Research Methods in Education - Assignment Example

Question 1 There are several ethical issues that relate to carrying out research in educational settings. The first issue is about informed consent. All the subjects to be involved in the educational research ought to take part in it voluntarily. Prior to choosing participants, researchers ought to ask potential participants whether they are willing to participate (Kervin et al. 2006). Kervin et al. (2006) further maintains that, in seeking consent of the participants, a researcher should provide the former with open and detailed information about what the research is about, the reasons for conducting such a research, as well as how the information obtained from the research will be used. Educational research is likely to involve young children. In such a case, the consent of the children’s parents should be sought before including the children in the research. The research should also seek the consent of relevant authority, such as the school principal or head teacher or class teacher prior to conducting the research (Kervin et al. 2006). Another ethical issue in educational research is about confidentiality and privacy. Punch (2005) observes that, the researcher should safeguard the research participants against unwanted exposure. Data obtained, especially personal information, should not be publicized. However, where publicizing the data is unavoidable, anonymity of the participants should be maintained. Nobody deserves embarrassment or harm due to insensitive research practices. Moreover, in reporting data or research findings about a given educational institution, group of students or even teachers, researchers should ensure accuracy (Punch 2005). What is reported should be supported by concrete evidence from the research. Inequality is also a major ethical issue in carrying out educational research. The researcher should exercise equal treatment for the various groups of individuals and individuals that he or she comes across when conducting his or her research. No one should be unjustly discriminated against or favoured on the basis of gender, ethnicity, race or physical disability (Punch 2005). Question 2 Cresswell (2005) notes that, a research inquiry comprises of eight steps. The first step involves identifying the problem to be researched or developing the research question. For an educator carrying out a classroom-based research, the research problem or question may be about the effectiveness of group discussions as a learning style among primary school students. The second step involves a review of existing literature about the identified problem. Literature review presents the researcher with foundational knowledge on the problem (Cresswell 2005). For the educator, he or she will review literature about the use and effectiveness of group discussions in class settings. The third step entails clarification of the problem. In this step the researcher narrows down the scope of the research (Cresswell 2005). The educator may narrow the research problem to focus on grade 4 students only. Punch (2005) further observes that, the fourth step is about clear definition of concepts and terms according to their application in the current study. The educator may define terms such as group, group discussion and learning style. In the fifth stage, the research should define the specific population or facilities on which the research will focus (Punch 2005). For an educator carrying out a class-based research, he or she may focus on grade 4 students in schools located in Sydney. Drawing from Punch (2005), the sixth step involves the development of an instrumentation plan, which acts as a guide for the whole study. The educator will specify the participants, when, where and how data will be gathered, and follow-up period. The seventh step is about data collection. The actual research begins (McMillan 2004). For the educator, he or she will use the planned method to gather data from the chosen schools. In the last step, the collected data is analyzed and inferences made based on the findings (McMillan 2004). For the educator, he or she will analyze the gathered data from schools, and make conclusion about the effectiveness of group discussion on the target population. Question 3 A qualitative research design differs from a quantitative research design in a number of ways. According to Punch (2005), qualitative research is mainly exploratory research and is used to acquire a comprehension of underlying opinions, reasons and motivations, as well as to reveal trends in opinions and thoughts and dig deeper into a problem. It presents the researcher with insights into a given problem or assists him or her to develop hypotheses or ideas for prospective quantitative research. In contrast, researchers use quantitative research to quantify a problem through the generation of numerical data or generation of data that might be converted into useable information. Such numerical data is used to formulate facts and reveal patterns in research. It is used in the quantification of opinions, behaviours, and attitudes, among other variables, and to generalize research findings across a bigger sample population (Punch 2005). Another difference between qualitative and quantitative research designs relates to the methods used to collect data. Drawing from Punch (2005), the methods for collecting data in qualitative research designs vary using semi-structured or unstructured techniques. Examples of qualitative data gathering methods include individual interviews, focus groups, as well as observations or participations. Cohen and Manion (2001) argue that, compared to qualitative data gathering methods, quantitative methods of collecting data are more structured. Examples of data collection techniques for quantitative research design include various types of surveys-paper surveys, online surveys, kiosk surveys and mobile surveys. Such surveys are carried out over a large population of participants, which enables generalization of the research findings. Other quantitative data gathering techniques are telephone interviews, face-to-face interviews, website interceptors, longitudinal studies, systematic observations, and online polls (Cohen & Manion 2001). Question 4 According to Mertens (2005), there are several forms of data that a researcher may gather through qualitative research design. The first form of qualitative data is responses obtained from focus groups and interviews. Probes and open-ended questions generate in-depth responses about individuals’ perceptions, opinions, experiences, knowledge and feelings. The data comprises of verbal quotations with enough context for easy interpretation. Data from focus groups and interviews