EEd RES - Week 1 - Introduction To Research in Education

Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 42

Tarlac State University

COLLEGE OF TEACHER EDUCATION


Tarlac City

Introduction to
Research in Education
Eed RES – Research in Education
Sem 1 AY 2022-2023
WEEK 1
 Explicate the nature of research as a scientific
inquiry aimed at providing basis for informed
Desired classroom decisions
Learning  Review the fundamentals of research
Outcomes  Compare and contrast the major characteristics
of quantitative and qualitative research designs
At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
1. List five major sources of knowledge and comment on the
strengths and weaknesses of each source.
2. Describe the characteristics of the scientific approach.
3. State the assumptions underlying science and the attitudes
Instructional expected of scientists.
4. Specify the purpose and characteristics of scientific theory in
Objectives the behavioral sciences.
5. Indicate the limitations involved in the application of the
scientific approach in the social sciences.
6. Define educational research and give examples.
7. Identify the major research methodologies used in educational
investigations.
8. Describe the main differences between quantitative and qualitative
research.
9. List the specific types of research that fall into the broad categories
of quantitative and qualitative research.
10. Give an example of a research problem that might be investigated by
a mixed methods approach.
11. Identify the research methodology used in given examples of both
Instructional quantitative and qualitative research.
Objectives 12. List the steps involved in the research process.
13. Distinguish between the characteristics of basic and applied research.
14. Explain the terms concept, construct, and variable.
15. Distinguish among types of variables: categorical versus continuous
and independent versus dependent.
16. Distinguish between constitutive and operational definitions and
explain the importance of the latter in research.
 Experience
 Authority
Sources of  Deductive Reasoning
Knowledge  Inductive Reasoning
 Scientific Approach
 Much wisdom passed from generation to
generation is the result of experience
 This ability to learn from experience is a prime
Sources of characteristic of intelligent behavior
Knowledge:
Limitations
EXPERIENCE  Experience is relative
 Some things cannot be learned by experience
 People seek knowledge from someone who has had experience
with the problem or has some other source of expertise
 People accept as truth the word of recognized authorities
 Closely related to authority are custom and tradition, on which
people depend for answers to many questions related to
Sources of professional as well as everyday problems: “How has this been
done in the past?”
Knowledge:
Limitations
AUTHORITY  Many traditions that prevailed for years were later found to be
erroneous and had to be rejected
 Authorities can be wrong
 Authorities disagree among themselves on issues, indicating that
their authoritative statements are often more personal opinion
than fact
 A thinking process in which one proceeds from general to specific
knowledge through logical argument
 Argument: Premises  Conclusion
 If the premises are true, the conclusion is necessarily true
Sources of  Useful in research because it provides a way to link theory and
Knowledge: observation
 Deductions from theory can help build hypotheses, which are a
vital part of scientific inquiry
DEDUCTIVE
REASONING Limitations
 To arrive at true conclusions, one must begin with true premises
 One cannot conduct scientific inquiry through deductive reasoning
alone because it is difficult to establish the universal truth of many
statements dealing with scientific phenomena
 The reverse of the deductive method
 One reaches a conclusion by observing examples and generalizing
from the examples to the whole class or category
 Perfect induction: being absolutely certain of an inductive
Sources of conclusion by investigating/observing all examples
Knowledge:  Imperfect induction: Observing a sample of a group and inferring
from the sample what is characteristic of the entire group

INDUCTIVE Limitations
REASONING  Exclusive use of induction often resulted in the accumulation of
isolated knowledge and information that made little contribution
to the advancement of knowledge
 People found that many problems could not be solved by
induction alone
 Integrated the most important aspects of the
inductive and deductive methods
 A method of acquiring knowledge in which
investigators move inductively from their
Sources of observations to hypotheses and then deductively
from the hypotheses to the logical implications of
Knowledge: the hypotheses
 Observations  Formulate hypothesis  Gather
SCIENTIFIC additional Data  Validate hypothesis
APPROACH  Differs from inductive reasoning in that it uses
hypotheses
 Hypothesis: A statement describing relationships
among variables that is tentatively assumed to be
true
1. The events being investigated are lawful or ordered
 Universal determinism: Science is based on the
belief that all natural phenomena have antecedent
factors
 The events in nature are, at least to a degree,
Assumptions orderly and regular and that people can discover
Made by this order and regularity of nature through the
scientific method
Scientists
2. Reliable knowledge can ultimately derive only from
direct and objective observation
 Corollary: only phenomena that are subject to
observation lie within the realm of scientific
investigation
1. Scientists are essentially doubters, who
maintain a highly skeptical attitude toward
the data of science
Attitudes 2. Scientists are objective and impartial
Expected of
3. Scientists deal with facts, not values
Scientists
4. Scientists are not satisfied with isolated facts
but seek to integrate and systematize their
findings
 The ultimate goal of science is theory
formation
Formulation of  Theory: a set of interrelated constructs and
Scientific propositions that presents an explanation of
Theory phenomena and makes predictions about
relationships among variables relevant to the
phenomena
1. Organize empirical findings and explain
phenomena
 organizes the findings from many separate
observations and investigations into a
framework that provides explanations of
phenomena
Purposes of 2. Predict phenomena
Theories  Scientists can proceed to make predictions
about what will happen in novel situations
3. Stimulate new research
 If such predictions are supported by scientific
investigation, then science proceeds finally to
control
1. A theory should be able to explain the observed
facts relating to a particular problem
 Principle of Parsimony - explanation of the
events should take the simplest form possible
Criteria for 2. A theory should be consistent with observed
Theories facts and with the already established body of
knowledge
3. A theory should provide means for its verification
4. A theory should stimulate new discoveries and
indicate further areas in need of investigation
Using the scientific approach is not in itself a sufficient condition for
scientific achievement; several limitations hinder the application of the
scientific approach in education and the other social sciences:
1. Complexity of subject matter
 Social scientists deal with the human subject
Limitations 2. Difficulties in observation

