MEETING 1-2

Introduction to the course

The Importance of Research
Sense of Curiosity
Ways of Knowing Truth
Scientific Method and Research
Science, Research and Educational Research
The Goal of Science
Research and Educational Research
The Application of Scientific Method in
Educational Research

THE IMPORTANCE OF
RESEARCH: Research is a Must
Research is the key to the cultural development of developed countries.
The results of research have successfully unveiled and reduced mans
areas of ignorance by discovering new truth (scientific truth), which in turn
lead to better predictions, better ways of doing things, and new and better
products.
Research findings in many fields have presented better understanding of
the world in which we live
In the filed of education, educational research findings significantly
contribute to both educational theory and educational practice. We have,
for example, better understanding of the teaching and learning process,
and the conditions under which it is successfully carried out through
educational researches, but many more are still undiscovered. Therefore,
research must go on.
One of the three university mandates (tridharma Perguruan Tinggi) to be
intensively executed by universities in Indonesia is research. The two other
mandates are education and community service. This places research as a
subject in a very important position in the curriculum of Indonesian
universities.

SENSE OF CURIOSITY
Normal human beings are born with inherent curiosity. They generally manifest
curiosity to the extent in which (a) they react positively to new, strange, incongruous,
mysterious things in the environment by moving towards them, exploring them, and
manipulating them, (b) they exhibit a need or a desire to know more about
themselves and / or their environment, (c) they scan their surrounding seeking for
new experience, and (d) they persist in examining and exploring stimuli in order to
know more.
People having high sense of curiosity have bags of questions to ask while those
having low sense of curiosity have less. Sense of curiosity has influences in the
initiation and stimulation of creative thought and behavior (Cohen, 1976:30).
With this inherent curiosity, aided by the control of symbols, people from all sorts of
life: children, adults, students, teachers, lawyers, doctors, scientists, kings,
presidents, senators, and many others keep asking questions: what, why, how, when,
where, etc., seeking for answers.
The questions may range from the simplest to the most complex one in form; and
the questions can be common questions or research questions, depending on the
sorts of people who ask the questions.
Whoever and whatever type of question is asked, the question needs an answer, and
it goes without saying that the answer which is needed is a true answer, for short the
truth.
There are two common ways of approaching truth, namely scientific method and nonscientific method.

WAYS OF KNOWING
TRUTH
1. Non-scientific Methods
a. Revelation
b. Sensory Experience
c. Common sense
d. Experience and Authority
e. Expert Opinion
f. Intuition
g. Trial and Error
i. Logic
2. Scientific Method

WAYS OF KNOWING TRUTH:

Non-scientific Methods
a. Revelation
Allah revealed truths to His Prophets and Messengers. All the truths
revealed to Prophets and Messengers are absolute truths. The
absolute truths for Moslems, for example, are all in the Holy Quran.
Truths by revelation are not the products of mans active reasoning.
b. Sensory Experience
We see, we hear, we smell, we taste, and touch things or objects to
know what they are. Using sensory experience as a means of
obtaining information seems to be the most immediate way. For
example, we can visit a class of bilingual program to see and hear
what happens during a week or two of the semester. However,
many experiments in sensory perception have revealed that it is
not always wise to trust our senses completely for our senses can
deceive us: the water we see in the road far ahead is but a mirage;
the chicken we thought we tasted turns out to be duck.

WAYS OF KNOWING TRUTH:

Non-scientific Methods
c. Common sense
Common sense is often used to give practical judgment on matters people
have. In the field of education, for example, punishment by common sense
was a good way of educating. This practical judgment did hold truth until
research findings on psychology and education reported that reward is a
better way of educating.
d. Experience and Authority
Statements stated by the authority are often uncritically accepted as truth.
However, when they are verified, not all the statements are true. As an
illustration: According to the story, one day Aristotle caught a fly and
carefully counted and recounted its legs. He then announced that flies have
five legs. No one questioned the word of Aristotle. His finding was
uncritically accepted for years. Of course, the fly that Aristotle caught just
happened to be missing a leg! Whether or not we believe this story, but it
does illustrate the limitations of relying on personal experience and
authority completely as sources of knowledge.

WAYS OF KNOWING TRUTH:

Non-scientific Methods
e. Expert Opinion
To use expert opinion in his field as a means of obtaining
information can give us answers to the things we question in mind.
For example, to know whether or not the writing ability in foreign
language learning correlates with the ability in listening, speaking
and reading requires us to inquire of a noted authority in foreign
language teaching and learning. Like all human beings, experts can
be mistaken. No expert has studied or experienced everything in
his field.
f. Intuition
Intuition is the immediate knowing or learning of something without
the conscious use of reasoning. It is instantaneous apprehension.
g. Trial and Error
Trial and error is a process of making repeated trials guided by no
principles to find a desired results or solutions.