is of great value in conducting a research because it provides first-hand and detailed information about the issue being researched. As a researcher, I can use such data to make inferences about the impact of the research issue on the target population, and make the necessary recommendations based on the obtained data. Another form of data from qualitative research is observations. Observations are fieldwork descriptions of behaviours, activities, interpersonal interactions, conversations, and organizational processes. The data comprise of field notes, which are detailed, including the setting wherein the researcher made the observations. Observations are valuable since they are directly made by the researcher concerning the problem that is being investigated. This makes them a credible and reliable form of qualitative data (McMillan 2004). As a researcher, I can analyze recorded observations in order to make out their connection with the research questions and make inferences about the research problem. Written materials and documents also constitute a form of qualitative data. Such data is retrieved from program, clinical or organizational records, correspondence and memoranda, personal diaries and letters. Such data is valuable since it provides detailed information about past events (Patton 2002, p.4). As a researcher, I can use such data as background information for basing my present study. Question 5 Drawing from Lankshear and Knobel (2004), in recruiting participants for a qualitative study, the researcher should send requests to potential participants on their willingness to participate in the study either in-person or through e-mails. After obtaining feedback, he or she should arrange for a meeting with the participants to provide them with details about the study, and what is expected of them. On the day that the study is supposed to start, the researcher should be present to make observations or interview participants. Cresswell (2005) maintains that, in the recruitment of participants for a quantitative study, the researcher rarely sends requests for participation. In conducting surveys, the researcher provides the information about the survey through a number of ways, including online and memos, which is addressed to a large population rather than individuals. In conducting quantitative study, it is not obligatory for the researcher to meet the participants prior to the study. Moreover, during the study period, the researcher mainly sends the research questions either online, mail or email and receives responses through the same channel. One of the differences between recruitment of participants for qualitative and quantitative research is that in the former, the researcher must send request to the participants for participation, while in the latter requests are not necessary and are rarely sent. In addition, in qualitative study, researchers usually meet with participants before the study is done and during the study (Lankshear & Knobel 2004). On the other hand, in quantitative study the researcher does not meet with participants before and during the study. This is because; a large number of participants are involved in quantitative study and thus, the researcher cannot afford to send every participant request or meet with all of them (Cresswell 2005). Question 6 Morgan, Gliner and Harmon (2000) maintain that, in comparing experimental research with quasi-experimental research, both of them try to develop a design structure wherein the concluded findings can be considered the best and most coherent solution to the problem at hand. Experimental research designs achieve this by randomly assigning treatments or interventions to individuals. On the other hand, quasi-experimental designs achieve the same by comparing existing groups. In addition, experiments, particularly large-scale, are planned to control extraneous variables’ influences. The aim is to facilitate maximum degree of certainty concerning the impact of a given intervention. Distinctively, experimental designs ought to have random choice of subject, control groups, random assignments of subjects to experimental and control groups, as well as random allocation of groups to interventions (Dimsdale & Kutner 2004). On the other hand, quasi-experimental designs try to exclude unrelated explanations in order for the outcome to be attributed exclusively to the experimental treatment. The experiment is not very direct, but through attempts such as statistical analysis and matching subjects, the experimental design is mimicked (Morgan, Gliner, & Harmon 2000). Quasi-experimental research aims at discovering the trend that results from a given intervention or treatment. Dimsdale and Kutner (2004) observe that, data gathering and data analysis constitute both an overlap as well as a distinction between quasi-experimental research and experimental research. While standardized analyses are used in both approaches, they constitute the only mechanism in experimental research design. On the contrary, quasi experimental research design uses such methods as interviews, observations, and surveys on top of the standardized analyses. Moreover, the statistical techniques in experimental research have similar appearance, simple and clean (Dimsdale & Kutner 2004). On the other hand, quasi-experimental research design uses a range of analysis methods including t-test, correlation, regression, as well as factor analysis (Dimsdale & Kutner 2004). Reference List Cohen, L & Manion, L 2001, Research methods in education, New York, Routledge. Cresswell, J 2005, Educational research, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson. Dimsdale, T & Kutner, M 2004, December 9, Becoming an educated consumer of research: A quick look at the basics of research methodologies and design, Meeting of the Minds Practitioner-Researcher Symposium, Sacramento, CA, American Institutes for Research. Kervin, L, Vialle, W, Herrington, J & Okely, T 2006, Research for educators, South Melbourne,Thomson Social Science Press. Lankshear, C & Knobel, M 2004, A handbook for teacher research: From design to implementation, New York, NY, McGraw-Hill. McMillan, J 2004, Educational research: Fundamentals for the consumer, Boston, MA, Allyn and Bacon. Mertens, D 2005, Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods, Thousand Oaks, CA, SAGE. Morgan, GA, Gliner, JA & Harmon, RJ 2000, Quasi-experimental designs, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 39 (6), 794–796. Patton, M 2002, Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.), Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage. Punch, KF 2005, Introduction to social research: quantitative and qualitative approaches, London, SAGE Publication. Read More