Research Overview E. D. Bell

Introduction In the beginning of your program of study, you read about the role of research in educational psychology (Slavin, 2009).

Vocabulary Treatment/intervention = a special program that is the subject of an experiment. Variable = something that can have more than one value. Experiment = procedure to test the effect of a treatment (Slavin, 2009).

Vocabulary - continued Random assignment = selection by chance into different treatment groups; intended to ensure equivalence of the groups. Laboratory experiment = experiment in which conditions are tightly controlled; Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience have raised powerful ethical and social issues (Slavin, 2009). Burger (2009) replicated this experiment.Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience Burger (2009) replicated this experiment.

Vocabulary - continued Internal validity = the degree to which the experiment’s results can be attributed to the treatment in question, not to other factors. Randomized field experiment = experiment conducted under realistic conditions in which individuals are assigned by chance to receive different practical treatments or programs (Slavin, 2009). Quasi-experiment field experiment = individuals cannot be randomly assigned to treatment conditions.

Vocabulary - continued Experimental group = group that receives treatment during an experiment Control group = group that receives no special treatment during an experiment. External validity = degree to which results of an experiment can be applied to real-life situations (Slavin, 2009).

Vocabulary - continued Descriptive research = research study aimed at identifying and gathering detailed information about something of interest. Action research (a type of descriptive research) is for our purposes = research carried by educators in their own classrooms or schools (Slavin, 2009)

Vocabulary - continued Independent variable = the variable in an experiment that is manipulated. Independent variable Dependent variable = the variable in the experiment that is measured. Dependent variable

Experiments Experimental research uses samples from a larger population to test treatments/interventions on specific variables (independent and dependent) within the experimental and control groups and inferential statistics to make judgements on the effectiveness of the treatment for the population.inferential statistics

Experiments (continued) There a various types of experiments: laboratory, randomized, field experiments, and quasi-experimental field experiments. The major strength of the experimental design is the potential to create strong internal and external validity. The major weakness is often the inability to determine the multitude of factors that may actually influence the dependent variable.

Descriptive Research Descriptive research/action research cannot be used to make any generalizations to a larger population, i.e., it has no external validity. However, it has the ability to develop strong internal validity because of it’s potential to gather detailed information about the subject of interest. This ability is a function of the strength of the design of the study.

References Slavin, R. E. (2009). Educational psychology: Theory and practice, 9 th ed. Pearson: Upper Saddle, NJ.