Comparing the Two Articles against Major Research Decisions - Essay Example

?COMPARING TWO ARTICLES AND RELATING THEM TO THE STUDY GUIDE Task A: The differences and similarities between the two articles against the research decisions Introduction The process of conducting a research involves many steps varying from identifying research questions, defining the research paradigms, formulating the research designs, selecting the most appropriate methods and techniques, analysing the data to drawing conclusions from the study. The part 1, part 2 and part 3 of the study guide offer fresh insights on the initial steps of the research process consisting of its purpose, paradigm and design frame. Any process of research starts with identifying the research problem or research questions as well as the scope and scale of the current study through review of the existing literature. The researcher then needs to make significant decisions regarding the ontological, epistemological and mythological paradigms for the current study. It is based on the nature and type of the research question and research paradigms that a researcher chooses the most appropriate design frame, methods and techniques, and data production instruments for the study. It is worthwhile to analyse two research articles in terms of the above mentioned research decisions. The articles under consideration are the research studies of Hong (2012) and Lasky (2005). While Hong unearths the relationship between teacher resilience and psychological factors such as value, self-efficacy, beliefs and emotions Lasky attempts to examine teacher identity, agency and professional vulnerability in the context of secondary school reform. Thus the paper seeks to analyse the differences and similarities between the two articles against such research decisions as setting up the topic, the research question, scope and scale, paradigm and associated ontology, epistemology and methodology (with research design), and methods and data production instruments. Research decisions: 1. Setting up the topic Setting up the research topic is a significant challenge for any researcher as it necessitates a comprehensive review of the existing literature. The researcher needs to identify the gaps in the existing literature and formulate the research variables for the current study. Hong (2012) clearly identifies the gap in the existing literature and realizes that the existing research on shortage of beginning teachers only addressed external factors from an organizational perspective. Hong also sees the relationship between shortage of beginning teachers and teacher resilience while identifying the distinction between stayers and leavers in a school setting. Thus, the insights gained from the literature review prompts Hong to focus on the role of internal psychological factors such as self-efficacy, beliefs, values and emotions on teacher resilience and career decision-making. As such Hong’s research topic-Why do some beginning teachers leave the school, and others stay? Understanding teacher resilience through psychological lenses-is carefully chosen and sounds to be a good qualitative research topic. On the other hand, Lasky chooses his research topic from the complex fiscal restructuring, curricular reforms and new accountability systems implemented among the secondary schools in Ontario, Canada. The research problem is explicitly stated in the conceptual framework of the paper. Lasky holds that the emotions and professional identity of teachers change when socio-cultural changes occur in their immediate context. Lasky also points out that no previous studies have adequately addressed how teacher identity interacts with such reform mandates as in the secondary schools in Ontario. Similarly, the researcher also wants to probe into how secondary school reforms will contribute towards professional vulnerability of teachers using a sociocultural approach. Thus, Lasky’s research topic-A sociocultural approach to understanding teacher identity, agency and professional vulnerability in a context of secondary school reform-provides ample scope for a constructive research. 2. The research question Developing realistic and relevant research question(s) is a major challenge in the research process. However, qualitative researches do not start with any specific predetermined research questions. Unlike research questions of quantitative researches making use of scientific experimental methods the research questions in both the articles are not so tightly framed. On the other hand, the ideas of the researchers are “more general and uncertain in character, and they expect these to change, or at least to be refined and become more specific, over the course of enquiry” (3.1 Research questions and design frames). This is made clear when one critically examines how Hong (2012) formulates her three research questions. One can clearly notice how Hong resorts to a long comprehensive literature review to finally arrive at the three precise and specific research questions for the study: “(1) How do leavers and stayers differ in terms of the value, self-efficacy, emotions and beliefs? (2) How do the psychological constructs function in perceiving and interpreting the external environment? (3) How are the psychological factors related to teachers’ decision to leave the career?” (Hong 2012, p. 422). Prior to finalizing her research