Four Ways of Knowing

1. Four Ways of Knowing 1. Methods of Tenacity: Superstition. - Truth is true because one believes it even in front of contradicting evidence. 2. Method of Authority: Religion -Truth is true because an authority says so. 3. Method of Intuition: Philosophy -Truth is true because it is logical. It derives from reasoning but does not bear empirical support. • 4. Method of Science • - Science is a method of seeking truth. This method only accounts for solvable problems that have empirical solutions based on observable events.

2. Norms of Science • Universal Standards • Common Ownership of Information • Integrity in Gathering and Interpreting Data • Organized Scepticism

3. Kinds of Research • Exploratory - Discover new phenomena and relationships among phenomena that are missed by others. Qualitative research plays important role here. e.g., A counselling psychologist wants to know what things make an effective counsellor. • Explanatory - Develop new theories or use existing theories to account for the observations. e.g., Dollard and Dobb (1939) theorized that frustration leads to aggression from the observation that a child strikes out when deprived of a toy. • Validation - Validating and replicating existing research and theory is an important part of science. Using different samples, populations, research methods.

4. Three Components of Educational Research Methodology 1. MEASUREMENT (PSYCHOMETRICS) • Instrumentation, Reliability, Validity 2. RESEARCH DESIGN • Sampling, Designs, Internal and External Validity • Experiment, quasi-experiment, non-experiment research. 3. DATA ANALYSIS (STATISTICS) • Descriptive statistics, Hypothesis testing, and Various analytical techniques.

5. Research Report • Title Page • Abstract • Introduction • Problem • Significance • Justifications • Hypotheses which are integrated in the literature review • Method • population • sample • procedures • measurement • designs • Results • Present the results in the order of the hypotheses • Discussion • References • Tables and Figures

6. 1. Identification of a research problem.(Why) Consult the literature for a solution. (Find out why) Formulation of testable hypotheses on the basis of existing theory and research. (Here is a solution) INTRODUCTION SECTION - Objectives and significance of study - Literature review - Research questions and hypotheses; Ind. and Dep. variables The Process of Research

7. 4. Design a study to minimize extraneous factors that affect the same phenomenon or relationship you hypothesized. (A plan to test the solution) 5. Data collection. When the behaviors are exp manipulated or observed, the outcome become data. (carry out the plan) METHOD SECTION sample, design (exp., quasi., non), procedures, validity threats Measurements, reliability and validity

8. 6. Data analysis. Data are summarized in such a way that the summary bears on the research questions and hypotheses. (report it) 7. Interpretation of data, adding to the existing body of knowledge. (Why? This is why.) RESULTS SECTION Various statistical and data analytical techniques and procedures DISCUSSION SECTION -Theory & explanation, limitations and future directions

9. Ways to Locate a Research Problem 1.Identify broad areas that are closely related to your interests and professional goals and write them down. 2.Then choose among the areas that relate to your future career, an area or a research topic that is feasible. 3.Collaborate with other people; join on-going projects. 4.Read text books where rather comprehensive topics in a field are summarized, and problems and future research needs are identified; journal article for the state of art of the field and authors recommendations; review articles for both. 5.Test a theory. 6.Replication. Replicate major milestone study. Replicate studies using different population, samples, methods. 7.Observations. Observe carefully the existing practices in your area of interest. 8.Develop research ideas from advanced courses you take. 9.Get ideas from newspaper and popular magazines.

10. Variable • An attribute or characteristic of a person or object that varies from person to person, object to object. • Independent variable represents the research interest and is manipulated (experiment) or measured (non-experiment) to see the results of its change on the dependent variable. • It is the hypothesized cause of something. • Dependent variable is the observed outcome in response to the independent variable. • It is the outcome and is used to evaluate the independent variable. • Control variable is a variable that is either made into a constant or is included in the study (even though it is not of interest) to control or neutralize factors extraneous to the research question. • State variable emphasizes ongoing behavioural response or the current status of a behaviour. It is experimentally manipulated. • Trait variable emphasizes stable personality and other individual differences. It is mostly measured.

11. Operational Definitions • Assign meaning to a construct or a variable by specifying the activities or "operations" necessary to MEASURE or MANIPULATE it. • Measured operational definition: • Intelligence is defined as scores on the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Cognitive Abilities. • Vagueness of lecturing is defined as using the following words: A couple, a few, sometimes, all of this, something like that, pretty much. • School achievement is defined as one's GPA. • Social Economic Status is defined by the number of years of education and the amount of salary the head of a family receives. • Popularity is defined operationally by the number of friendship nominations a student receives from his/her school mates. • Experimental operational definition: • Recall is defined by asking subjects to recite items shown to them from a stimulus list and assigning a point for each item that matches one on the list. • Recognition is defined by showing subjects items and asking them to decide whether they were part of the stimulus list. • Aggression is defined as the number of times a child hits a toy doll.

12. Distinguishing Between Two Types of Literature Reviews • There are two general types of literature reviews: 1.A critical review of a literature 2.A review of literature relevant to a research proposal • Review of Literature Relevant to a Research Proposal • Is an obligation to place the question or hypothesis in the context of previous work in such a way as to explain and justify the proposed questions and hypotheses. • Is not a product to educate the reader concerning the state of science in the problem area; nor is it to display the thoroughness with which the author pursued a comprehensive understanding of the literature.

13. How to Write a Lit Review • Break up the review into several topic areas. • Organize all the findings under the various topics into a unified picture of the state of knowledge in the area reviewed. The process of combining and interpreting the literature is more difficult than merely reviewing what has been done. • Use two to three studies that are most pertinent and well done as foundations of your review topics. Use similar studies as support. • Write the review as if you are expressing your own thoughts and developing and building your own arguments and themes but not as if you are reporting others' work. • Don't do article by article listing of things. • Don't use the same format, e.g., Baker found... • Rather than citing everything in an article in one place, cite an article multiple times to fit different themes of yours. • Write down your thoughts and paraphrase important points of the articles as you read. It may not be a good idea to read all the articles and then write. • Look over the articles before copying them. Read several carefully before looking for more.