The Role of Research Methods in Education - Essay Example

 1. Introduction In all scientific sectors around the world, the significance of research is high as it is the most appropriate tool for gathering and evaluating all data related with a specific scientific field – either directly or indirectly. In this context, many different approaches have been developed for researchers internationally supporting their work in all its aspects especially regarding the gathering of data/ info that are necessary for the development of various scientific projects. It should be noticed that scientific projects are not necessarily practical, i.e. they do no refer only to mathematical figures (statistics etc.); they can also be theoretical, i.e. referring to the structure and the effectiveness of a specific theoretical model (e.g. Porter’s five forces - in the business sector). In the case of education both the above forms of research, i.e. the practical and the theoretical one are likely to be used by all participants in the educational environment (educators, school administrators, students) when having to conduct research on a specific issue which is included in the curriculum. The value of research in education cannot be doubted; various views have been stated regarding the role of research in various educational areas. We could refer indicatively to the study of Randall et al. (1999) who noticed that ‘research in education is a value-free, unbiased, neutral, social scientific pursuit of truth, using the best methods, and models available—or so we were told when we were learning the craft’ (Randall et al., 1999, 7). In other words, research in education cannot be stable; it should be rather active and dynamic being changed continuously in accordance with the needs of the students, the characteristics of the educational environment and the ability of a specific educational organization to respond to the needs and the demands of a particular research project. It should also be noticed that research in education does not have a specific form; it can have either qualitative or quantitative characteristics or even both of them (after appropriate transformation of the relevant research framework). For this reason it is noticed that ‘traditional paradigms of research of methodology now compete with a variety of qualitative approaches and critical theory has unmasked the neutrality of education’ (Randall et al., 1999, 7). The above researcher emphasizes on the changes taken place in the research methods used across various educational centers/ institutes in accordance with the resources available and the needs of students/ learners. Current paper focuses on the examination of the role of qualitative and quantitative research in education and the potential use of a mixed form of the above two research systems in various educational centers. Particularly the appropriateness of the combination of these two methods of research will be analyzed as of its link to student persistence. Tools available to students/ learners for their active involvement in the educational research will be also presented and evaluated as of their importance in the development of research in education. 2. Tenets and applications of qualitative approach – use of this approach in education Both the above mentioned types of research, i.e. the qualitative and the quantitative ones can be used in a specific educational environment; however appropriate explanations could be given for the potential role of each specific research method (i.e. of the qualitative and the quantitative research) in the development of educational activities across a country. It should be noticed that each one of the above mentioned research methods has its own characteristics and requires specific conditions; for this reason it would be valuable to refer separately to the role of each particular research system to the development of educational activities in a particular region; the potential application of a method that will combine the characteristics of both the above methods, i.e. of a mixed method of research, should be also examined as of its feasibility. The prospects of application of qualitative research in education have been extensively examined in the literature and the empirical research. A relevant research was made by Safman et al. (2004). In the specific research, a series of qualitative practices ‘published in Health Education & Behavior from 1980 to 2000’ (Safman et al., 2004, 9) are examined. Through the above research it is revealed that ‘document analysis extensiveness varied considerably on a variety of indicators’ (Safman et al., 2004, 9). It is made clear through the above study that appropriate interventions of legislator are required in the particular area in order for the qualitative research to be supportive to any effort made in educational centers around the world regarding the improvement of the quality of their services towards the students/ learners and the increase of credibility of all the information processed and distributed among the members of a specific educational community. The role of qualitative research in education can be multi-dimensional presenting different characteristics in accordance with the needs of the scientific field on which the particular research method is applied. In order to examine the potentials of applicability of the qualitative research method in education, Coleman et al. (2007) made a research across the publications from 1985 to 2003 specifically regarding the use of qualitative research in gifted education. In accordance with the results of the above study ‘of the original pool, 40 are consistent with the qualitative paradigm; others are judged as qualitative lite or examples of quantitative research’ (Coleman et al., 2007, 51). As already noticed before, the above study refers specifically to the views stated in the literature regarding the use of qualitative research in a specific educational sector, the gifted education. However, the results of this study can be valuable indicators for the potential use of qualitative research in education especially under specific terms and conditions. From a different point of view, Shaw (2003) tried to identify the role of qualitative research in the development of the following scientific fields: education, health and social work. His research led to the assumption that ‘qualitative research can contribute indispensably to outcomes research in four ways: design solutions; sensitivity to the micro-processes of practice and programmes; applications of symbolic interactionism and ethnomethodology; and qualitative data analysis’ (Shaw, 2003, 57). Different outcomes would be potentially developed using different criteria of evaluation or different areas of interest. In education the use of qualitative research could help administrators and students to develop their ability to understand the meaning of specific educational material but also to use the appropriate methods in order to transmit (referring to teachers/ professors) or to absorb (referring to students) knowledge derived from the use of