questions the researcher makes an extensive literature review regarding attrition rates among beginning teachers, the various reasons for high attrition rate among beginners, the reasons for teachers leaving the job before their retirement, the adverse effects of attrition rates on the quality of teaching, and how beginning teachers’ decision making process and internal value system affect teacher attrition. Sue Lasky (2005), on the other hand, makes use of a sociocultural theoretical lens to examine teacher identity, agency and professional vulnerability in a context of secondary school reforms. Lasky identifies two significant variables for the study: the early influences on teacher identity and the current reform context. One can clearly notice how the research questions for the study are loosely stated by Lasky in the conceptual framework: “whether the new reform context brings with it a new set of norms and tools for teaching; if it does, how teachers understand and experience these new norms and tools through the lens of their professional identity, as well as how their experiences of reform mandates might shape their experiences of vulnerability” (Lasky 2005, P. 901). 3. Scope and scale It is also essential to identify the scope and significance of the proposed research before one begins the actual research process. The scope of a research depends on the researcher’s ‘position in relation to the question or dilemma’ and the resources he/she has at disposal (1.2 The scope of enquiry). While some research questions address organizational or national issues there are many studies that address global issues or contribute to the existing theory or knowledge. The two articles under consideration are educational researches aimed at contributing to the existing body of knowledge. Analysing the two articles one can find many evidences where the researchers emphasise the scope and scale of the current research. The scope of any research increases when it is capable of filling the gap in the existing body of knowledge or when it adds or contributes to the insights of the exiting literature. Hong (2012) establishes the scope and rationale for the study by pointing out the results of many previous studies emphasising higher attrition rates among beginning teachers. Evidences from literature regarding large number of teachers leaving schools before their retirement age enhance the scope and scale of the study. The researcher makes it clear that such high rates of attrition among beginning teachers will adversely affect quality of teaching and result in poor students’ learning and school management. The introduction also throws light on the various reasons for this high attrition rate among beginners as identified by previous researchers. These reasons vary from school staffing action, family or personal reason, pursuit of another job, dissatisfaction, poor salary, student discipline problems, poor administrative support, poor student motivation, lack of faculty influence, adverse workplace conditions, average class size, student demographics to community conditions (Hong 2012, p. 418). It is evident from the themes in literature that none of these studies focussed on the internal or psychological factors leading to shortage of beginning teachers. Therefore, Hong’s current research assumes special significance and educational implications. Lasky also makes clear the scope and scale of the research at the very outset of the introduction. Lasky (2005, p. 899) points out the gap in the existing literature when he purports that no such previous studies tried to unearth how “teacher identity interacts with reform mandates to affect teachers’ experiences of professional vulnerability.” Lasky cautions that as teachers are active agents their identity and professional vulnerability can be reflected when reform mandates are inflicted on them. 4. Research paradigms It is also worthwhile to understand the paradigm positions held by researchers. It has been observed that “a paradigm position evolves as a researcher makes explicit his/her ontological and epistemological positions using the research literature as tools in this process” (Study guide part 2, Thinking about epistemological positions). As pointed out by Klenke (2008, p. 15) each paradigm “makes assumption about the nature of reality or ontology, how knowledge is constructed, or epistemology” and throws light on “the selection of method, participants, data collection, analysis, and interpretation.” It can thus be inferred that any discussions on research paradigm focuses on the linkages between ontology, epistemology, and methodology. The most commonly used research paradigms are pragmatism, positivism, realism, constructivism, interpretivism, and symbolic interactionism. Each of these paradigms assumes a specific philosophical position or lens about reality and how one can gain knowledge of it. The most commonly used qualitative research paradigms are interpretivism, constructivism, positivism, critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, and phenomenology. A clear paradigmatic stance better equips the researcher to plan the research design and make other significant research decisions. 