  the intention of
• Describing the nature of existing conditions
• identifying the nature of existing conditions
• Attempting to determine the potential
  relationships between two conditions.

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Common types of Surveys

• The most common types of surveys are
• School surveys
• Community surveys
• Public opinion surveys

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• Depending on the nature, scope, and depth of
  existing relationships, there are four major
  methods
• Case studies,
• Field studies,
• Correlational studies,
• Causal-comparative studies.

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• In a case study, the data are collected about the
  present status, past events, and environmental
  factors which contribute to the identity,
  individuality, and the behavioral patterns of the
  unit.

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Field Study

• Field studies is another method to investigate
  the characteristics of a phenomenon. The emphasis
  on natural events in field research has led some
  scholars to call it naturalistic method.

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• In field study, the investigator directly
  observes a naturally occurring data. The direct
  observation of naturally occurring event is
  exclusive to field research.

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• Sometimes , in a field study, a researcher
  attempts to observe a behavior for its entire
  duration. This kind of sampling is called
  continuous time sampling.

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Time point sampling

• In a field study, sometimes, researchers are
  interested in observing the behaviors that occur
  at the end of specific time interval within the
  duration of an event. This is called time point
  sampling.

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Correlational Studies

• As the name imply, correlational methods are used
  to discover, measure, or determine the degree of
  relationship between two or more variables.

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Causal- Comparative Studies

• Correlational method is used to describe the
  relationship between phenomena. The
  causal-comparative method is also used to find
  the relationship among variables.

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• However, through causal-comparative method, the
  researcher can go further and determine the
  reasons for or the causes of the current status
  of phenomenon under investigation.

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Causal-comparative correlational methods

• Causal-comparative research is similar to
  correlational research because both are
  descriptive in nature.

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Difference between causal-comparative
correlational methods

• Causal-comparative research involves two or more
  groups and one independent variable whereas
  correlational studies involve two or more
  variables and one group,

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One more difference

• Causalcomparative methods involve comparison
  whereas correlational methods involve go
  togetherness.

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Causal-comparative experimental methods

• Causal-comparative method is similar to
  experimental method in that both methods attempt
  to establish cause-effect relationship and both
  involve groups comparisons.

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Difference between causal-comparative
experimental methods

• They are different, because in an experimental
  research the researcher creates the cause
  whereas in causal-comparative study, the
  researcher observes an effect and then tries to
  find out the cause.

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Ex-post-facto

• Sometimes the causal-comparative method is
  referred to as ex-post-facto method.
  Ex-post-facto means after the fact. That is, the
  researcher appears on the scene after all events
  have occurred.

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Developmental Methods

• Developmental research, though a branch of
  descriptive research, deals not only with the
  existing conditions but also with changes that
  takes place over time.

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Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies

• There are two methods of investigating the
  development of a phenomenon longitudinal and
  cross-sectional. In both types of studies, a
  series of planned and systematic observations is
  made.

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Longitudinal studies

• In longitudinal studies, the development of
  subjects, specially children, on certain
  variables is investigated over a long period of
  time.

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Cross-sectional method

• In cross-sectional method , the researcher
  includes a large number of subjects in the design
  and studies their performance in one setting.

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CHAPTER 9Experimental Method of Research

• Through historical or descriptive methods, the
  researcher cannot make cause-effect relationships
  among the variables. The experimental method of
  research remedies the shortcomings of these
  methods.

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• Experimental method is the peak of scientific
  research. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter
  is to explain, in detail, the principles and
  procedures involved in the experimental method of
  research.

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Similarity between experimental and other methods

• As with other methods, in experimental method,
  the investigator starts with a question, make a
  hypothesis, follows a systematic approach, and
  finally comes up with an answer.

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Difference between experimental method and other
methods

• The experimental method is different from other
  methods of research in that the systematic
  approach in the experimental method is more
  rigorous than it is in other methods.

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Characteristics of experimental method

• These characteristics include randomization,
  pretesting, having experimental and control
  groups, offering a treatment to the experimental
  group and a placebo to the control group, and
  posttesting.

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Types of experimental method

• Depending on the extent to which the
  characteristics are present, three types of
  experimental are practiced true experimental,
  pre-experimental, and quasi-experimental.

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True Experimental Method

• This method has all characteristics of an
  experiment, that is randomization, experimental
  and control groups, pretest, a treatment, and
  posttest. Each of these characteristics will be
  discussed.

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Randomization

• In a true experimental method of research, the
  subjects are selected randomly. That is to say,
  each member of a given population has an equal
  chance of being included in the experiment.

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• Randomization plays an important role in the
  process of the experimental method of research.
  Randomization helps researchers to select a
  representative sample of subjects.

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Experimental Groups

• The experimental group receives the cause
  variable, the manipulated variable, or the
  independent variable. In the context of
  experimental method, the independent variable is
  called a treatment.

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Control Groups

• The control group does not receive any treatment.
  Instead researchers try to give an ineffective
  treatment to the control group. This treatment is
  called placebo.

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Pretest

• To be more cautious and to avoid any potential
  differences between the groups on the variable
  under investigation, researchers administer a
  pretest.

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• Pretesting helps the researcher to be confident
  about the quality of the groups before the
  experiment and to make strong statements about
  the cause-effect relationship between the
  variables after the experiment.

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Posttest

• The test used to measure the effect of the
  treatment, i.e. given after the treatment, is
  called a posttest.

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The schematic representation of true experimental
method
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Internal validity

• The internal validity of research refers to the
  extent to which the outcome of the research is
  due to the manipulations imposed by the research
  not other factors.

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Some factors which influence internal validity

• History Effect
• Maturation Effect
• Testing Effect
• Selection Effect
• Mortality Effect

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External Validity

• External validity of research refers to the
  extent to which the outcome of research would
  apply to other similar situations.

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• It should be noted that while internal validity
  is basically exclusive to the experimental
  methods of research, external validity is an
  important requirement for all methods of research.

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Pre-Experimental Methods

• If one or two or the requirements are not met or
  deliberately ignored, the method is called
  pre-experimental .

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Pre-Experimental Methods

• One-shot case study, one-group pretest posttest
  method, and intact group method are instances of
  pre-experimental methods.

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One-Shot Case Study

• Here there is no control group and subjects are
  given one treatment i.e. X, for a given period of
  time. At the end of the time, the subjects are
  given a test i.e. T. The study can be represented
  as
• X T

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One-Group Pretest Posttest

• This study is similar to the one-shot case study.
  The difference is that in this study, a pretest
  is given. So there are two tests a pretest, T1
  and a posttest T2. The study can be represented
  as
• T1 X T2

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Intact Group Study

• It is the study where both the experimental and
  control groups will receive a posttest, but the
  experimental group will receive a treatment while
  the control group will not. The study can be
  represented as
• G1 X T
• G2 O T

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Quasi-Experimental Method

• In the quasi-experimental methods the researcher
  tries to compensate for the violation of certain
  principles. The most common type of
  quasi-experimental method is time-series study.

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Time-series study

• It is used when the researcher does not have a
  control group. In this method, the subjects are
  administered several pretests and several
  posttests. The study can be shown as
• T1 T2 T3 X T4 T5 T6

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• END