Designing and Conducting Research in Education

Clifford J. Drew, Michael L Hardman, John L. Hosp

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781483319483
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Research in Education

"The authors did an excellent job of engaging students by being empathetic to their anxieties while taking a research design course. The authors also present a convincing case of the relevancies of research in daily life by showing how information was used or misused to affect our personal and professional decisions." —Cherng-Jyh Yen, George Washington University

A practice-oriented, non-mathematical approach to understanding, planning, conducting, and interpreting research in education

Practical and applied, Designing and Conducting Research in Education is the perfect first step for students who will be consuming research as well as for those who will be actively involved in conducting research. Readers will find up-to-date examinations of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research approaches which have emerged as important components in the toolbox of educational research. Real-world situations are presented in each chapter taking the reader through various challenges often encountered in the world of educational research.

Key Features:

• Examines quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods research approaches, which have emerged as important components in the toolbox of educational research
• Explains each step of the research process very practically to help students plan and conduct a research project in education
• Applies research in real-world situations by taking the reader through various challenges often encountered in field settings
• Includes a chapter on ethical issues in conducting research
• Provides a Studentstudy site that offers the opportunity to interact with contemporary research articles in education
• Instructor Resources on CD provide a Computerized test bank, Sample Syllabi, General Teaching Tips and more

Intended audience: This book provides an introduction to research that emphasizes the fundamental concepts of planning and design. The book is designed to be a core text for the very first course on research methods. In some fields the first course is offered at an undergraduate level whereas in others it is a beginning graduate class.

"The book is perfect for introductory students. The language is top notch, the examples are helpful, and the graphic features (tables, figures) are uncomplicated and contain important information in an easy-to-understand format. Excellent text!" —John Huss, Northern Kentucky University

"Designing and Conducting Research in Education is written in a style that is conducive to learning for the type of graduate students we teach here in the College of Education. I appreciate the ?friendly? tone and concise writing that the authors utilize." —Steven Harris, Tarleton State University "A hands on, truly accessible text on how to design and conduct research"
—Joan P. Sebastian, National University

Part I

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH

Part I provides basic background information about research—what it is, why it is important, and what the fundamental steps are in the process. Chapter 1 begins with a definition of research, dispelling a number of misconceptions about the process and those who conduct it. These points are combined with discussions of why research is important in the lives of both consumers as well as professionals in education. The rationale for conducting a study is also examined. The overview on foundations of research concludes with an examination of how research and science fit with other “methods of knowing,” general descriptions of the different types of research, and how to proceed in selecting a research topic and molding it into a research question.

Chapter 2 describes the research process from beginning to end. The discussion explores where to find research ideas and how to identify them from readings, previous studies, and daily life. The scientific method is discussed, from the perspective of how research ideas become focused and molded into specific research questions, the types of questions studied, and how these steps proceed into planning the research design. The chapter continues with steps on how to implement a study, including collecting data, ensuring reliability, analyzing the results, and drawing implications for practice- and data-based decision making.

Chapters 3 and 4 lay the groundwork for locating and protecting research study participants. Ethical considerations, informed consent, and protecting participants from harm are extremely important in conducting educational research. Investigations involving children present a number of particularly challenging issues in conducting research to improve education. Ethical issues must be balanced with the significance and need for the study in moving forward with participant selection. In Chapter 5, these steps are followed by the basic process of selecting and developing ways of collecting data. The process of defining and selecting criterion measures is discussed with careful attention to data reliability and validity. Selecting a measure is examined in terms of how sensitive it is and how well it communicates the purpose of the research. Challenges presented by various measures and instruments are discussed as well as how to avoid specific problems. The discussion concludes with the development of instruments to collect data, including questionnaires as well as observation protocols.

The research overview in each of the five chapters in this section emphasizes the view of an outsider looking into the research process and experiencing this new world for the first time. The discussion on developing research topics, questions, and plans for implementing studies de-emphasizes the use of jargon and focuses on why research is important and how the beginning researcher can get started. This is the point of departure for education students who may either choose to actively engage in the process or become consumers of research themselves.

1

THE FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH

CHAPTER OUTLINE

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

Perspectives of Educational Research

Research and the Consumer

Distinguishable Differences in Research for the Consumer

Research as Information and Its Implications

About Simulations

SIMULATION 1.1

Research and the Professional

Keeping Current With Research

Defining Ways of Conducting Research

The “Ivory Tower” Research

Basic Versus Applied Research

Action Versus Theoretical Research

Personalized Approach

RESEARCH IN ACTION

Foundations of Research

Four Ways of Knowing or Fixing Belief

Tenacity

Authority

A Priori

Method of Science

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Differences Between Experimental Science and Common Sense

Theoretical Structures and Concepts

Theory Development and Testing

Concept of Control

Relationships Among Phenomena

Explanations of Phenomena

SIMULATION 1.2

Research Types and Methods in Brief

Quantitative Research

Experimental Research

Nonexperimental Research

Qualitative Research

Mixed Methods

The Research Process

Selecting a Research Topic

Distilling the Topic Into Research Question Format

Moving From the Question and Hypothesis to the Design

Using the Research in Data-Based Decision Making

CHAPTER SUMMARY

KEY TERMS

STUDENT STUDY SITE

SIMULATION FEEDBACK 1.1

SIMULATION FEEDBACK 1.2

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CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

After reading Chapter 1, you should be able to do the following:

• Present a simple working definition of research.
• Describe and correct misconceptions about research.
• Describe why research is important to consumers.
• Describe why research is important to professionals.
• Discuss different reasons why studies are conducted, from basic to action research.
• Describe different ways of knowing information, from tenacity to the methods of science.
• Distinguish inductive from deductive reasoning.
• Discuss differences between science and common sense.
• Describe general differences between quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods of research.
• Discuss selecting a research topic and molding that topic into a research question.
• Examine using research results in data-based decision making.