5. Ontological and Epistemological positions One always needs to bear in mind that ontology and epistemology are the theoretical roots of research paradigms even when they are not apparently discussed in the research literature. Epistemology describes “theories about what we know about the world and how we know it” whereas ontology refers to theories about existence or being and how one can understand the social world (2.2 The role and nature of theories). In fact, it is the epistemological and ontological positions of the researcher that determine how research problems and questions are conceptualized and what research methodologies and research frames are to be adopted. While elaborating the differences between ontological and epistemological positions Sale, Lohfeld and Brazil (2002, p. 45) observe that from a qualitative paradigm ontology seeks “multiple realities or multiple truths based on one’s construction of reality” whereas epistemology holds that “there is no access to reality independent of our minds, no external referent by which to compare claims of truth”. However, from a quantitative paradigm ontology seeks for a single truth or objective reality whereas epistemology views the investigator and investigated as independent entities. It has been observed that qualitative researches follow a relativistic ontology accepting multiple realities rather than sticking onto any objective reality. On the other hand, epistemological positions reveal the relationship between the researcher and the researched. Consequently, epistemology throws light on “the researcher’s belief system about the nature of knowledge, such as beliefs about the certainty, structure, complexity, and sources of knowledge” (Klenke 2008, p. 16). These epistemological assumptions influence the way they frame research questions, refine methodologies, choose methods and techniques for data interpretation and analysis. Hong (2012) identifies the gap in the existing literature towards the end of her introduction and makes her ontological positions evident. Hong clearly understands that most of the existing research on shortage of beginning teachers only addressed external factors from an organizational perspective. Thus, the researcher takes special efforts while formulating research questions to address such internal factors as beginning teachers’ decision making process and internal value system which have a great bearing on teacher attrition. Thus, initially, the researcher seeks to explore why stayers and leavers make different career decisions with regard to their teaching profession. Then the researcher moves towards unearthing the relationship between teacher resilience and career decision making. Hong identifies that the existing literature relates teacher resilience with such factors as teachers’ identity development, job satisfaction and motivation, teacher burnt out and stress, career decision making, and teaching effectiveness (Hong 2012, p. 419). Similarly, Hong also probes into how teacher resilience is related to effective classroom management, stress management, job satisfaction and managing challenging students. Having gone through the multiple realities in the literature Hong then assumes her ontological position by trying to identify what is there to study for the current research. The researcher thus recognizes that the focus of many previous studies were the negative impacts of lack of teacher resilience whereas the positive motivating capability of teacher resilience were undermined. All these insights gained from the literature review prompts the researcher to focus on “the role of psychological factors such as self-efficacy, beliefs, values and emotions as the lens to understand the protective process of resilience” (Hong 2012, pp. 419-420). Similarly, Lasky (2005) reveals the ontological positions of the research paper in the conceptual framework. The researcher makes an elaborate literature review to identify the various factors that shape teacher professional identity. These factors include school reform, political contexts, individual beliefs, identity, values, subject area, pedagogic knowledge, past experiences with reform, teacher emotional well-being and professional vulnerability” (Lasky 2005, p. 901). It is from this existing body of knowledge that Lasky identifies the research problem for the paper. The researcher holds the ontological position that the emotions and professional identity of teachers change when socio-cultural changes occur in their immediate context and this prompts her to study how secondary school reforms contribute to teacher professional vulnerability. One can also notice the epistemological positions held by Hong (2012) in the research paper. The fact that the researcher is a faculty of educational psychology must have influenced her epistemological paradigm of focusing the research questions on psychological factors of self-efficacy, beliefs, values, and emotions as specific lenses in understanding teacher resilience. The researcher also attempts to review the existing literature on the four psychological factors- self-efficacy, beliefs, values, and emotions. Lasky’s epistemological positions are adequately revealed in the conceptual framework of the article. For Maxwell (2012, p. 34) the conceptual framework consists of “the system of concepts, assumptions, expectations, beliefs, and theories that supports and informs” one’s research and as such Lasky’s epistemological assumptions on teacher professional vulnerability and the impacts of secondary school reforms are evident in the article. For him vulnerability can occur when people are forced “to act in ways that are inconsistent with their core beliefs and values” and he postulates that “in all social interaction, norms figure as factual boundaries of social life and rules guide thought and behaviour” (Lasky 2005, p. 902). These epistemological positions lie at the core of the whole research process. 