RESEARCH IN EDUCATION Chapter I

Explanations about the Universe Power of the gods Religious authority Challenge to religious dogma Metacognition: Thinking about thinking Era of Logic

Deductive Reasoning Systematic approach to reasoning Aristotle and the Greeks Syllogism: Established a logical relationship between a major premise, minor premise, and a conclusion

Typical Aristotelian categorical syllogism: Major premise: All men are mortal Minor premise: Socrates is a man Conclusion: Socrates is mortal

Aristotle Aristotle was chiefly concerned with the form of proof, he was most interested in syllogism, which he assumed provided certain knowledge concerning reality.For instance, in the syllogism “All men are mortal, Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates is mortal,” it is not merely that the conclusion is deduced according to the formal laws of logic; Aristotle assumes that the conclusion is verified in reality. With syllogisms, one reasons from the universal (e.g., a principle like “All men are mortal” or “All kindness is good”) to a particular instance (e.g., “Bill is mortal” or “Giving to the poor is good”).These are called “categorical syllogisms,” since he is referring to categories like “men,” “mortal,” and a particular man, “Socrates.” If the placement of these terms is imperfect, then the form of the syllogism will not work.For instance, if one says, “All Men are Mortal, Socrates is Mortal, so Socrates is a Man,” the syllogism has bad form. For reasoning from the first two premises one can only conclude that Socrates is a man, not that he is mortal. Since the form of reasoning is in error, the syllogism commits a formal fallacy and is invalid, which means its conclusion does not “follow.” Aristotle observed that there are 256 different varieties of syllogism, but only 24 of them are valid, meaning that their conclusions follow with certainty.

Categorical Syllogism ument/syllogisms/categorical_syllogism.htm The deductive method moves from general assumption to the specific application Not helpful in creating “new truths”

Inductive Reasoning Inductive Process: Moving from specific to a generalization Francis Bacon: Direct observation of phenomena, arriving at generalizations or conclusions through evidence of individual observations Pg. 5-Chapter 1 “ The syllogism consists of propositions, propositions consist of words, words are symbols of notions. Therefore if the notions themselves (which is the root of the matter) are confused and hastily abstracted from the facts, there can be no firmness in the superstructure. Our only hope therefore lies in a true induction.”

Deductive Method: Aristotle Inductive Method: Bacon Scientific Approach: Deductive/Inductive- Create a hypothesis; Collect and Analyze data; Conclusion based on analysis of data

Scientific Approach Inductive/Deductive process John Dewey Dewey-Pattern-problem-solving-agenda Dewey-Pattern-problem-solving-agenda The Scientific Method ntroduction.html ntroduction.html

In our world today, there has been much progress in the physical and biological sciences Scientific methods need to be applied to the behavioral sciences. Why does this present a challenge?

Theory “Establishes a cause-effect relationship between variables with the purpose of explaining and predicting phenomena.” Piaget: Stages of cognitive development mmittees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachti p/piaget.htm mmittees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachti p/piaget.htm

Deductive/Inductive Group Activity: Create 3 examples of Deductive reasoning Create 3 examples of Inductive reasoning

Hypothesis The most common use of the hypothesis is to test whether an existing theory can be used to solve a problem. The research hypothesis is a formal affirmative statement predicting a single outcome, that gives an explanation of the relationship between two or more variables.

Null Hypothesis “Most often this research hypothesis suggests that a difference of some kind (e.g. One group will do better than another) will occur.” It asserts that observed differences or relationships result merely from chance errors inherent in the sampling process. A rejection of the Null hypothesis means acceptance of the research hypothesis, concluding that the magnitude of the observed variable relationship is too great to attribute to sampling error

Population A group with common characteristics Must narrow down the choices from a Large general population to a Target population to a Sample A Sample is a small portion of the population selected for sampling (observation and analysis Sampling error: Chance variations that may occur Samples of 30 or more are considered large samples Samples of 30 or less are considered small samples Samples are chosen in a systematically random way so that chance or the operation of probability is used.

Samples Groups will: Compare and Contrast different kinds of samples Systematic Sample Stratified Random Sample Area or cluster sample Convenience sample Snowball sample

Sample Size Group: Answer questions 4-7

Purposes of Research Basic Research-Carried on in a laboratory Applied Research- designed to improve a product or process Action Research- focused on immediate application; here and now problems in a local setting; applies scientific thinking to real life problems

Assessment Fact finding activity that describes conditions that exist at a particular time i.e.- National Census Bureau and NAEP

Evaluation Judgement of the effectiveness of a product, program, or process with defined objectives Teacher observations How well does the science program represent the standards required by the state?

Descriptive Research Characterized by testing of a hypothesis, analysis of variable relationships and distinguished by the final development of a generalization Uses specific sampling procedures

Educational Research Classifications Historical research describes ‘what was’: Investigate, record, analyze, Interpret Descriptive- “what is”- Quantitative- Statistics Qualitative-”What is”- uses non- quantitative methods” Experimental describes “What will be”- controlled variables that are manipulated

Jigsaw sections of chapter Exercises: Pgs ,2,4,6,7