Chapter 2 Selecting and Defining a Research Topic Gay and Airasian Educational Research Chapter 2 Selecting and Defining a Research Topic Gay and Airasian

Topics Discussed in this Chapter Identifying a Research Topic Reviewing the Literature Stating Hypotheses

Identifying a Topic A research topic focuses and provides structure for the steps in the scientific and disciplined inquiry approach

Identifying a Topic Three main sources of Research topics Theory – an organized body of concepts, generalizations and principles that can be subjected to investigation Provides conceptually rich topics Provides confirmation of some aspects of theory Personal experience Replication

Identifying a Topic Available electronic resources Listserves American Educational Research Association AERA - Teacher and Teacher Education Educational Administration Discussion List Educational Resources on the Internet ERIC Listserves Web sites Public Listserves

Identifying a Topic Narrowing and focusing topics Three problems with broad topics Enlarges the scope of the review beyond reason Complicates the organization of the review itself Creates studies that are too general, difficult to carry out, and difficult to interpret

Identifying a Topic Suggestions for focusing topics Talk to experts in the field Read sources that provide overviews Handbooks Encyclopedias Reviews

Identifying a Topic Differences between quantitative and qualitative studies in terms of focusing the topic Quantitative studies tend to narrow the topic initially Qualitative studies tend to narrow the topic throughout the research process itself

Identifying a Topic Researchable topics… can be investigated through the collection and analysis of data. have theoretical or practical significance. have been conducted ethically. contribute to the educational process can be adequately researched given the expertise, resources, and time constraints of the researcher.

Identifying a Topic Non-researchable topics… address philosophical or ethical issues. Cannot be resolved through the collection and analysis of data address “should” questions. Ultimately these are matters of opinion

Identifying a Topic The formal statement of a quantitative research topic… identifies the variables of interest. describes the specific relationship between the variables. identifies the nature of the participants.

Identifying a Topic The emergent nature of the formal statement of a qualitative research topic Initial statements tend to be stated as general issues or concerns Topics become focused as more is learned about the context, participants, and phenomena of interest Typically specific topics are stated late in a written study

The Literature Review The review of the literature involves the systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem

The Literature Review Functions of a literature review Determine what has been done already Provide insight necessary to develop a logical framework into which the topic fits Provides the rationale for the hypotheses being investigated and the justification of the significance of the study Identifies potentially useful methodological strategies Facilitates the interpretation of the results

The Literature Review Recommendations for conducting a review Bigger does not mean better Heavily researched topics provide enough references to focus only on major studies Lesser researched topics require reviewing any study related in some meaningful way

The Literature Review Four stages of conducting a review Identifying key words to guide the search Identifying sources Abstracting your references Analyzing, organizing and reporting the literature

The Literature Review Identifying key words Indexing systems of indices in which you will search Importance of experimenting with several key words and combinations of them ERIC Thesaurus

The Literature Review Identifying sources Characteristics of sources Primary and secondary Empirical and opinion Importance of using handbooks, encyclopedias, and reviews early in the review process

The Literature Review Identifying sources Broadening and narrowing keyword searches Three important Boolean operators AND narrows a search OR broadens a search NOT narrows a search Narrowing and focusing by date of publication, specific authors, titles, etc.

The Literature Review Identifying sources Searching for books Electronic databases of university libraries Keyword searches Searching for journals ERIC Education Index Psychological Abstracts Dissertation Abstracts Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature Annual Reviews of Psychology

The Literature Review Identifying sources Searching the web Search engines Google, Excite, HotBot, Northern Light Subject directories Yahoo!, Web Crawler, Lycos Meta search engines Dogpile, Momma, Vroosh

The Literature Review Identifying sources Educational sites ERIC, Ingenta, New Jour, Education Week, National Center for Education Statistics, Bill Hunt's Homepage, US Dept. of Education, WWW Library Resources, Psych Web Evaluating web sites Quality, honesty, bias, and authenticity Internet Detective, Thinking Critically about WWW Resources, Critically Analyzing Information Sources

The Literature Review Abstracting the references Locating, reviewing, summarizing, and classifying references Seven steps Read the article abstract Skim the entire article Record complete bibliographic information Classify and code the article Summarize the article Identify thoughts about the article you believe important Indicate direct quotes properly

The Literature Review Recommended strategies when abstracting Begin with the most recent references and move toward the most dated Record all bibliographic information Author, date of publication, title, journal name or book title or website name, volume and issue, pages, library call number or URL Identify direct quotes and record page numbers Identify main ideas

Literature Review Analyzing, organizing and reporting Technical nature of reporting Documentation Formal language Adherence to prescribed styles (e.g., APA) Outline the review Group by topics Analyze for similarities and differences within subheadings Discuss the lest relevant studies first followed by the most relevant studies Summarize the review and discuss the implications related to the research problem

Literature Review Differences between quantitative and qualitative reviews Quantitative reviews are typically conducted in the initial stages of the study Qualitative reviews are ongoing throughout the entire study reflecting the need to understand data as it is collected, interpreted, and synthesized

Stating Hypotheses Quantitative hypotheses A researcher’s tentative prediction of the results of the research Formulated on the basis of knowledge of the underlying theory or implications from the literature review Testing hypotheses leads to support or lack thereof

Stating Hypotheses A good hypothesis… is based on sound reasoning. provides a reasonable explanation for the predicted outcome. clearly and concisely states the expected relationships between variables. is testable.

Stating Hypotheses Types of hypotheses Inductive – a generalization made from a number of observations Deductive – derived from theory and aimed at providing evidence to support, expand, or contradict aspects of that theory

Stating Hypotheses Types of hypotheses (continued) Research hypotheses state the expected relationship between two variables Non-directional – a statement that a relationship or difference exists between the variables Directional – a statement of the expected direction of the relationship or difference between variables Null – a statement that no statistically significant relationship of difference exists between variable

Stating Hypotheses Qualitative hypotheses Given the nature of qualitative research, formal a-priori hypotheses are not stated Generating role of qualitative research Testing role of quantitative research Focus is on generating new hypotheses as a result of the study (i.e., inductive hypotheses)

Stating Hypotheses Formats for experimental studies Testing hypotheses P who get X do better on Y that P who do not get X P represents the participant X represents the treatment Y represents the outcome Testing hypotheses Statistical analysis of data Importance of the results regardless of the outcome