6. Methodology and research design As already pointed out the epistemological and ontological assumptions of the researchers are later translated into clearly defined and well-structured methodologies. Methodology determines how the researcher finds answers to the research questions and as such “methodological debates address issues of types of sampling, data, design, and analysis and the consequences that result from methodological choices” (Klenke 2008, p. 18). The two general research approaches that determine the research methodology are the qualitative and quantitative approaches. While qualitative researches derive subjective qualitative data quantitative researches are objective and scientific. However, modern research methodologies make use of mixed approaches where both qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed to learn various perspectives of the issue. It can be seen that Hong (2012) follows qualitative research designs whereas Lasky (2005) makes use of a larger longitudinal, mixed-method study for the purpose of research. Research designs are framed based on the research problem and the type of methodologies. One needs to understand research design as an ‘ongoing process’ where the researchers “are careful not to define the research too narrowly or too fixedly at the beginning, and their plans are always open to revision” (3.1 Research questions and design frames). However, as the researcher learns more about the research problem and corresponding variables it is essential for him/her to frame a competent research design that best suits the research questions under consideration. Every research design tries to enact a specific methodological position and six ways of framing research have been identified- experimental, longitudinal survey, case study, ethnography, action research, and activity theory (Study guide part 3, 3.1 Design frames). Analyzing the research articles, one can find that Hong (2012) follows a qualitative research approach to collect qualitative data regarding the teachers’ self-efficacy, perceptions, values, emotions and beliefs that underlay their career decisions. Similarly, in-depth interview research design is employed by the researcher for data collection as the open ended nature of the approach is best suited for the study. No doubt, the research design offers unlimited freedom to the participant teachers to offer intricate details over the four psychological factors under consideration. On the other hand, Lasky makes use of a larger longitudinal, mixed-method study for the purpose of research. The data collection of the study was made during the time when secondary schools in Ontario were undergoing complex and multifaceted reforms including fiscal restructuring, curricular reforms and new accountability systems (lasky 2005, 902). The qualitative data for the study was collected from ten schools from two boards across the province of Ontario, Canada and it sought to gather data on teacher, student, and administrator experiences with regard to Government mandated SSR policies. Later the researcher employs various quantitative statistical tools such as Factor Analysis, correlation, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Statistic for data analysis. 7. Methods and data production instruments As the research methods employed in both the articles are already mentioned this section focuses on the data production instruments employed in each of the articles. The data production instruments for research consist of interview, observation, and questionnaire (3.1 Designing the research). Survey and documentary analysis have also been identified as potential data production instruments. Hong (2012) elaborately discusses the data production instruments for the research. The researcher employs semi-structured face to face interview with the participants to obtain the qualitative data. The questions are open-ended opening scope for further probing questions during the process of the interview. The duration of the interviews lasted from 45 to 90 minutes and the audiotapes as well as the written responses are used by the researcher for data analysis. Integration of inductive analysis and the constant comparison method are employed as tools of data analysis. Lasky, on the other hand, employs survey and interviews as primary sources of data for the research. The researcher also makes use of extensive documentary analysis (such as ministry documents, school documents, other public commentary documents) for data collection. The survey consisted of 10 sections designed to gather data about teacher background and the interviews are semi-structured. However, due to the limited number of participants, the conclusions of both the researchers cannot be generalized or applied to a larger public without further studies. Conclusions It can thus be concluded that the process of conducting a research involves various key stages including setting up the topic, determining the research questions, specifying the research