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6. 7. 8.
Choosing a research problem. Determining the research objectives. Determining the research questions. Determining the research hypothesis. Reviewing the literature. Planning the research design. Determining the sampling procedure. Constructing the research instrument.
Why do research?
To satisfy intellectual curiosity. To better understand things. To be at the forefront of an exciting, technical field. To always be learning new things.
Creativity Curiosity Independence of thought Good communication skills Perseverance Self-discipline Interaction skills
Problem should be important. Problem should hold your personal interest. Problem should have depth, in terms of aspects possibly available for investigation. Problem might come from questioning existing literature.
Problem may be amenable (bertepatan) to some technique you already have devised. Problem may lead you into new technology. Problem may be in a hot area.
Pros
and cons
1. Research topic the broad subject matter area to be investigated. 2. Research problem the educational issue or problem within a broad topic area. 3. Research purpose a statement of the intent or objective of the study. 4. Research question 5. Hypotheses a prediction or best guest of the relation that exists among the variables being investigated.
Personal interest Social problem Testing theory Prior research Program evaluation Human service practice Minorities in research
What are some of the Limitations Encountered when Doing or Thinking of Doing a Research Project?
Time constraints Financial consideration Anticipating and avoiding problems Equipment limitations Human resource limitations Out of the box thinking In the box thinking
Situation
A researcher is interested in determining whether or not there are differences in students classroom participation as a result of the kind of feedback provided by the teacher. Being aware of prior research indicating that boys and girls participate at difference levels, the researcher will make sure that the sample consists of approximately equal numbers of third grade boys and girls. The data will consist of the observed frequency with which students will volunteer to participate or respond during class activities.
Situation
The sample will be divided into three groups, which will differ in the kind of feed back the teacher provides to the students. One group will receive oral feedback only, the second group will receive written feedback only, and the third group will receive oral and written feedback. The researcher will compare the frequency of students voluntary participation among the three groups after the feedback treatment has been used for three weeks.
Research objective is the statement of the purpose of a research study. Example: If you want to investigate the causal connection that might exist between a treatment for learning disability and the effect of that treatment on spelling ability, your statement could be stated as: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect that treatment for a learning disability has on the spelling proficiency of children with learning disability.
If the intent of your study was to describe the relationship between spelling proficiency and the extent of a persons learning disability, your objective statement could be stated as follows: The purpose of this study is to describe the degree of relationship that exists between spelling proficiency and the extent of a persons learning disability.
Descriptive research
The careful mapping out of a situation or a set of events in order to describe what is happening behaviorally. Example: A researcher wants to identify the amount of time each week that typical American adults spend in various activities, including exercise.
Relational Research
Has its focus the identification of how changes in one characteristics or variable correspond (or do not correapond) to changes in another characteristic or variable. Example: A researcher is interested in finding out whether or not there is any relationship between exercise habits and health status (or between height and weight measurements) for a group of people.
Causal-comparative research
Has its focus the identification of cause and effects. Example: A researcher wants to know if more exercise results in people being healthier, he or she might designed a study where people were assigned to different groups each of which was led in different amounts of exercise. By comparing the health status of the groups, after some time had passed, the researcher could infer the extent to which differences in exercise cause health status differences in people.
Exercise
A teacher is interested in determining whether there is a connection between how much television children watch and their performance in school.
WHAT TYPE OF RESEARCH QUESTION IS THE TEACHER PROBABLY ASKING IN THIS RESEARCH?
Example: Original : Achievement and teaching techniques. Restatement: A study of the effects of three teaching techniques on science achievement of junior high school students. Question form:Do three different teaching techniques have differing effects on science achievement scores of junior high school students? The statement of the research problem should
Variables
1. Constant is a characteristic or condition that is the same for all individuals in a study. 2. Independent variables A variable that affect (or assumed to affect) the dependent variable under study and is included in th research design so that its affect can be determined. 3. Dependent variables The variable being affected or assumed to be affected by the independent variable. 4. Intervening variables A variable whose existence is inferred but cannot always be manipulated or measured.
Variable
5. Control Variables A variable other than the independent variables of primary interest, whose effects are determined by the researcher.
