EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 1 Research Methods in Education

EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 2 Why Study Educational Research? To become "research literate." Because we live in a society that's driven by research To improve your critical thinking skills To learn how to critically evaluate published research. To learn how to conduct research in case the need arises one day.

EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 3  Objectives of Educational Research  There are five major objectives of educational research.  Exploration. This is done when you are trying to generate ideas about something.  Description. This is done when you want to describe the characteristics of something or some phenomenon.  Explanation. This is done when you want to show how and why a phenomenon operates as it does. If you are interested in causality, you are usually interested in explanation.  Prediction. This is your objective when your primary interest is in making accurate predictions. Note that the advanced sciences make much more accurate predictions than the newer social and behavioral sciences.  Influence. This objective is a little different. It involves the application of research results to impact the world. A demonstration program is an example of this.

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Categories of research EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 5 QuantitativeQualitative Purpose Study relationship, cause and effect Understand social phenomena as it is Design Developed prior to the study Flexible and Evolves during study Approach Deductive, test theoryInductive, generate theory Tools Standardized and objective instrument or pre-selected instrument Face-to-face interaction and the researcher is primary data collection tool Sample Fairly largeSmall Analysis Statistical analysis of numeric data Narrative description and interpretation

Which category of research to choose? EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 6  Nature of questions or problems being studied not preference for methods (some suitable for quantitative and some suitable for qualitative)  Suggestions: may use both to verify he findings of the other; as a groundwork for the other; explore different aspects of the same research questions

EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 7 Quantitative ExperimentalNon-experimental Descriptive research Pre-experiment True experiment Quasi-experiment [many designs] Ex post facto Correlation research Survey research

Experimental research EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 8  The most rigorous  Actually establish different treatment and study the effect  Result clear cut interpretation  Example: a history teacher may want to know how can he teach important concepts to his students?  He may compare two different approaches to teaching history

Correlation research EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 9  To establish relationship between two or more variables  Gather data on two or more variables and seek to determine relationship  Concurrent correlation studies  Relationship is drawn from the same point in study. Example: relationship between ….  Predictive correlation studies  Using one characteristics to predict the other. Example: use SPM grade to predict CGPA

Ex post facto EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 10  Also known as causal-comparative study  To determine the cause of the difference between two group of people when experimental research is not possible  No manipulation of IV  The IVs are known as categorical IV  Example to determine if family structure (single-two parent family) cause poor performance in education

Survey research EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 11  Purpose to explore and describe  Do not investigate relationship  Large sample  Slice of time

Developmental study EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 12  Trend study  Cohort study  Panel study  Data are gathered at several points in time

Case study EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 13  Involve small sample  Purpose similar to survey and trend studies  More depth  Direct observation or interviews  Single subject, a club, a school, a teenage gang  Also known as a type of qualitative research

Qualitative Ethnography:an in-depth study of natural occurring behavior within a culture or social group Case Studiesin-depth study of a single unit (an individual, a group, a program, an organization etc.) Document or content analysis Analyzing or interpreting recorded materials within its own contact Naturalistic Observation Unconstructive observation. People being observed are aware of the observation Focused interview Unstructured and open-ended format to draw subject response on a topic of interest Historical Research Analyze documents and artifacts to what has happened in the past. EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 14

Questions that educational researchers normally ask Theoretical [focus on developing theories or testing theories] Practical [aim at solving specific problem] What is intelligence?How effective is peer tutoring? How does the child learn?What is the relative effectiveness of method a compared with method B? Why does one forget?How does teaching…. Affect….? More commonly done is to test the existing theory EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 15

Basic and Applied Research Basic Aimed at obtaining empirical data to formulate and expand theory. Aim is to expand the frontiers of knowledge without regard to practical application Applied Aimed at solving immediate problems (usually) Can be used to test theories as well Not aimed at generalization [a study on the effectiveness of a teaching method on…] Can be used for generalization depending on the nature of research EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 16

EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 17 Action Research  Focuses on solving practitioner’s local problems.  It is generally conducted by the practitioners after they have learned about the methods of research and research concepts that are discussed in your textbook.  It is important to understand that action research is also a state of mind; for example, teachers who are action researchers are constantly observing their students for patterns and thinking about ways to improve instruction, classroom management, and so forth.

Start Are the data primarily in the form of Numbers or Words Numbers Words Qualitative Quantitative Does the researcher Have control over IV Yes Experimental Is random assignment used? Yes True Experimental No Quasi- Experimental Survey Ex Post facto No Non-Experimental Is the study investigate how variables change together? No Yes Is the direction and strength Of the relationship of the Two variables among the same Subjects or paired subjects studied No Yes Correlational

TYPICAL STAGES IN RESEARCH EDU 5900 AB. RAHIM BAKAR 19  Select a problem  Review literature  Design the research  Collect data  Analyze data  Interpret the findings  Report results 