paradigms, formulating the research designs, selecting the most appropriate methods and techniques, analysing the data to drawing conclusions from the study. One needs to have thorough understanding regarding the various aspects of the research process both to analyse a research article and to undertake a research. Similarly, it is essential to have a clear understanding regarding the ontological, epistemological and mythological paradigms that govern the whole research process. In fact, the nature and type of the research question and research paradigms play a crucial role in choosing the most appropriate design frame, methods and techniques, and data production instruments for the study. Every researcher as well as every critical reader of research article needs to know all these theoretical insights mentioned above. Task B: Compare and discuss the approaches to quality, validity, analysis, conclusions and implications in the articles Introduction Research process involves many steps and the initial steps of identifying research problems, clarifying research paradigms, formulating research designs, and selecting most appropriate methods and techniques for the study have already been discussed in Task A part of this assignment. It is also worthwhile to understand how researchers analyse the data, draw conclusions from the data, and ensure the quality and validity of the research results. Data analysis is a significant step in the research process where researchers employ theme analysis, discourse analysis, frequency analysis or causal analysis depending on the nature of data. Once data analysis is completed researchers draw the conclusions of their studies gaining insights from the common themes identified during data analysis. Researchers then make objective claims (comprising of descriptions and explanations) and value claims (evaluations or prescriptions) based on which they draw the conclusions of the study through empirical generalizations or theoretical inference. It is also the responsibility of the researcher to ensure the quality of the study in terms of reliability, validity (both internal and external), objectivity, and transferability. The validity of a research rests on the many aspects- the type of variables, sample and methodology, research aims and role of the researcher, and issues related to relevance, reflexivity, interpretation or misinterpretation, and subjectivity or objectivity. This paper seeks to compare and discuss the articles of Hong (2012) and Lasky (2005) in terms of their approaches to quality, validity, analysis, conclusions and implications. Approaches to analysis Researchers resort to different approaches to data analysis based on the research rationale, research questions and the type and nature of the data collected. Data analysis is a significant step in the research process as faulty data analysis fails to yield the accurate results of the study. The most common approaches employed by researchers to analyse data are theme analysis, discourse analysis, frequency analysis and causal analysis. Theme analysis is used to identify ‘themes that reflect the focus of enquiry’; frequency analysis approach ‘focuses on the frequency of a single variable’; discourse analysis deals with a single text or a set of related texts; and, casual analysis approach explores the relationship between variables (4.2: The relationship between research rationale and data analysis). Analysing the two articles one can find that Hong (2012) mainly makes use of theme analysis for her qualitative research whereas Lasky’s mixed approach research employs both theme analysis and frequency analysis. Hong (2012) tries to collect qualitative data to analyse the role of internal psychological factors such as self-efficacy, beliefs, values and emotions on teacher resilience and career decision-making. Hong resorts to theme analysis to categorise the various themes derived out of her semi-structured face to face interview with the participants. The analytic technique chosen by Hong is integration of inductive analysis and the constant comparison method. The researcher inductively analyses the qualitative data to condense them to core themes. Similar themes identified in the interview are categorized into broader themes and codes are constructed for similar patterns and regularities across all participants. Similarly, the opposing patterns are also identified by the researcher before arriving at the conclusions for the study. The researcher presents the summary of the data in narrative form emphasising the major themes derived from theme analysis. Lasky (2005), on the other hand, makes use of both theme analysis and factor analysis in her sociocultural approach to understand teacher identity and professional vulnerability in the context of secondary school reform. The researcher collects data through surveys and interviews. Lasky employs exploratory factor analyses to examine the survey data making use of such analytical tools as correlation, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Statistic (KMO), principal components factor analyses, Varimax rotation, Kaiser Criterion, and alpha coefficients. While analysing the interview data Lasky also follows theme analysis to identify common themes and sub-themes from among individual narratives and data sets. Thus, one can notice that both the researchers employ the most appropriate analytical