of the  Observation in the social sciences is often less objective


3. Difficulties in replication
Scientific  Social phenomena are singular events and cannot be totally

Approach 4.
repeated for purposes of observations
Interaction of observer and subjects
in the  Hawthorne effect

Social Sciences 5. Difficulties in control


 Social scientists must deal with many variables simultaneously and
must work under conditions that are much less precise
6. Problems of measurement
 The tools for measurement in the social sciences are much less
perfect and precise than the tools of the natural sciences
 Scientific research is the application of the scientific
approach to studying a problem
 It is a way to acquire dependable and useful information
 Its purpose is to discover answers to meaningful
questions by applying scientific procedures
The Nature of  Educational research is the application of the scientific
Research approach to the study of educational problems; it is the
way in which people acquire dependable and useful
information about the educative process
 The ultimate goal is to discover general principles or
interpretations of behavior that people can use to
explain, predict, and control events in educational
situations—in other words, to formulate scientific theory
 Quantitative research
 uses objective measurement to gather numeric
data that are used to answer questions or test
predetermined hypotheses; it generally
requires a well-controlled setting
Research
Categories  Qualitative research
 focuses on understanding social phenomena
from the perspective of the human participants
in natural settings. It does not begin with
formal hypotheses, but it may result in
hypotheses as the study unfolds.
 Originated in positivism: a belief that general
principles or laws govern the social world as
they do the physical world and that through
objective procedures researchers can discover
Quantitative these principles and apply them to understand
Research human behavior
(QUAN)  Positivism is often considered the traditional
scientific method, which involves hypothesis
testing and objective data gathering to arrive
at findings that are systematic, generalizable,
and open to replication by other investigators
 Based on a different philosophical approach,
which sees the individual and his or her world
as so interconnected that essentially the one
Qualitative has no existence without the other; it sees
Research social reality as unique
(QUAL)  The intended result is a narrative report so rich
and comprehensive that you can understand
the social reality experienced by the
participants
 A study that uses both quantitative and
qualitative approaches
Mixed Methods  The end result is findings that may be more
Research dependable and provide a more complete
explanation of the research problem than
either method alone could provide
 Whether researchers choose quantitative,
qualitative, or mixed methods depends not on
their preference for one or another but on the
suitability of the particular method for what
Which they are studying and what they want to find
approach out
should one  What is most fundamental is the research
choose? question—research methods should follow
research questions in a way that offers the best
chance to obtain useful (and the most
thorough) answers (Johnson and
Onwuegbuzie, 2004)
QUAN QUAL
Purpose To study relationships, To examine a phenomenon
cause and effect as it is, in rich detail
Design Developed prior to study Flexible, evolves during
study
Approach Deductive; tests theory Inductive; may generate
Comparison theory
between Quan Tools Uses preselected
instruments
The researcher is primary
data collection tool
and Qual Sample Uses large samples Uses small samples
Analysis Statistical analysis of Narrative description and
numeric data interpretation
 Experimental Research
 Involves a study of the effect of the
systematic manipulation of one variable(s)
Classifications on another variable
of Quantitative  Non-experimental Research
Research  A study that may look into relationships
among variables but does not manipulate
them
 Involves a study of the effect of the systematic
manipulation of one variable(s) on another
variable
Experimental  The manipulated variable is called the
Research experimental treatment or the independent
variable
 The observed and measured variable is called
the dependent variable
 Example: A teacher wants to know if a new teaching
strategy will result to higher test scores among
students. He uses two Grade 6 sections and uses a
random procedure to select which section would
receive the new strategy and which should receive
Experimental traditional instruction. After teaching the lesson,
both sections will take a test. If test scores were
Research: higher than could be accounted for by chance in the
Example section receiving the new strategy, the researcher
could tentatively conclude that there is evidence the
new strategy contributed to greater learning than
traditional instruction.
 Which one is the independent variable? Dependent
variable?
Experimental  Independent variable: Teaching strategy
Research:  Dependent variable: Test Score
Example
 True Experimental Research
 Uses a random process (e.g. a coin toss) to
assign available subjects to the experimental
treatments; with random assignment, each
subject has an equal and independent chance
of being assigned to any group
Types of  Quasi-experimental Research
Experimental  Uses already assembled groups when
Research random assignment is not possible or
practical
 Pre-experimental Research
 Either a single group or multiple groups are
observed subsequent to some treatment
presumed to cause change
Non-  The researcher identifies variables and may
experimental look for relationships among them but does
Research not manipulate the variables
 Ex-post facto Research
 Similar to an experiment, except the researcher does not
manipulate the independent variable, which has already
occurred in the natural course of events
 Correlational Research
 Gathers data from individuals on two or more variables and
then seeks to determine if the variables are related
Types of Non-  Correlation means the extent to which the two variables vary
experimental directly (positive correlation) or inversely (negative
correlation)
Research  Survey Research
 Also called descriptive research
 Uses instruments such as questionnaires and interviews to
gather information from groups of individuals
 Permits the researcher to summarize the characteristics of
different groups or to measure their attitudes and opinions
toward some issue
 Seeks to understand a phenomenon by
focusing on the total picture rather than
Qualitative breaking it down into variables
Research  The goal is a holistic picture and depth of
understanding rather than a numeric analysis
of data
 Basic Interpretative Study
 Provides descriptive accounts targeted to
understanding a phenomenon using data that
might be collected in a variety of ways, such as
interviews, observations, and document review,
with the purpose of understanding the world or
Types of experience of another
Qualitative  Case Study
Research  Study that focuses on a single unit, such as one
individual, one group, one organization, or one
program, with the goal of arriving at a detailed
description and understanding of the entity (i.e.
the case)
 Can result in data from which generalizations to
theory are possible
 Document or Content Analysis
 Focuses on analyzing and interpreting recorded
material to learn about human behavior
 The material may be public records, textbooks,
letters, films, tapes, diaries, themes, reports, or
Types of other documents
Qualitative  Ethnography
Research  Also called field research
 An in-depth study of naturally occurring
behavior within a culture or social group
 The researcher observes group behavior as it
occurs naturally in the setting, without any
simulation or imposed structure
 Grounded Theory
 Designed to develop a theory of social phenomena
based on the field data collected in a study
 Experience with the data generates insights,
hypotheses, and questions, which researchers
pursue with further data collection
Types of  From an inductive analysis of the data, the
Qualitative researcher constructs concepts; he or she then
forms a theory by proposing plausible relationships
Research among the concepts; the theory is thus said to be
grounded in the data
 Historical Research
 Analyzes documents, and artifacts and/or uses
interviews with eyewitnesses to gain insight into
past events
 Narrative Inquiry
 The researcher examines the stories people tell
about their lives and co-construct a narrative
analysis of those stories
 The researcher and those telling their stories have
Types of an equal voice in determining the meanings
attributed to the experiences
Qualitative  Phenomenological Study
Research  Begins with the assumption that multiple realities
are rooted in subjects’ perspectives: an experience
has different meanings for each person
 Through unstructured interviews, the investigator
explores the subject’s thoughts and feelings to
elicit the essence of an individual’s experience
Basic interpretive study How are events, processes, and activities perceived by
the participant?
Case study What are the characteristics of this individual,
organization, or group?
Document analysis What can be learned about this phenomenon by
studying certain documents?
Ethnography What are the culture and perspectives of this group of
people in its natural setting?
Types of Grounded theory What theory can be derived inductively about a
Qualitative phenomenon from the data collected in a particular
setting?

