Research Methods and Practice 5FD027 Deborah Whittington 15 th February 2011

Session Aims and Outcomes By the end of this session you should be able to explain the following terms and their relevance to research; Paradigms Positivism / interpretevism Reliability Validity Ethics

Design a questionnaire Work in pairs Design a questionnaire with between 3 and 6 questions about ‘Chocolate’ Try to avoid questions with yes/no answers Use different types of questions that provide different types of data

Test your questions Swap partners with another pair and test out your questions. Note any difficulties that arose from the questions – did your participants give answers that fit into your format? Reflect on your questions – were they fit for purpose? What did you have to consider when writing them?

Questionnaires Are questions clear? Are questions concise (30 or 10 words) Do you avoid jargon /abbreviations? Does the wording lead to a particular answer? Is the language appropriate to the respondents? Will the language used be accessible to all regardless of culture/ nationality? How much do the questions rely on memory?

Question types ListChoose an answer from a list CategoryResponse is from a list of categories RankingPut in rank order (e.g. qualities or characteristics QuantityResponse is a number GridA table or grid is provided to record answers. Scalee.g.: Strongly agree to disagreedisagree

Examples Design of questions: QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN.docQUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN.doc Leeds uni Leeds Or of Leeds - Guide to the Design of QuestionnaiUniversity res.htmof Leeds - Guide to the Design of QuestionnaiUniversity res.htm

Ethical considerations What does that mean? How can you ensure that you research ethically.

Ethics Keep to ethical guidelines. Give participants a project outline Get written permission Workplace policies Photographs? No names Respect confidentiality Give the right to withdraw session3\ETHICA1.pdf

More Vocab! Reliability: the extent to which a test or procedure produces the same results What underlying factors/variables may change? Need to know what you want to find out to have control on variables

Validity Has the questionnaire worked? Did it find out what it was supposed to? Does the method used collect the info it was supposed to?

The 2 camps Your methodological approach for research depends very much on your understanding of how the ‘world’ functions. Are you a positivist or an interpretivist? Did you realise you might have a way of viewing the ‘world’ which will influence how you do your research? This is called your epistemological position This understanding can be considered as:

Paradigms A paradigm is a way of understanding/viewing the world’ A shared way of viewing the world so we can establish a mutually understood perspective.

Positivist The social world can be studied scientifically and objectively Things can be measured through scientific observation Results are presented as facts and truths. A Positivist approach is to test a hypothesis using an experimental group / control group so the research is viewed as measurable and objective. A theory is made and then tested

Crotty (1998) in Gray (2009) points out; “it implies that the results of research will tend to be presented as objective facts and established truths.” and Popper (1968) in Gray(2009) continues” that no theory can ever be proved simply by multiple observations, since only instance that refutes the theory would demonstrate it as false”.

Interpretivist Argues that the world is interpreted not classified by results. Researchers try to understand individuals perceptions of the world Accept that different versions of events are inevitable The theory comes from the research Explanations are important

Interpretivism Gray(2009) sates that this “asserts that natural reality (and the laws of science) and social reality are different and therefore require different kinds of methods”

To clarify Theoretical perspective Positivist Interpretivist Research approach Quantitative Qualitative MethodologyAction research Case Study

Pos. Result BUT… This tends towards: High prestige Positivists believe that structures can be discovered by research; they believe society can be researched in the same way as the natural world Can social experimentation be done in a controlled way? Stats can give trends but do not explain why e.g. “stats on truancy… can give the trends but it is the stories behind that explain these trends” (Bartlett and Burton 2007)

Int: Result BUT… Interpretivists seek to understand actions “The classroom teacher, other teachers at the school, parents all have a view of what goes on and act upon how they interpret events” (Bartlett and Burton 2007) Are there any drawbacks to this research paradigm? Does the interpretivist paradigm provide solutions? Which paradigm does? Where do you sit on the paradigm continuum?

Quick quiz Which category do the following fall into from the previous slide? 60% said yes Do you consider the issue to be important? 1+1 = 2 The study of an intervention strategy on a pupil I don’t like it. The need to consider views Questionnaire research is a way to collect data

Cont. A box was left to allow people to express opinions 1 in 4 agreed with the statement 44% said No. A pie chart Bar graphs were used A tick box approach was used to allow opinions to be expressed. Find out sth but may not be able to change it

Triangu -lation INT Qualitative Case Study Observation Interviews POS Quantitative Action Res Questionnaires Quotes Secondary Data