approaches for their research topics to ensure validity and quality of the researches. Drawing conclusions Data analysis is followed by results and conclusions of the study. One needs to have a thorough understanding of the types of claims made by the researchers as these offer a solid foundation for one “to consider the conclusions made by the authors to support their claims” (4.4 Evaluating research and drawing conclusions). These claims are made by researchers based on the supporting evidences and data collected by them. Thus, one can come across objective claims (comprising of descriptions and explanations) and value claims (evaluations or prescriptions) in a research paper. Similarly, researchers draw the conclusions of their papers either through empirical generalizations or theoretical inference. Empirical generalizations refer to such conclusions that “relate to all the cases within a larger population, based on investigation of a sample of cases drawn from that population” (4.4 Evaluating research and drawing conclusions). The validity and quality of empirical generalizations depend on how effectively the statistical sampling techniques have been used by the researcher. On the other hand, experimental researches usually arrive at conclusions through theoretical inference and it is imperative that the evidences drawn from the study are strong enough to support the theory proposed. Analysing Hong’s one can clearly find the objective claims (regarding the self-efficacy, beliefs, values and emotions of the participants) and empirical generalizations made by the researcher. The data analysis showed that both leavers and stayers possessed the same intrinsic value and interest in working as a teacher. However, the stayers excelled than the leavers in terms of self-efficacy. While leavers were unable to manage the challenges and difficulties in the school environment and “professed their lack of efficacy beliefs in managing the classroom and handling misbehaving students in the classroom” the stayers admitted that they knew how to handle these situations effectively (Hong 2012, p. 427). Similarly, the stayers were more able to tackle emotional burnout and stress in the workplace. All these claims prompt the researcher to come to the conclusion that both stayers and leavers demonstrated different levels of resilience that shaped their career decision making. The conclusions of the study prompts the researcher to come to the empirical generalization that under the same challenging situations stayers tend to manage emotional burnout more effectively while maintaining strong self-efficacy beliefs. The conclusions of the study have a number of implications on teachers’ professional development, teacher training programs and management. In the same way, Lasky (2005) also draws her conclusions regarding how social or curriculum reforms would affect teacher identity and teacher vulnerability. The researcher identifies that the conflict between early professional training and the new reform mandates creates tensions in the minds of teachers regarding their professional identity. The results of the study clearly pinpoints that secondary school reforms such as the one in Ontario contribute to professional vulnerability among teachers as they believe that “their professionalism was being systematically eroded by the current reform context” (Lasky 2005, p. 913). The conclusions of the study have great bearing on governmental policies and meditational systems that affect school functioning and teacher identity. Approaches to quality One needs to take into account a number of factors while analysing the quality of any research. It is essential to evaluate the research findings in terms of such quality indicators as reliability, validity (both internal and external), objectivity, and transferability. The results of a study need to be reliable, valid, applicable, and reproducible. Polit and Beck (2008, p. 539), in this respect, observe that the trustworthiness of a qualitative enquiry takes into account the positivists’ criteria of internal validity (credibility), reliability (dependability), objectivity (conformity), and external validity (transferability). However, only experimental studies based on quantitative methodology can claim absolute objectivity. As suggested by Eisner (1992, p. 10) procedural objectivity can be achieved only “by using a method that eliminates, or aspires to eliminate, the scope for personal judgment.” However, one should always bear in mind that poor methodology, non-systematic data collection procedures, and inappropriate data analysis tools can hamper the quality of any research. Analysing the researches of Hong (2012) and Lasky (2005) one can find that their studies yield valid and reliable results. However, due to the small sample, these results cannot be transferred, applied or generalized to a larger population unless they are proved to be true in a more in-depth study among a larger population. As such, these researches can be regarded as representative studies that offer scope for further researches in this regard. Approaches to validity The validity of a research rests on many aspects. While analyzing the validity of a research, one needs to “examine the range of variables that may threaten validity, including the sample studied, how the study was completed, the research aims and the role of the researcher