Research Historical study What insights or conclusions can be reached about this
past event?
Narrative inquiry What insights and understandings about an issue
emerge from examining life stories?
Phenomenological study What does this experience mean for the participants in
the experience?
1. Selecting a problem
2. Reviewing the literature on the problem
3. Designing the research
Typical Stages 4. Collecting the data
in Research 5. Analyzing the data
6. Interpreting the findings and stating the conclusions
7. Reporting the results
The specific question chosen for research depends on the
area that interests the researchers, their background, and
the particular problem they confront
 Theoretical Questions
 Research with a theoretical orientation may focus on
Questions that either developing new theories or testing existing
Educational theories
 “What is it?” “How does it occur?” “Why does it
Researchers occur?”
Ask  Practical Questions
 Direct and practical, aimed at solving specific
problems that educators may encounter in everyday
activities
 “How effective?” “What is the relative effectiveness?
 Basic Research
 Research aimed at obtaining empirical data used to
formulate and expand theory
 Aims to expand the frontiers of knowledge without
regard to practical application
Basic versus
 Applied Research
Applied  Aims to solve an immediate practical problem
Research  Research performed in relation to actual problems
and under the conditions in which they appear in
practice
 May not provide the general knowledge to solve
other problems
Construct
 Abstractions that cannot be observed directly but
are useful in interpreting empirical data and in
theory building
 Examples: intelligence, motivation, anxiety,
Selected achievement
Constitutive Definition
Research  Formal definition in which a term is defined by
Terminologies using other terms, i.e., the dictionary type of
definition
Operational Definition
 Ascribes meaning to a construct by specifying
operations that researchers must perform to
measure or manipulate the construct
Variable
 A construct or a characteristic that can take on
different values or scores
Selected  May be categorical or continuous
Research  May be dependent or independent
Terminologies
Constant
 A fixed value within a study

You might also like