How did we come to know … Different sources of knowledge: Experience Authority Deductive reasoning Inductive reasoning Scientific approach

How did we come to know … Experience: Authority Based on what a person has done Authority Based on an expert in the field

How did we come to know … Deductive reasoning A systematic way of knowing Established by Greek philosophers Knowing through use of logical arguments to arrive at a conclusion Each statement is called a “premise”; the premises result in a conclusion

How did we come to know … Deductive reasoning E.g. Premise #1: All men are mortal Premise #2 The King is a man Conclusion: The King is mortal Usefulness: provides a means for linking theory and observation Limitation: You must begin with a true premise

How did we come to know … Inductive reasonsing Francis Bacon first referred to inductive learning Belief that investigators should establish general conclusions on the basis of facts from direct observation

How did we come to know … Inductive reasonsing draws inferences from observations in order to make generalizations. Inference can be done in four stages: Observation: collect facts, without bias. Analysis: classify the facts, identifying patterns o of regularity. Inference: From the patterns, infer generalizations about the relations between the facts. Confirmation: Testing the inference through further observation.

Which is which? Every rabbit that has ever been observed has lungs. Therefore, every rabbit had lungs. Every mammal has lungs. All rabbits are mammals. All rabbits have lungs

How did we come to know … Scientific approach Came into being because of limitations of other approaches to knowing Authority – it has always been done like this.. Experience – differ per person More consistent gathering and analysis of data Knits together results of obervation that allows researchers to make general statements about variables

How did we come to know … We raise issues everyday E.g. what is if put Jane to sit beside Paul for two weeks? Will she talk less? Will she do more work? Will she distract Paul? Will they cooperate? Do we systematically collect and record this information?

Research methodologies: … also referred to as research design

Causal-comparative research attempts to establish cause-effect relationships among the variables of the study in causal-comparative research the independent variable is not under the experimenters control E.g. What is the effect of gender on math achievement?

Experimental research It is like causal-comparative research in that it tries to establish cause-effect relationship among the groups of subjects that make up the independent variable of the study in the case of experimental research, the cause (the independent variable) is under the control of the experimenter. E.g. What is the effect of positive reinforcement on attitude toward school?

Correlational research attempts to determine whether and to what degree, a relationship exists between two or more quantifiable (numerical) variables Correlation implies prediction but not causation e.g. Is there a relationship between intelligence and self-esteem?

Survey Attempts to determine specific characteristics of a group. It involves asking the same set of questions to a large number of persons e.g. What are teachers’ feelings about the new Minister of Education?

Historical is involved with the study of past events Aspects of the past is studied by perusing documents within a particular period or by interviewing persons who lived during that time period e.g. What decisions led to the replacement of the Common Entrance Exam with GSAT?

Ethnographic/case study This is the study of current events (rather than past events) and involves the collection of narrative data (non-numerical data) Data are usually collected over a period of time in natural settings The emphasis is on documenting or portraying the everyday experiences of individuals by observing and interviewing them E.g. A case study of how a grade one teacher interacts with her students.

Action Research Differs from all the previously mentioned types The results are not generalized to other persons situations or settings; Purpose usually is to focus on getting information to change a particular situation that the researcher is personally involved in (e.g. a classroom teacher) Participants are actively involved in this type of research

Classifying the types of research Types of research can be classified as either Qualitative; or Quantitative

Qualitative approaches involve narrative data purpose - gain insights into phenomena of interest data analysis include the coding of the data and inductive process (verbal explanations) E.g. Historical, ethnographic

Quantitative approaches involve the collection of numerical data Numbers used to explain, predict, and/or control phenomena of interest, data analyses are mainly through deductive processes (statistics) the researcher reports the numerical results for one or more variables on the subjects of the study

Quantitative approaches (cont’d) Correlational research Causal-comparative research Experimental Research

Activity 1 For each research question, specify what methodology you think would be the most appropriate to investigate each: Is there a relationship between students’ level of social skills and their academic performance? How do students with physical disabilities view themselves in art and craft? Does a literature-based curriculum lead to higher student achievement than a phonics curriculum does? How do magazines that target teenagers present information on safe-sex practices? What do high school teachers in Clarendon think about an extended month of the academic school year?