in the research process” (4.4 Evaluating research and drawing conclusions). One also needs to evaluate the relevance of the study in terms of the study results. The relevance of any research increases when it is capable of contributing towards the practice, policy or the existing body of knowledge. Questions of validity are related to research rationale, research paradigms, and seek to address issues of truth, reflexivity, interpretation or misinterpretation, and subjectivity or objectivity. While quantitative researches tend to be objective in nature qualitative researches are interpretive and subjective. Researchers need to be extremely cautious to avoid personal reflexivity, errors and misunderstandings while remaining neutral in the whole research process. Analyzing the two articles it can be seen that both Hong (2012) and Lasky (2005) have undertaken special care to ensure the validity of their research by choosing measurable variables, sample population, appropriate methodologies, data collection methods, tools for data analysis and personal involvement. Hong (2012) makes use of semi-structured face to face interview for obtaining the qualitative data. Special efforts are taken by the researcher to ask open-ended questions during the interview. The interviews are audio taped and the written responses are carefully documented by the researcher for data analysis. Similarly, Hong tries to ensure the reliability and validity of the results of the study by employing an integration of inductive analysis and constant comparison method for theme analysis. Lasky’s research problem necessitates a mixed approach for maintaining its validity. Lasky thus employs both qualitative and quantitative measures to obtain results from the data. The researcher employs survey and interviews as primary sources whereas she resorts to documentary analysis for secondary resources. The survey questions are carefully designed by the researcher to yield valid results. The survey is divided into 10 sections, each section addressing a specific aspect related to teacher identity. The researcher also makes use of quantitative statistical tools such as factor analysis, correlation, Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Statistic to guarantee the validity of the research. Approaches to implications It is worthwhile to analyse the educational implications of both the articles. Hong’s research throws light on many of the internal psychological factors that affected the attrition rates of beginning teachers in the school environment. The research has great implications on teacher education, professional development of teachers, school management systems, aptitude tests in teaching, qualities required of prospective teachers, teachers’ training programs, and selection as well as retention of teachers. Knowledge and in-depth understanding regarding the differences shown by both leavers and stayers regarding certain psychological factors may help future policy formation on school management and teacher education. The study also highlights the significance of school and classroom environments-how students’ disruptive behaviours or difficulty of classroom management nurture or hinder ‘teachers’ values, self-efficacy, beliefs and emotions’ (Hong 2012, p. 432). The study also pinpoints that prospective teachers need to be specially trained to manage and cope up with challenging circumstances. There should be provisions to test one’s intrinsic values and inner drive to pursue teaching career during teacher education process. The research also emphasises the need to have radical measures, strategies and methods to boost teachers’ self-efficacy during their training period itself. Building supportive interpersonal relationships among colleagues has also been identified as a supporting factor for beginning teachers to face challenging situations in the school environment. Similarly, Lasky’s article also demonstrate many educational implications as it throws light on how political, social or cultural meditational systems such as school reform policy shape or affect teacher identity and teacher vulnerability. The article contributes immensely to the existing body of knowledge and the study has the strongest implications on governmental policies and reforms in the field of education. The study clearly convinces one that there are a number of factors that the authorities need to take care of while proposing or implementing any policy changes of reforms. Conclusions There are a number of important factors that researchers need to keep in mind after completing their data completion. The data collection is followed by data analysis, results, conclusions and recommendations. They also need to address such aspects as quality, validity and implications of the research. The approach to data analysis (theme analysis, discourse analysis, frequency analysis and causal analysis) should be chosen keeping in mind the research questions as well as the type or nature of data collected. Similarly, the researcher should be able to make convincing objective claims or value claims from which conclusions (empirical generalizations or theoretical inference) could be drawn. Similarly, every researcher needs to guarantee the overall quality of the research paper by paying attention to such quality indicators as reliability, validity (both internal and external), objectivity, and