Introduction to Reading Educational Research

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Introduction to Reading Educational Research
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What is Educational Research?

• A systematic investigation
• Involves the analysis of information (data) for
  the purpose of
• answering a question or
• Contributing to our knowledge about an
  educational theory or practice
• Educational research relies on methods and
  principles that will produce credible and
  verifiable results

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Information is gathered from

• Individuals
• Groups
• Documents
• Existing data bases and
• Other sources

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Steps in research(may vary depending on the
nature of the study)

1. Frame the initial question or problem
2. Determine what previous research says about the
   question or problem
3. Frame a research question, problem or hypothesis
4. Design a plan for collecting data to address the
   question or problem
5. Analyze the results of gathered data
6. Generate conclusions

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How do you determine whether an article or report
is research?

• Does the title suggest that data have been
  gathered from existing records?
• The terms study investigation denote research
• Phrases such as an investigation of, the
  relationship between the effect of do also
• Is there a problem that is investigated?
• There must be some question or problem that is
  the focus of the study
• An empirical investigation is designed to answer
  a specific question or problem

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How do you determine whether an article or report
is research?

• Are new data collected?
• Most research involves collection of new
  information
• Usually there is a section using such terms as
  instruments, measures, or data collection
• Is there a methodology or methods section?
• Is there a findings or results section?
• This section often includes tables or graphs to
  summarize the information

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Types of Educational Research

• There are different methods by which research is
  carried out
• Each method has distinct purposes, advantages,
  and disadvantages

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Steps in Becoming an Intelligent Consumer of
Educational Research

• To be able to recognize that an article or report
  is, in fact, research
• To be able to recognize which method was used
• To be able to assess the quality of the research
  according to criteria appropriate for that method

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Analyzing a study of parental attitudes toward
AIDS Education

• You would be most interested in questions like
  these
• How were the parents chosen for the study?
• How many participated?
• What method was used to collect data from the
  parents?
• How appropriate were the questions asked?
• What inferences were drawn from the results?
• How valid were these inferences?

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Analyzing a study reporting results of an
experimental curriculum

• What precisely was different about the
  experimental curriculum?
• How was it implemented?
• What effects was it supposed to have
• How did the researchers choose to measure these
  effects?
• Did the researcher use a control group?
• How was it selected?
• Did the researchers find the effects they were
  looking for? Were they significant?

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Quantitative? Qualitative? Analytical?

• Quantitative research involves the use of
  numerical indices to summarize, describe and
  explore relationships among traitsreliance on
  control, statistics, measurements, and
  experiments
• Qualitative researchthe emphasis is on
  conducting studies in natural settings using
  mostly verbal descriptions, resulting in stories
  and case studies, not statistical reports
• Analytical research involves the identification
  and interpretation of data contained in
  documents, pictures, and artifacts.

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Quantitative Research

• Experimental Study
• The researcher has control over one or more
  factors (variables)
• Purpose to determine whether one factor causes a
  change in another
• Types true experimental quasi-experimental
  single-subject
• Nonexperimental Study
• No control over what may influence subjects
  responses
• Researcher interested in what occurs naturally
• Describes phemenona/uncovers relationships

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Experimental Research Categories

• True Experimental
• Use of comparison groups
• Random assignments to groups
• Quasi-experimental
• Manipulates treatments but doesnt use randomly
  assigned treatment groups
• Used when randomization of groups is impossible
• What they gain in feasibility, they give up in
  exploratory power
• Single-subject
• Only one person (or a few) in the study
• Used when it is difficult or impossible to
  identify large groups of subjects
• Most common method of data collection is careful
  observation of targeted behavior

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Nonexperimental Research

• Descriptive
• Describe a phenomenon with statistics such as
  frequencies, percentages, averages, etc.
• No comparisons/no relationships
• i.e., 20 of teachers indicated that high-stakes
  tests have a significant effect on what they
  teach
• Comparative
• Investigates relationship between 2 or more
  variables in 2 or more groups
• Unlike ex post facto studies, comparative
  research make no claim of causality

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Nonexperimental Research

• Correlational
• Investigate relationships among variables by
  calculating correlation coefficients rather than
  looking at differences
• Indication of the direction and strength of the
  relationship sought positive or negative?
• i.e., How well do SAT scores predict college
  success?
• Ex post facto (after the fact)
• Examines a phenomenon that has already occurred
  and attempts to infer cause-and-effect
  relationships
• i.e., Do smokers have higher rates of lung cancer
  than nonsmokers?
• Teasing out whether in fact any differences are
  due to the treatment variable is very difficult

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Qualitative Research Designs

• Ethnography
• Involves direct engagement with the participants
  and environments
• In-depth description and interpretation of
  behavior within a culture or social group
• Conclusions are based on a synthesis of the data
• Case study
• In-depth analysis of one or more bounded
  systems

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Qualitative Research Designs

• Phenomenology
• Examines in depth the experiences and perceptions
  of selected participants
• Purpose to understand the essence, the meaning
  of participants perspectives
• Grounded Theory
• To discover or generate a theory that pertains to
  a specific entity or phenomenon
• Critical Studies
• Designed to provide alternative perspectives on
  contemporary societal problems
• Focus on exposing social manipulation and
  oppression to advocate changes in social systems

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Analytical Research

• Historical analysis
• Provides a description and interpretation of past
  events or persons. Uses both qualitative and
  quantitative data
• Legal Analysis
• Focuses on laws and court decisions to understand
  how legal principles apply to educational
  practice
• Concept Analysis
• Conducted in order to understand the meaning and
  usage of educational concepts (i.e., ability
  grouping)
• Very seldom used in educational research

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Mixed Models

• There is a growing trend in educational research
  to use mixed models in a study
• Combination of two of the three major types of
  research (i.e., a quantitative study combined
  with qualitative methods)