Example: Intelligence Operationally defined as a score from a widely accepted standardized test. Socioeconomic status Operationally defined by whether a student is
Example
1. A study of teacher-student classroom interaction in different levels of schooling. IV :DV :2. A study of location of school effect upon attitudes toward school of seventh grade students. IV: DV:
A research hypothesis is a predictive statement that represents a very specific proposed answer to the problem statement. It must be stated in an empirically testable form, and should indicate the specific nature of the connection (usually a difference or a relationship) between or among variables that was initially identified in the problem statement.
Hypotheses
Logically deduced from relevant theories or logically induced from prior related research and may be stated in either the NULL or ALTERNATIVE form. Null Hypotheses Is a statement that we expect that there will be no connection among variables. Example: There will be no difference in the level of enthusiasm between students in the two field experience groups.
Hypotheses
Alternative hypotheses states the nature of the connection between or among variables that we aspect, based on theory and/or prior research.
Hypotheses
Non-directional hypotheses state that a connection among variables exists. Example There will be a difference between elementary and secondary teachers in the amount of professional reading that they do.
Hypotheses
Directional hypotheses state that the particular nature of the connection. Example: There will be a difference between elementary and secondary teachers in the amount of professional reading that they do AND secondary teachers do more professional reading than their elementary counterparts
Hypotheses
Null Hypotheses Example: There will be no difference between elementary and secondary teachers in the amount of professional reading that they do.
Reviewing literature
Before any research planning or data collection takes place it is of central importance to ensure that you have adequately reviewed the literature relevant to your research question.
and conceptual concepts Identification of independent and dependent variables Measurement and operational definitions Selection of appropriate research technique Sampling strategy Statistical technique Findings and conclusions of similar studies studied
Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. If you have limited time to conduct research, literature reviews can give you an overview or act as a stepping stone. For professionals, they are useful reports that keep them up to date with what is current in the field. For scholars, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the writer in his or her field. Literature reviews also provide a solid background for a research paper's investigation. Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers.
Books Journals Internet Data bases Archives Interviews Observations Reports Records
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Introduction .......................... Why did they start the research? Methods ............................... What did they do? Results .................................. What did they find? Discussion ............................. What do the results mean?
The research design is the master plan specifying the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information.
Although every problem and research objective may seem unique, there are usually enough similarities among problems and objectives to allow decisions to be made in advance about the best plan to resolve the problem.
There are some research designs that can be successfully matched to given problems and research objectives.
Three traditional categories of research design: Exploratory Descriptive Causal The choice of the most appropriate design depends largely on the objectives of the research and how much is known about the problem and these objectives.
The overall research design for a project may include one or more of these three designs as part(s) of it.
Further, if more than one design is to be used, typically we progress from Exploratory toward Causal.
To determine causality, test hypotheses, to make if-then Causal statements, to answer questions
Exploratory research is most commonly unstructured, informal research that is undertaken to gain background information about the general nature of the research problem. Exploratory research is usually conducted when the researcher does not know much about the problem and needs additional information or desires new or more recent information. Exploratory research is used in a number of situations: To gain background information To define terms To clarify problems and hypotheses To establish research priorities
A variety of methods are available to conduct exploratory research: Secondary Data Analysis Experience Surveys Case Analysis Focus Groups Projective Techniques
Descriptive research is undertaken to provide answers to questions of who, what, where, when, and how but not why. Two basic classifications: Cross-sectional studies Longitudinal studies
Causality may be thought of as understanding a phenomenon in terms of conditional statements of the form If x, then y. Causal relationships are typically determined by the use of experiments, but other methods are also used.
Experimental Design
An experimental design is a procedure for devising an experimental setting such that a change in the dependent variable may be solely attributed to a change in an independent variable. Symbols of an experimental design: O = measurement of a dependent variable X = manipulation, or change, of an independent variable R = random assignment of subjects to experimental and control groups E = experimental effect
Consider the following key questions when designing your research plan: 1. For what purposes is the research being done. 2. Who are the audiences for the information from the research. 3. What kinds of information are needed to make the decisions you need to make and/or to enlighten your intended audiences, e.g., do you need information to really understand a process, the customers who buy certain products, strengths and weaknesses of the product or service or program, benefits to customers, how the product or service or program failed some customers and why, etc.? 4. From what sources should the information be collected, e.g., employees, customers, groups of employees or customers, certain documentation, etc.? 5. How can that information be collected in a reasonable fashion, e.g., questionnaires, interviews, examining documentation, observing staff and/or clients in the program, conducting focus groups among staff and/or clients, etc? (An overview is provided about each method, back in the section Basic Research Methods). 6. When is the information needed (so, by when must it be collected)? 7. What resources are available to collect the information?