appropriately customized research. On the other hand, it should be noticed that qualitative research is not a feature applied only in particular areas of education; rather it can be expanded in all educational activities. The case of adult education is an indicative example. The specific case was examined by Merriam (1989) and it was revealed that in adult education qualitative research ‘has led to the concepts of marginality, enrollment economy, and perspective transformation, stimulated research in participation, motivation, and self-directed learning, and led to a better understanding of adult illiterates’ (Merriam, 1989, 161). Through the years other contributions of the qualitative research to the development of educational activities could also appear. It has been proved up to this point that the use of qualitative research is of particular importance for specific type of educational initiatives (like the gifted education and the adult education); however, qualitative research could be equally valuable for all educational activities taking into consideration the fact that appropriate customization of the rules applied should take place in order to ensure the competitiveness of the qualitative research methods towards other forms of research that could be potentially applied on a specific educational site. In theory, it seems that no particular theoretical basis has been developed regarding the use and the role of qualitative research in education; only assumptions have been made based on the findings of studies that have focused on the specific issue. However, qualitative research has supported the development of educational activities in all educational centers around the world – either directly or indirectly. The role of qualitative research to the increase of knowledge on a specific issue of educational interest would be normally expected to be significant; however, it seems that qualitative research can have an important role to the development of various aspects of education or even to the completion of tasks that are supportive to specific educational activities. An indicative example is the identification of the role of the income to the accessibility of important educational institutes by students of various financial and social status. Using the qualitative research in order to identify the influence of financial strength of students to their educational choices, John (2006) came to the result that ‘qualitative research can contribute substantially to the emerging understanding of financial inequality in educational opportunity ‘(John, 2006, 1604). Of course, the role of financial status to the educational development of a specific student could be possibly examined using alternative methods of research; however qualitative research in the specific case has been proved to be effective regarding the identification of the influence of a person’s financial status to his potential educational choices both in the short and the long term (i.e. up to the highest levels of education available to a specific region). In any case, it could be stated that the important of qualitative research for the various educational activities is supported by students/ learners internationally. When the research practices used by students within a particular educational environment were examined, it was revealed that ‘(a) Trust was the foundation for selection of the debriefer and the debriefing interaction, (b) the focus for the debriefer and researcher was on methodology, and (c) research skills were continuously developed; debriefers worked in pairs or in small groups’ (Spall, 1998, 280). The above assumptions are related with a specific educational task, i.e. debriefing. However, they could be equally used when evaluating the potential development of qualitative research in educational sites of all types and levels taken into account the fact that qualitative research – as all other types of scientific research – is related with specific requirements and standards that should exist in order to be able to analyze and evaluate the role of qualitative research in the development of specific educational activities. On the other hand, the role of the state to the development of qualitative research across the various scientific fields – including education – can be crucial. The specific issue was examined in practice and it was revealed that there are specific priorities to the efforts made by the state towards the improvement of the role of qualitative research in modern educational sites: ‘experimental, randomization, hypothesis, and quantitative (federal priorities for education research)’ (Constas, 2007, 391). When these priorities were examined in practice using data referring to the period between 2001 and 2005 it was revealed that there is an ‘increased use of all four terms representing federal priorities, whereas three of the four terms representing nonexperimental research are associated with decreased numbers of articles’ (Constas, 2007, 391). In accordance with the above study, qualitative research is not an exclusive method of research (referring to the needs for research developed across various educational sites); other types of research, like the quantitative one which is analyzed below, are proved to be of particular importance for the development of educational activities worldwide. The choice of the research method used in each specific educational site (or in each particular educational task) depends on the educator/ administrator who have the power to suggest the use of a particular type of scientific research in order to examine and evaluate the aspects of a specific political, social or financial phenomenon. 3. The quantitative approach in education As noticed above, qualitative research can be used alternatively with other types of research, like the quantitative one, in accordance with the needs of a specific project. In practice, the application of additional types of research on various educational sites can be delayed especially when the other system (the quantitative one) is not appropriate regulated either by the law or by the rules governed a particular educational site. When the potential use of quantitative research in the education of teachers was examined, it was revealed that ‘many study reports lack (a) effect sizes, (b) confidence intervals, and (c) reliability and validity coefficients’ (Zientek et al., 2008, 208). In other words, quantitative research can be used in education offering valuable information on a series of issues on which the research is required. However, it is necessary that appropriate measures are taken in order to ensure the validity and the credibility of findings. Because qualitative research involves mostly in figures (e.g. statistics) it is necessary before attempting a relevant type of research to make sure that the criteria used throughout the research are objective and that all findings are carefully reviewed as of their validity. It should be noticed that quantitative research, because of its nature, can be used in many scientific fields – perhaps more than those of qualitative