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Research Defined

Research Defined.

josephine-gilbert
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Research Defined

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  1. Research Defined “Research is a cyclical process of steps that typically begins with identifying the problem or issue of the study. It then consists of reviewing the literature, specifying a purpose for the study, and forming an interpretation of the information. This process culminates in a report disseminated to the audience that is evaluated and used in the educational community.” (p. 18-19)

  2. Lines of Research What lines of Research help You? Research Lines What does the Research Say? What do you Want to do?

  3. The Research Spiral Identify the Research Problem Review the Literature Evaluate Data and Write Report Analyze and Interpret Data Specify a Research Purpose Collect Data

  4. Quantitative Research Quantitative research is an inquiry approach useful for describing trends and explaining the relationship among variables found in the literature. To conduct this inquiry, the investigator specifies narrow questions, locates or develops instruments using statistics. From the results of these analyzes, the researcher interprets the data using prior predictions and research studies. The final report, presented in standard format, display researcher objectivity and lack of bias. Qualitative Research Quantitative research is an inquiry approach useful for exploring and understanding a central phenomenon. To learn about this phenomenon, the inquirer asks participants broad, general questions, collects the detailed views of participants in the form of words or images, and analyzes the information for description and themes. From this data, the researcher interprets the meaning of the information drawing on personal reflections and past research. The structure of the final report is flexible, and it displays the researcher’s biases and thoughts. Definitions of Qualitative and Quantitative Research

  5. Characteristics of Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the Process of Research Quantitative Characteristics Steps in the Research Process Qualitative Characteristics Exploratory/ Understanding a Central Phenomenon Description of trends and Explanation Oriented Identifying a Problem • Minor Role • Justify Problem • Major Role • Justify Problem Reviewing the Literature • Specific and Narrow • Measurable/Observable • General and Broad • Participants’ Experience Specifying a Purpose • Pre-determined Instruments • Numeric Data • Large numbers • Emerging Protocols • Text or image data • Small Number Collecting Data • Statistical • Description of Trends • Comparisons/Predictions • Text Analysis • Description/Themes • Larger meanings of findings Analyze and Interpret Data Report and Evaluate • Flexible and Emerging • Reflexive and Biased • Standard and Fixed • Objective and Unbiased

  6. Characteristics of Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the Process of Research Steps in the Research Process Two Approaches Research Designs Quantitative Qualitative Identifying a Problem Quantitative Qualitative Reviewing the Literature • Experimental • Correlational • Survey Quantitative Qualitative Specifying a Purpose Quantitative Qualitative Collecting Data • Mixed • Action Quantitative Qualitative Analyze and Interpret Data • Ethnography • Grounded Theory • Narrative Quantitative Qualitative Report and Evaluate

  7. Differences Among Topic, Problem, Purpose and Questions General Topic Distance Learning Lack of students in distance classes Research Problem To study why students do not attend distance education classes at a community college. Purpose Statement Does the use of web site technology in the classroom deter students from enrolling in a distance education class? Research Question Specific

  8. Distinguishing among various forms of direction in research Purpose Statement Research Questions Hypothesis Research Objectives Overall Direction Make predictions about expectations Raise questions to be answered State Goals Intent One or More Objectives Form One or more sentences One or more questions One or more questions Use Quantitative and Qualitative Research Quantitative and Qualitative Research Quantitative Research Typically Quantitative Research End of the introduction, after the literature review, or in a separate section of the study End of Introduction Placement

  9. Flow of Ideas in a Problem Statement FLOW OF IDEAS What Remedying the Deficiencies will do for Select Audiences Deficiencies in the Evidence Educational Issue Evidence for the Issue Topic Subject Area • A Concern • A Problem • Something • that needs a • solution • Evidence from • the literature • Evidence from • practical • experiences • In this body of • evidence, what is • missing? • What do we • need to know • more about? • How will addressing • what we need to • know help: researchers • educators • policy-makers • individuals like • those in the study

  10. Reviewing the Literature

  11. Key Concepts • Functions of Literature Reviews • Designing and Constructing a Literature Review

  12. The Literature Review The review of the literature involves the systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem

  13. The Literature Review The review of the literature involves the systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem

  14. Literature Review in a Quantitative Study • Documents the importance of the research problem at the beginning of the study • Supports the theory or explanation used in the study • Foreshadows the research questions • Provides an explanation for the results in other studies and in the theoretical prediction at the end of the study.