Define the population. Frame the population. Choose a sample design. Draw the sample. Execute the research.
Probability (random) samples Simple random sampling. Stratified sampling Cluster sampling. Systematic sampling Non probability samples Judgement sampling Convenience sampling Volunteer sampling Quota sampling.
Sampling
Random Sampling - Involves selecting a sample from a population using table of random numbers or a computer program so that each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected. Stratified Sampling Involves selecting a sample from specified strata of sub populations. The number chosen from each stratum may be equal or proportional to the number in each stratum.
Sampling
Cluster Sampling Involves choosing a sample from intact mutually exclusive groups, such as school classes. The clusters may be randomloy selected from a set of available clusters. All members of the cluster can be included in tha sample. Systematic Sampling Involves choosing every nth (example 4th, 10th ) name or number associated with a name on a list.
Probability Samples
When to use stratified sampling Primary research is to compare groups. There are separate confidence interval objectives by strata. Costs differ by strata. Prior informations differ by strata. Examples of cluster sampling: Blocks, dorm, classes, courses.
Exercise
1. Random Sampling Exercise: A school district produces educational television programming for its resident. This is a costly venture. Since budget cuts need to be made, the administration wants to survey district residents as to the value of the programming. It plans to do this by randomly selecting families and conducting telephone interviews. Briefly, describe how the sample would be chosen.
Anything that become a means of collecting information for your study is called research tool or research instrument. Examples: Observation forms, interview schedules, questionaire, interview guides etc.
Validity meaning strong. Refers to the degree with which correct inferences can be made from the results of a research study. Internal validity A researcher wants to have confidence that the outcomes observed in a research study are a function of the conditions observed, measured, and/or manipulated in the study and not due to other factors that were not addressed in the study.
Validity
External Validity The extent to which the results of a research study are able to be generalized confidently to a group larger than the group that participated in the study. Usually researchers want to use the results of a research study to make a claim not just about the participants in a study but also about the larger population of which the participants are a sample. The ability to make such claims or generalizations depends on the external validity.
Effect of testing Multiple-treatment interference Selection treatment interaction Effects of experimental arrangements Experimenter effects. Specificity of variables.
Exercise
During a six-week classroom unit in which cooperative learning is being studied, several of the students in the class are severely injured on a field trip in a bus accident and are hospitalized for a brief time. Following their release from the hospital, they continue as participants in the study.
Reliability of Research
Refers to the consistency of the research and the extent to which studies can be replicated. Internal reliability refers to the extent that data collection, analysis and interpretation are consistent given the same conditions. External reliability deals with the issue of whether or not independent researchers can replicate studies in the same or similar settings.
Reliability
Reliability of research concerns the replicability and consistency of the methods, conditions and results. Reliability is a necessary characteristic for validity: A STUDY CANNOT BE VALID AND LACK RELIABILITY.
Categorical
nominal-observations
What are some of the Tests Used on Categorical Data? Chi-squared test-to determine the relationship between variables Fishers test-to compare two unpaired groups McNemars test-to analyze a matched casecontrol study Kappa-to quantify interafter agreement Wilcoxon test- to compare one group to a hypothetical value Kruskal-Wallis test-to compare three or more groups Spearman test-to compare association between variables
T test- to compare one or two groups ANOVA-to compare three or more groups Pearson test-to compare the association between variables
How to Draw Conclusions from Data? Use of graphical presentations Use of statistical analyses Sharing data among colleagues and receiving constructive feedback Critically analyzing data and results
Tables-matrix of rows and columns representing variables Figures-visual organization of data/observations -pictures -pie charts -line charts -bar charts -flow charts -organizational charts -cartogram charts -Gantt charts -scatter plot charts
Tutorial
A student wishes to study on Factors that cause students of Class Year 5 Awana to be sleepy during teaching and learning What research design can be used ? Using a flow chart, discuss the procedures needed to conduct a research?