research. In education, quantitative research can be used in order to complete a series of tasks that would remain incomplete if quantitative research was not to be involved in the relevant procedure. An indicative example of the applicability of quantitative research in education is that of the physical education research. When examining the use of quantitative research in the specific scientific field, Lamb (1998) came to the conclusion that ‘the Pearson and intraclass correlation coefficients have been liberally used by researchers to quantify the test-retest reliability of many performance, behavioural, and physiologically-related measurements; our existing knowledge of the reliability of such measurements is questionable and deserves to be re established with a more appropriate statistical technique’ (Lamb, 1998, 145). The above study refers to specific types of quantitative research applicable on physical education. The primary result from testing the applicability of these methods of quantitative research on a specific scientific field is that quantitative research can support the development of our knowledge on specific scientific phenomena (as also on social or cultural phenomena); however it is necessary that appropriate criteria are set for the measurement of the public’s (participants’) response to specific conditions/ events. Quantitative research is extensively used in various areas of health education offering valuable findings regarding the effectiveness of specific treatments/ therapies suggested to patients suffering from a wide range of illnesses; the responses of physicians to the policies suggested for the effective management of crisis and the effective treatment of diseases can be also monitored using the quantitative research. When examining the use of quantitative evidence in articles related with the health education, Pickett et al. (1994) came to the conclusion that ‘while proportionally fewer articles from the educational literature cited quantitative evidence in support of research questions and conclusions, the study designs and approaches to analysis represented by these samples were similar’ (Pickett et al., 1994, 18). Through the study of the above researchers it has been proved that there is no ‘convincing evidence to support the idea that educational research is somehow less "rigorous" than that of the health sciences’ (Pickett et al., 1994, 18). In other words, the quantitative research involved in the various tasks of health sciences can be characterized as similar with that used in the completion of various educational research projects. The quality of results in both the above cases is guaranteed through the gathering of appropriate material (in terms of its variety, the number of participants and so on). However, it should be noticed that when used in educational research projects, quantitative research can be differentiated – referring to its forms in other scientific fields, like in health sciences already explained above. The reason for this differentiation is mainly the fact that in education quantitative research cannot be experimental (or at least it is difficult to be experimental) as it has been proved that for educational purposes quantitative research is more effective when being non-experimental. The specific issue was examined by Johnson (2001) who noticed that ‘a substantial proportion of quantitative educational research is non-experimental because many important variables of interest are not manipulable; it is important to use a classification system of nonexperimental methods that is highly descriptive of what we do’ (Johnson, 2001, 3). In accordance with the above view, quantitative research when used in education should be appropriately customized making sure that the most effective method of gathering and analyzing data will be employed by the researchers involved in the relevant research project. The quantitative method of research, as described above, seems to be more effective and more widely used compared to the qualitative method of research. However, because current paper focuses on the use of research in education, it would be preferable to identify the most effective parts of research (of both methods presented above) and combine them in order to suggest a method of research that would be appropriate for the specific scientific field (education). In practice, a mixed approach is expected to be formulated meeting the demands of all participants and the needs of all research projects in the educational sector. The importance of mixed research methods for the development of the various educational research projects is analytically presented in the section that follows. 4. Mixed method approaches in education research As noticed above, the qualitative and the quantitative research methods have different characteristics focusing on the achievement of different targets: qualitative research emphasizes on the importance of study of the literature existed on a particular subject while quantitative research is mainly based on the observation and the measurement of the views of people on issues related with a variety of scientific, social, cultural, financial or political phenomena. Under these terms, in order for the education research to be more effective, it should be based on a mixed approach using the principles of both qualitative and quantitative research. The specific issue was examined in practice. More specifically the potential use of two different research approaches, the psychometric and the cognitive were examined as of their applicability on the research on reading comprehension. Through the relevant study it was revealed that ‘these two approaches suffer from fundamental methodological weaknesses, principally in the areas of measurement, theory and generalisation, which limit the scientific worth of their findings; research on reading comprehension needs to develop alternative methodologies which have a more qualitative orientation’ (Hewitt, 1982, 9). In the above study it is proved that the use of pure quantitative research methods in the research on reading comprehension is not effective and that qualitative characteristics should be added to the relevant research project. In fact, the development of a mixed method of research is described in the above study. In other words, the development of mixed method of research is feasible whenever the needs of a specific research project lead to the specific initiative. In a relevant study, made by de Vries et al. (1992) where the development of a prevention project was attempting (referring to the prevention of smoking) it was revealed that ‘an essential feature of the project is the combination and interaction of qualitative and quantitative research methods; each method has its own contribution and can be considered as a separate methodology contributing to social science in general and health education research in particular’ (de Vries et al., 1992, 101). Through this study also it is proved that the development of mixed research methods is possible but only under specific circumstances (depending on the needs of the projects, the participants, the environment in which the research is going to take place and so on). In the case of education also the use of a mixed method of research (see also the study of Ercikan et al., 2006) is necessary in order to identify the various aspects of problems that have both a theoretical and a practical aspect. 