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Research means different things to different people. A layperson’s view of research may be limited to descriptions seen in advertisements and on television (which are really marketing and may not involve research at all). Likewise, if you ask six different scientists what research is, you may receive six different answers. Some may respond with very lofty and complex-sounding definitions. Others might be somewhat more casual in their responses, using more commonplace terms.

Students often find it difficult to determine a clear and useful definition of research. Many research courses begin with a discussion of some particular focused content. Unfortunately, that content often focuses on a limited part of the research process, such as statistics, and does not place it in the context of the world around us. Some might think that the definition of research is supposed to become self-evident as the discussion progresses. Perhaps an instructor assumes that you already know what research is and that your purpose in taking the course, or reading a research text, is to become thoroughly familiar with details of the process. Before going any further, let us examine this basic question: what is research?

Research is a systematic way of asking questions, a systematic method of inquiry. The purpose of research is to obtain knowledge or information that pertains to some question. The question may be simple (e.g., “Which of these teaching methods is most effective?”) or it may be more complicated. The emphasis of this definition is the term systematic. There are many ways of asking questions and obtaining information. Research is a method that attempts to undertake this task in a systematic fashion to obtain objective and unbiased information. The definition of research presented above is simple. There are many descriptive characteristics involved in different types of research that we will see throughout this book. At the outset, however, a general definition will serve quite well.

The term research has traditionally generated a variety of misconceptions on the part of those not involved. To students, it sometimes seems like a shroud of secrecy has been placed over the act of research, either purposefully or by accident. The net outcome of this situation is a general lack of information concerning what goes on in a research laboratory, the nature of the research process, and what research results mean. All of this tends to generate a mystique and suspicion of the whole process on the part of lay and student populations. The process of conducting research is anything but mystical, and it certainly is not mechanistic. This will become increasingly clear as you progress further into the content of this book.

BOX 1.1 Conventional Wisdom Versus Science

An experienced scholar recently presented the results of a survey he conducted at a national meeting. This survey investigated student perceptions of research that they (the students) had conducted for their own graduate programs. After completing their studies, the vast majority of students reported that they did not change their minds when their findings contradicted conventional wisdom. These students did not believe the results from their own research. They were more inclined to continue believing conventional wisdom (or mythology) than their own data. These students tended to view their research results as being separate from their own daily lives.

What are your thoughts about this viewpoint? What would you think if you learned that something you long believed was not supported by evidence?

Research has typically been an anxiety-producing topic for students. In fact, the most consistent description of what research is may be found among students. From a student perspective—particularly the beginning student—research generates a certain amount of mental anguish, perhaps even outright fear. To many students, research is basically an academic hurdle to be conquered but has little relevance to the “real world” we live in (see Box 1.1 for an illustration of this). In addition, for many students, research is synonymous with statistics, and that implies mathematics. These perceptions are unfortunate misconceptions that must be corrected to better understand the research process. For example, it is critical to understand from the outset that research is much more than statistics. Statistical analysis represents only one step in the overall research process. The statistics used in research would be better viewed as tools, like the way an automobile mechanic uses screwdrivers and wrenches. The mechanic’s tools are of little value if there is no clear understanding of how a car works. Likewise, the researcher who does not know how to initiate the logical process of asking questions will have little meaningful use for statistical or other scholarly tools. Some research tools involve no statistics whatsoever.

PERSPECTIVES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

This discussion of research began with some brief attention to what research is and is not. We also began with a general definition of research as a systematic method of inquiry. It is important at this point to examine why the study of research design is useful. The purpose of this section is to address that question from two perspectives: that of the consumer and the professional.

Research and the Consumer

In discussing issues related to the importance of studying research, we initially focus on the consumer perspective. This view provides one of the most compelling rationales available for becoming familiar with the research process. We are consumers of research in nearly every facet of our daily lives—clearly, research does relate to the real world.

Almost daily, the news media report the results of drug research and product recalls on medicine and many other consumer products because of faulty research. In some cases, research results suggest a risk to consumers; in others, the results simply indicate that there is no positive effect. We also hear many reports about government requirements related to education, such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and fluid requirements for educational curriculum related to science such as teaching evolution. Both of these latter topics are high profile and attract national attention. Many research outcomes have educational impacts in some very practical ways. For example, we know a lot more about the effectiveness of various instructional techniques in reading, math, and other academic content areas than we did 30 years ago. We know that the direct and explicit teaching of letters and words, as well as syntactic, phonetic, and semantic analysis improves literacy program effectiveness for children with intellectual disabilities. This approach is known as direct instruction and emerged prominently in research literature within the last 30 years (Hardman, Drew, & Egan, 2006; Katims, 2000).

Science and research produce new knowledge on a daily basis (e.g., effects of implementing educational programs for young children), and that new knowledge provides society with more choices. Providing more choices...