Educational Research – The Field Professor Frankie S. Laanan

2 Four types of knowledge that research contributes to education Description Prediction Improvement Explanation

3 Description Many research studies involve the description of natural or social phenomena – their form, structure, activity, change over time, relationship to other phenomena, and so on. Scientific discoveries  resulted from researchers making descriptions. Example: Astronomers have used telescopes to develop descriptions of different parts of the universe. As a result, they have discovered new galaxies and have determined the structure of the universe.

4 Description Descriptive function of research is heavily dependent upon instrumentation for measurement and observation. Examples: Electron microscopes, galvanometers, and standardized tests of intelligence. Once instruments are developed they can be used to describe phenomena of interest to the researchers.

5 Description Descriptive studies have increased our knowledge about what happens in schools (or business and industry). Some descriptive research is intended to produce statistical information about aspects of education of interests to policy makers and educators Examples: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) – Digest of Educational Statistics National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

6 Prediction Another type of research knowledge involves prediction, which is the ability to predict a phenomena that will occur at time Y from information available at an earlier time X. Examples: Lunar eclipses Next stage of an embryo’s development A student’s achievement in school or college Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

7 Prediction Prediction research is needed to acquire more knowledge about: How well such tests predict? Whether they predict equally well for different groups of students (such as ethnic minority students)? Whether new instruments can improve the predictability of success in particular settings.

8 Prediction Another purpose of prediction research is to identify students who are likely to be unsuccessful as their education progresses. The purpose of possessing this knowledge is so that prevention programs (e.g., tutorials, mentoring, etc.) can be instituted to achieve student success.

9 Prediction With this knowledge, it is possible to develop programs specifically for certain students (e.g., “high-risk”) in order to increase their chances of success in school. Educational research has generated a large body of predictive knowledge about factors that predict various outcomes that have social importance (e.g., academic success, career success, criminal conduct, etc.). Chapters 10 and 11 discuss procedures for doing research for the purpose of prediction.

10 Improvement Third type of research knowledge concerns the effectiveness of interventions. Examples: Drug therapies in medicine Construction materials in engineering Marketing strategies in business Instructional programs in education

11 Improvement Improvement-oriented research knowledge can be generated using various research approaches: Experimental research (Chapters 12 & 13) Evaluation research (Chapter 17) Another approach to improving education through inquiry has become prominent in recent years. Cultural studies (a branch of critical theory) Historical research (aka revisionist history)

12 Explanation The fourth type of research knowledge – explanation - is the most important in the long term. This type of knowledge subsumes the other three (i.e., description, prediction, and improvement). If researchers are able to explain an educational phenomenon, it means that they can describe it, can predict its consequences, and know how to intervene to change those consequences.

13 Explanation Researchers frame their explanations as theories about the phenomena being investigated. Definition of Theory: An explanation of a certain set of observed phenomena in terms of a system of constructs and laws that relate these constructs to each other. Example of a Theory: Theory of Intellectual Development (Jean Piaget)

14 Explanation Other Important Terms: Theoretical construct Constitutively defined construct Operationally defined construct Variable Law

15 Explanation Law of Science A statement or explanation that always appears to be true. When a theory is used successfully, it becomes a law of science. This explains and predicts exactly what happens whenever a certain kind of action occurs. Examples: Newton’s law of gravitation and of motion Einstein’s theory of relativity

16 Explanation Theories serve several purposes: 1. Theoretical constructs identify commonalities in otherwise isolated phenomena. 2. The laws of a theory enable us to make predictions and to control phenomena. 3. A theory might grow as it is shown to explain more phenomena or as it incorporates more constructs to explain phenomena.

17 Explanation Two Approaches to Theory Development: 1. Grounded Theory approach 2. Formulate a Theory and then submit it to a test by collecting empirical data. The process of testing has three steps: The formulation of a hypothesis; The deduction of observable consequences of the hypothesis; and The testing of the hypothesis by making observations

18 Explanation Three Steps for Testing a Theory: Self-Attention Theory (Brian Mullen, 1988). Theory concerns self-regulation processes that occur when an individual becomes the object of his/her own attention. Self-consciousness and embarrassment are manifestations of self- attention processes at work. One function of self-attention theory is to explain the effect of groups on the individual. The theory states that when individuals are in groups of people like themselves, they become more self-attentive as the size of the group decreases. This is because the smaller group becomes more of a focal point for the individual’s attention, and as a result, the individual is led to compare him/herself with the standards represented by the group.