  15. The Literature Review • Functions of a literature review • Determine what has been done already • Provide insight necessary to develop a logical framework into which the topic fits • Provides the rationale for the hypotheses being investigated and the justification of the significance of the study • Identifies potentially useful methodological strategies • Facilitates the interpretation of the results

  16. Literature Review in a Qualitative Study • Documents the importance of the research problem at the beginning of the study • Does not foreshadow the research questions (which are broad in scope to encourage participants to provide their own views) • Is used to compare and contrast with other studies at the end of the study

  17. The Literature Review • Recommendations for conducting a review • Bigger does not mean better • Heavily researched topics provide enough references to focus only on major studies • Lesser researched topics require reviewing any study related in some meaningful way

  18. Designing and Conducting a literature review • Identify key terms • Locate literature • Read and evaluate the relevance of the literature to your topic • After selection, organize the literature into a coherent picture of studies and documents on your topic • Write a review by developing summaries of the literature

  19. Identifying key terms • Write a preliminary “working title” for the project and select two or three key words that capture the essence of the project • Pose a short general research question that you would like to answer in the study • Look in a thesaurus of terms to find words that match your topic • Scan the contents in your library stacks and the table of contents of educational journals

  20. The Literature Review • Four stages of conducting a review • Identifying key words to guide the search • Identifying sources • Abstracting your references • Analyzing, organizing and reporting the literature

  21. The Literature Review • Identifying key words • Indexing systems of indices in which you will search • Importance of experimenting with several key words and combinations of them • ERIC Thesaurus

  22. The Literature Review • Identifying sources • Characteristics of sources • Primary and secondary • Empirical and opinion • Importance of using handbooks, encyclopedias, and reviews early in the review process

  23. The Literature Review • Identifying sources • Broadening and narrowing keyword searches • Three important Boolean operators • AND narrows a search • OR broadens a search • NOT narrows a search • Narrowing and focusing by date of publication, specific authors, titles, etc.

  24. The Literature Review • Identifying sources • Searching for books • Electronic databases of university libraries • Keyword searches • Searching for journals • ERIC • Education Index • Psychological Abstracts • Dissertation Abstracts • Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature • Annual Reviews of Psychology

  25. The Literature Review • Identifying sources • Searching the web • Search engines • Google, Excite, HotBot, Northern Light • Subject directories • Yahoo!, Web Crawler, Lycos • Meta search engines • Dogpile, Momma, Vroosh

  26. The Literature Review • Identifying sources • Educational sites • ERIC, Ingenta, New Jour, Education Week, National Center for Education Statistics, Bill Hunt's Homepage, US Dept. of Education, WWW Library Resources, Psych Web • Evaluating web sites • Quality, honesty, bias, and authenticity • Internet Detective, Thinking Critically about WWW Resources, Critically Analyzing Information Sources

  27. The Literature Review • Abstracting the references • Locating, reviewing, summarizing, and classifying references • Seven steps • Read the article abstract • Skim the entire article • Record complete bibliographic information • Classify and code the article • Summarize the article • Identify thoughts about the article you believe important • Indicate direct quotes properly

  28. The Literature Review • Recommended strategies when abstracting • Begin with the most recent references and move toward the most dated • Record all bibliographic information • Author, date of publication, title, journal name or book title or website name, volume and issue, pages, library call number or URL • Identify direct quotes and record page numbers • Identify main ideas

  29. Literature Review • Analyzing, organizing and reporting • Technical nature of reporting • Documentation • Formal language • Adherence to prescribed styles (e.g., APA) • Outline the review • Group by topics • Analyze for similarities and differences within subheadings • Discuss the lest relevant studies first followed by the most relevant studies • Summarize the review and discuss the implications related to the research problem