transferability. The insights gained from this assignment help one not only to critically analyse a research paper but also to undertake one’s own quality researches. Task C: Identify and discuss three things that you have learnt from your study of E891 The study of E891 has offered me fresh insights into the various aspects of a research. It has not only refined and modified my understanding of critically analysing a research paper but also convinced me of how to undertake a research of my own. The study has taught me of the various issues one needs to address while designing a research or research proposal. While Task A provides the theoretical understanding on the purpose, scope and scale of the study, the paradigms (epistemology, ontology and methodology) of the research, and the design frames (methods and techniques) Task B convinces one of such aspects as data analysis, drawing conclusions or inferences, research quality and research validity. While reading a research article it is imperative to understand the research focus, the research rationale, the paradigm positions, the research design as well as the arguments, claims, and conclusions offered by the researcher (5.1 Reading a research article or report – what to do). All five parts of the E891 have been beneficial to me. However, part 2, 3 and 4 of the study guide were instrumental in taking me to new horizons of knowledge regarding the paradigms, methods and techniques as well as the data analysis, claims and inferences of the research. Even though I was familiar with qualitative, quantitative and mixed research approaches the concept of researcher’s ontological and epistemological positions in research was quite unknown to me. The fact that it is the epistemological and ontological assumptions of the researchers that are later translated into well-structured methodologies was the first thing I learned from the study of E891. I came to realize that ontology and epistemology are the theoretical roots of research paradigms even when they are not apparently discussed in the research literature. Similarly, the study of E891 showed me how the researcher’s epistemological and ontological positions determine the way research problems and questions are conceptualized and research methodologies and research frames are chosen. The study also provides one with key understanding regarding the various research designs employed in researches. I came to realise that research design is an ongoing process which gets modified and refined as the researcher goes more deep into the research problem. Part 3 study guide reinforced my prior knowledge that every research design tries to enact a specific methodological position. Similarly, the study guide provides a detailed understanding of the six research frames- experimental, longitudinal survey, case study, ethnography, action research, and activity theory. It also offers one an in-depth knowledge regarding the various data production instruments for research. The third significant lesson I learned from the study of E891 was regarding evaluating research and drawing conclusions. It was a novel idea for me that researchers make use of various types of claims based on the supporting evidences and data collected by them. The fourth part of the study guide and Task B convinced me of the objective claims (comprising of descriptions and explanations) and value claims (evaluations or prescriptions) based on which researchers arrive at empirical generalizations or theoretical inference. I also came to know that validity and quality of empirical generalizations depend on the effectiveness of statistical sampling techniques. This also taught me that experimental researches usually arrive at conclusions through theoretical inference and evidences drawn from the study need to be strong enough to support the proposed theories. References Eisner, E 1992, ‘Objectivity in educational research’, Curriculum Inquiry, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 9–15. Hong, Ji Y 2012, ‘Why do some beginning teachers leave the school, and others stay? Understanding teacher resilience through psychological lenses’, Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 417-440. Klenke, K (ed.) 2008, Qualitative Research in the Study of Leadership, Emerald Group Publishing. Lasky, S 2005, ‘A sociocultural approach to understanding teacher identity, agency and professional vulnerability in a context of secondary school reform’, Teaching and Teacher Education, vol. 21, pp. 899–916. Maxwell, J.A 2012, Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach, SAGE Publications. Polit, D.F & Beck, C.T 2008, Nursing Research: Generating and Assessing Evidence for Nursing Practice Nursing Research, Illustrated edn, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Sale, O.E.M., Lohfeld, L.H & Brazil, K 2002, ‘Revisiting the Quantitative-Qualitative Debate: Implications for Mixed-Methods Research, Quality & Quantity, vol. 36, pp. 43–53. Study Guide Part 1: The focus of educational enquiry (provided by the customer). Study guide Part 2: Understanding key theoretical and methodological perspectives (provided by the customer). Study guide Part 3: Research design and data production (provided by the customer). Study Guide part 4: Evaluating research and drawing conclusions (provided by customer). Study guide part 5: Critical review (provided by the customer). Read More