Research Methods
Approaches
to
Educational Research
Assumptions
About the world
"Logical-positivist' or 'positivist' view with a singular objective
Assume
an objective social reality
Assume
that the social reality is relatively constant across time and setting
"Naturalistic view with multiple realities
Assume
that social reality is constructed by its participants
Assume
that social reality is continuously constructed in local situations
Research Purpose
Seeks to establish relationships & explain causes on measured social facts
View
causal relationships among social phenomena from a mechanistic perspective
Study
behavior & other observable behavior
Concerned with understanding from the participant observers
Assign
human intentions a major role in explaining causal relationships among
social phenomena
Study
the meanings that individuals create and other social phenomena
Key Concepts
Discrete
operationally defined variables
Experimental
control and replication
Reliability
and Validity
Null
hypothesis
Statistical
significance
Meaning
and Understanding
Naturally
occurring behavior
Social
constructions and context
Foreshadowed
problems
Practical
significance
Research Methods and Process
Use of established set of methods and procedures
Use
preconceived concepts and theories to determine what data will be collected
Generate
numerical data to represent the social environment
Use
statistical methods to analyze data
Use
statistical inference procedures to generalize findings from a sample
to a defined population
Uses emergent designs
Discover
concepts and theories after data have been collected
Generate
verbal and pictorial data to represent the social environment
Use
analytic induction to analyze data
Generalize
case findings by searching for other similar cases
Prototypical Studies/Techniques/Methods
Experimental or correlational designs to reduce error, bias, extraneous variables
Study
populations or samples that represent populations
Study
human behavior in natural or contrived settings
Uses
experiments, quasi-experiments, structured observations, interviews, surveys
Ethnographic or historical research
Study
cases
Study
human actions in natural settings
Uses
observation, participant obseration, open-ended interviewing, review of
documents and artifacts
Researcher's Role
Researcher is detached, distant, has a short-term involvement, and tends to be uninvolved in data collection
Take
an objective, detached stance toward research participants and their setting.
Prepare
impersonal, objective reports of research findings.
Researcher is immersed, close, has a long-term involvement, empathetic, trusting, and intense
Become personally involved with research participants, to the point of
sharing perspectives and assuming a caring attitude.
Prepare interpretive reports that reflect researcher's constructions of
the data and an awareness that the readers will form their own constructions
from what is reported.
Importance of Context in the Study
Context of the study is a secondary facets of the study
Analyze social reality into variables
Context of the study is of primary importance
Make holistic observations of the total context within which social action
occurs
Historic Academic Affiliation
Agriculture
Psychology
Political science
Economics
Natural sciences: earth, physical, biological, medical
Anthropology
History
Sociology