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Research Articles General Sections

1. Introduction
2. Review of the Literature
3. Research Problem, Question, or Hypothesis
4. Methodology subjects, participants, or sources
   of information
5. Methodology Instruments
6. Discussion Conclusions

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Section 1 Introduction

• Purpose to set the context of the study and to
  indicate the research problem
• One to several paragraphs long
• Provides background to the study indicates why
  it is significant to conduct research
• Use of quotes or references to other studies
• General statement of the problem

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Section 2 Review of Literature

• Quantitative
• One to several paragraphs in which previous
  studies of the same or similar problem are
  summarized analyzed
• Purpose to show how the current study is related
  to other studies
• A good review is selective
• Goes beyond a simple reporting of findingsa
  critical analysis of previous studies

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Section 2 Review of Literature

• QuantitativeQuestions to Ask
• Does the review contain relevant, up-to-date
  studies?
• Is there an emphasis on primary sources?
• Is there a critical review or a summary of
  findings?
• Is the review well organized?
• Does the review clearly relate previous studies
  to this research problem?
• Does the review help establish the importance of
  research?

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Section 2 Review of Literature

• Qualitative
• Use a preliminary literature review to present
  conceptual frameworks, broad areas of study, and
  scholarly concepts
• This provides a foundation for phrasing
  foreshadowed questions
• A continuing search of the lit is integrated with
  the methodology and tentative findings and
  interpretations
• By the end of the study, there is a complete
  review that contains a critique and analysis of
  works
• Quantitative Studiesa clear lit review preceded
  the methodology
• Qualitative StudiesThe lit review is
  interspersed throughout the document

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Step 3 Research Problem, Question or Hypothesis

• State a specific research problem statement,
  question, and/or research hypothesis
• Can come at the end of the introduction more
  commonly follows the lit review
• It denotes the type of research method being used
  (i.e.,experimental or non experimental), the
  independent and dependent variables, and the
  subjects
• Qualitative more general statement that provides
  a broad framework for beginning the study and is
  reformulated as data are collected. Emphasis on
  what, where, and why, rather than on relationship
  among variables

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Step 3 Research Problem, Question or Hypothesis

• Questions to ask
• Is the problem or hypothesis clear and concise?
• Is there a hypothesis, is it consistent with the
  lit review?
• If quantitative, does the problem or hypothesis
  communicate the variables, type of research, and
  population?
• If qualitative, is the initial problem
  reformulated?

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Step 4 MethodologySubjects, Participants, or
Sources of Information

• Participants will be described in this section
• Some qualitative and analytical studies use
  documents, artifacts, pictures, and other sources
  of data that are not directly from peoplethese
  will be described here

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Step 4 MethodologySubjects, Participants, or
Sources of Information

• Questions to ask
• Is the population described adequately?
• Is the sample of subjects and/or other sources of
  information clearly described?
• Is the method of selecting the sample clear?
• Could the method of selection affect results?
• Are subjects likely to be motivated to give
  biased responses?

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Step 5 Methodology Instruments

• Instruments or measures are devices that are used
  to gather information from subjects
• Instruments can include tests, oral or written
  surveys, ratings, observation, and various
  archival and unobtrusive measures
• Quantitative credibility depends on validity and
  reliability
• Qualitative technical feature of instrument
  validity and reliability arent used, but the
  more general ideas of appropriateness of the
  inferences (validity) and error in collecting
  information (reliability) are still important

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Step 5 Methodology Instruments

• Questions to ask
• Is evidence for validity and reliability clearly
  presented and adequate?
• Is there a clear description of the instrument
  and how it was used
• Is there a clear description of the procedures
  for collecting the information?
• Is it likely that the subjects would fake their
  responses?
• Are interviewers and observers trained?
• If appropriate, what are the norms used to report
  percentile rank and other results?

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Step 6 Methodology Procedures

• This subsection will indicate how subjects or
  participants were selected, how instruments were
  developed and administered, and how experimental
  treatments, if any, were conducted
• A qualitative study will describe procedures the
  researcher used to gain entry into the field, the
  nature and length of observations and interviews,
  and how participants were approached
• In this section, look for characteristics of the
  study design that might lead to erroneous
  interpretations of the data

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Step 6 Methodology Procedures

• Questions to ask
• Are there any clear weaknesses in the design of
  the study?
• Are the procedures for collecting information
  described fully?
• Is it likely that the researcher is biased?

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Step 7 Results

• Presents a summary of the data analysis
• Quantitative researchers often use inferential
  statistics to make probability statements about
  what is likely to be true
• Qualitative coding, triangulation

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Step 7 Results

• Questions to ask
• Are the findings presented clearly?
• Is there appropriate use of tables, charts, and
  figures?
• Is the of subjects taken into consideration?
• Is there sufficient descriptive information to
  interpret the results?
• Are the results presented in relation to the
  research question?
• If qualitative, are the results accompanied by
  illustrative quotes and specific instances?

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Step 8 Discussion Conclusions

• Discussion of meaning of results this
  interpretation is helpful to understand why
  certain results were obtained
• Conclusionssummary statements of the findings
  and how the reseacher interprets them
• Quantitative generalizability of the findings to
  the larger population
• Qualitative transferability and comparability of
  the findings

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Step 8 Discussion Conclusions

• Questions to ask
• Is the discussion based on the research problem
  and results?
• Is there an adequate interpretation of the
  findings?
• Is the interpretation separate from the results?
• Are the results discussed in relation to previous
  studies?
• Are limitations due to methodology included in
  the discussion?
• Are the conclusions clearly stated and based on
  the results and discussion?
• Are the conclusions reasonable? Do they go
  beyond the interpretation of the findings?
• What is the generalizability of the findings?
  What factors would affect generalizability?

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