  30. Literature Review • Differences between quantitative and qualitative reviews • Quantitative reviews are typically conducted in the initial stages of the study • Qualitative reviews are ongoing throughout the entire study reflecting the need to understand data as it is collected, interpreted, and synthesized

  31. Locate the Literature: Classification of Sources Low Standards to ensure quality Ideas Appear First Early Stage Material Indexed Publications Journal Articles Books High Standards to ensure quality Ideas appear 10+ years after initiation Summaries

  32. Locate the literature: Examples of Sources • Stacks in the Library • Data Bases (e.g. ERIC, First Search) • Encyclopedias • Summaries • Dictionaries and glossaries of terms • Handbooks • Statistical indexes • Reviews and Syntheses

  33. Evaluating the relevance of the literature: Questions to ask • Topic relevance: Is the literature on the same topic as your proposed study? • Individual and site relevance: Does the literature examine the same individuals and sites you want to study?

  34. Evaluating the relevance of the literature: Questions to ask • Problem relevance: Does the literature examine the same research problem as you propose in your study? • Accessibility relevance: Is the literature available in your library or can it be downloaded from a web site?

  35. Organizing the literature • Copy and file materials • Construct a Literature Map

  36. Procedure for constructing a Literature Map • Identify key terms for the topic and put them at the top of the map • Sort studies into topical areas or “families of studies.” • Provide a label for each box which will become a heading for the review • Develop the map on as many levels as possible

  37. Procedure for constructing a Literature Map • Draw a box toward the bottom of the figure that says “my proposed study” • Draw lines connecting the proposed study with other branches of the literature

  38. Literature Map The need for Teaching Programs to be Culturally Responsive Bennett, 1995; Eastman, Smith, 1991; Grant 1994; Noel,1995 Study Abroad Programs U.S. Programs Personal insights of Preservice Teachers Friesen, Kang McDongall, 1995; Mahan, Stachowski, 1991 Possible Improvements Martin, Rohrlich , 1991; Stachowski, 1991 Personal insights of Preservice Teachers Cockrell, Placier Cockrell, Middleton 1999, Goodwin, 1997 Kea, Bacon, 1999 Attitude Toward Study Abroad King, Young ,1994 Conventional Programs Colville-Hall Macdonald, Smollen, 1995; Rodriguez, Sjostrom, 1995; Vavrus, 1994 Need for further study: Non-English Speaking Cultures Question: Do short-term study abroad programs in non-English speaking cultures help create cultural responsiveness in preservice teachers? Cross-Cultural Programs Cooper, Beare Thorman, 1990; Larke, Wiseman, Bradley, 1990 Predominately English Speaking Countries Mahan, Stachowski, 1990; Quinn, Barr, McKay, Jarchow, Powell, 1995; Vall, Tennison, 1992

  39. Circular Literature Map Need for Further Study Non-English Speaking Cultures Question: “Do short term study abroad programs in non-English speaking cultures help create cultural responsiveness in preservice teachers? Study Abroad Program U.S. Programs Conventional Programs Preservice Teachers (Friesen, Kang, McDougall, 1995) Attitudes Toward Study Abroad (King, Young 1994) Personal insights of Preservice Teachers (Friesen, Kang, McDougall, 1995) Personal Insights of Teachers (Cockrell, Placer, Cockrell, Milleton, 1999 Predominately English Speaking Cultures (Maha, Stachowski, 1990) Cross-Cultural Program (Cooper, Beare, Thorman, 1990)

  40. Writing a review of the literature • Identify and summarize each study in an “abstract” that highlights important elements • Write out complete citations for the summaries with headings that use appropriate style manual formats • Write the review using writing strategies related to the type and extent of the review

  41. Quantitative The research problem The hypothesis or research questions The data collection procedure Results of the study Qualitative The research problem The central phenomenon The data collection procedure Findings Quantitative and Qualitative Abstracts

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