5. Appropriateness of the mixed method for the study of self-efficacy – relation with student persistence It is clear from the issues developed above that the mixed research method can be particularly effective in education supporting the self-efficacy of students no matter their cultural or social background or their physical abilities. The specific issue has been extensively examined in the literature and the empirical research. In fact, the mixed research method has been proved to be particularly effective for the increase of the sense of self-efficacy in any educational site. In a relevant study it was revealed that ‘when a learning institution provides mechanisms for students to contribute to the overall quality of the institution (such as a campus gardening program), a sense of interdependency and positive self-empowerment develops among faculty and students’ (Hoffman et al., 2007, 403). In other words, through the participation of a student to a specific research program (especially one based on a mixed research method) his/ her self – esteem and self – efficacy are likely to be increased even if there are severe problems of health that prevent the student from actively participating in all the activities including in a particular research program – a research program based on the mixed method could help students to improve their performance in school/ educational institute offering them the chance to choose among different approaches when developing the various parts of the specific program. The importance of the mixed research method for the increase of self-esteem and self-efficacy of students – especially those with disabilities - has been emphasized in the literature and the empirical research. Towards this direction, it is noticed that ‘bringing the science of schooling into standard practice for students with learning disabilities (LD) is a threefold process that requires understanding the nature and features of high-quality instruction, encouraging their use, and developing and maintaining systems that can sustain them’ (O’Connor, 2004, 224). For students that do not have a physical or mental disability the mixed research method is also valuable helping them to understand the various aspects of research and develop their own scheme of research (choosing among qualitative and quantitative approaches available in the mixed research method). On the other hand, teachers have been found to have a critical role in the development of self-efficacy of students through all educational activities but especially through the various research projects being delegated to students of different levels and abilities. The above issue was examined in practice by Langer (2000); his research led to the conclusion that ‘the effective schools and districts nurtured a climate that (1) orchestrated coordinated efforts to improve student achievement … (3) created structured improvement activities in ways that offered teachers a strong sense of agency … and (6) fostered a deep respect for lifelong learning’ (Langer, 2000, 397). In other words, schools or other educational institutes that establish appropriately customized research programs based on the mixed method are likely to support more effectively the increase of the performance of students/ learners than those educational sites where the research programs proposed to learners are limited to traditional – usually ineffective – research methods. At a next level, the application of the mixed method in education research can be examined as of its various consequences on the development of specific student behaviour especially the potential student persistence. A relevant study was conducted between 1995 and 1996 referring to the use of bibliographic tools by students that are at a graduate level. For the purposes of this study, the students were divided into two groups (the experimental one to which bibliographic instructions were given) and the control one (no such instructions were given). In the above study it was revealed that ‘the experimental group performed a more systematic search procedure in terms of phases of the search compared to the control group; no disparities were found between the two groups in regard to the requesting of assistance from the librarians’ (Shoham, 2001, 39). In accordance with the above the mixed method of research could be effectively applied on any educational site under the terms that students/ learners were given the necessary instructions for the completion of the relevant research projects. Otherwise, it could be expected that a strong student resistance to the introduction of the specific research method would possibly appear. 6. Conclusion The use of various methods for the completion of research projects can ensure the validity and the credibility of the findings resulted; however, not all research methods are appropriate for the development of research projects in various scientific fields. The use of relevant theories could ensure (at least at a primary level) the credibility of results. In accordance with Wetland (1992, 75) ‘for research to be considered "valid," the research must be originally based upon a known theory; the result of research should be the expansion of known theory or the development of new theory’. However, it is not always possible to develop a research method using theoretical frameworks. In the case of education the use of qualitative and quantitative research has been proved to be an effective solution for the development of research projects that will lead to credible assumptions. The combination of qualitative and quantitative characteristics and the creation of a ‘mixed method’ of research was found to guarantee the credibility and the reliability of results in education research. It should be noticed though that in order for the relevant project to be successful (referring to the credibility of results) it is necessary that all its parts are explained to the students/ learners. In this way any potential resistance to the implementation of the specific research method in a particular educational site can be avoided. Moreover, despite the fact that both qualitative and quantitative research methods were found to have certain weaknesses, they are both considered as valuable for the completion of research projects not only in education but in a wide range of scientific fields under the terms already explained above. References Coleman, L, Guo, A., Dabbs, C. (2007) The State of Qualitative Research in Gifted Education as Published in American Journals. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51(1): 51-63 Constas, M. (2007) Reshaping the Methodological Identity of Education Research - Early Signs of the Impact of Federal Policy. 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