WAYS OF KNOWING TRUTH:

Non-scientific Methods
h. Logic
The era of logic began when man began to think systematically about thinking itself. The first systematic
approach to reasoning was deductive method, attributed to Aristotle and the Greeks, employing categorical
syllogism which establishes a logical relationship among a major premise, a minor premise, and a
conclusion. The following is a typical Aristotelian categorical syllogism.
Major Premise: All human beings are mortal.
Minor Premise: Soeharto is a human being.
Conclusion : Soeharto is mortal.
In our lives we have never experienced that anyone was not mortal, so we undoubtedly stated that all
human beings are mortal as the major premise (the statement or assertion that serves as the basis for an
argument). The second statement (minor premise) is based entirely on our experience that Soeharto is a
human being. The major and the minor premises of the syllogism are coherent and consistent. Because they
are both true, the conclusion is completely guaranteed to be true.
Like other ways of searching for truth, deductive reasoning also has hazards and limitations. It started with
old dogmas that religious or intellectual authorities had already accepted which could be expected to arrive
at few new truths.
The second way of finding truths by logic was inductive reasoning, proposed by Francis Bacon who
advocated the application of direct observation of phenomena to arrive at conclusions or generalizations.
The method of inductive reasoning was not any longer hampered by premises. In other words, inductive
reasoning involves formulation of generalizations based on the evidence of many individual observations of
specific events.
Example: Every research report examined contains a summary.
Therefore, all research reports contain a summary.
It is important to note here that inductive reasoning alone did not provide a completely satisfactory system
for the solution of problems. Limited and random collection of individual observations without a unifying
concept or focus often obscures investigations, and therefore rarely leads to a generalization or theory.

WAYS OF KNOWING TRUTH:

Scientific Method
Although neither deductive reasoning nor inductive reasoning was
entirely satisfactory, there was a gap between the two to bridge to have
a better way of the search for truth.
In the nineteenth century, Charles Darwin integrated fully the deductive
method of Aristotle and the inductive method of Francis Bacon.
The major premise of the older deductive method was gradually
replaced by an assumption or hypothesis which was subsequently
tested by the collection and logical analysis of data.
The deductive-inductive method was then recognized as an example of
a scientific method.
The scientific method involves answering questions through systematic
and public accumulation of knowledge which involves induction of
hypotheses based on observations, deduction of implication, and
confirmation or disconfirmation of the hypotheses. The scientific
method is a very orderly process entailing a number of sequential steps.

WAYS OF KNOWING TRUTH:

Scientific Method
Definition of the Problem

Formulation of Hypotheses

Projection of Consequences

Collection and Analysis of Data

Testing of Hypotheses

SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND

RESEARCH
The terms scientific method and research are sometimes used
synonymously in educational discussion.
The two terms have some common elements of meaning, but a
distinction would be helpful.
Best (1977:8) clarifies that research is considered to be the more
formal, systematic, and intensive process of carrying on a
scientific method of analysis while scientific method in problem
solving may be an informal application of problem identification,
hypothesis formulation, observation, analysis and conclusion.
One could reach a conclusion about the reason his car would not
start or why a fire occurred in an occupied house by employing a
scientific method, but the processes involved would not likely be
as structured as those of research.
Research is a more systematic activity directed toward discovery
and the development of an organized body of knowledge.

SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL

RESEARCH
Science
In Websters New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged (1979:1622), it is
stated that science means (1) state or fact of knowing; knowledge, often
opposed to intuition, belief, etc. (2) systematized knowledge derived from
observation, study, and experimentation carried out in order to determine the
nature or principles of what is being studied, (3) a branch of knowledge or
study, especially one concerned with establishing and systematizing facts,
principles, and methods, as by experiments and hypotheses; as the science of
music, (4) the systematized knowledge of nature and the physical world; any
branch of this, (5) skill, technique, or ability based upon training, discipline, and
experience.
Research
People define research in different ways, but the definitions bear more or less
similar characteristics.
Research is the formal, systematic application of the scientific method to the
study of problems (Gay, 1996:6).
Research is any sort of careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in
some field of knowledge, undertaken to discover or establish facts and
principles (Fraenkel & Wallen, 1990:7).
Research is the systematic and objective analysis and recording of controlled

ELABORATIONS OF RESEARCH
CHARACTERISTICS
The three definitions of research cited earlier have the following characteristics.

1. Research is directed to the solution of a problem

2. Research emphasizes the development of generalizations, principles, or
theories that will be helpful in predicting future occurrences.
3. Research is based upon observable experience or empirical evidence.
4. Research demands accurate observation and description.
5. Research involves gathering new data from primary or first-hand sources or
using existing data for a new purpose.
6. Research demands carefully designed procedures.
7. Research requires expertise.
8. Research strives to be objective and logical, applying every possible test to
validate the procedures employed, the data collected, and the conclusions
reached.
9. Research emphasizes testing the hypothesis rather than proving it.
10.Research is characterized by patient and unhurried activity.
11.Research is carefully recorded and reported.
12.Research requires risk-taking.

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
The ensuing definitions of educational research stem from the
early cited definitions of research, as in the following
Educational research is the formal, systematic application of
the scientific method to the study of educational problems.
Educational research is any sort of careful, systematic, patient
study and investigation in the field of education, undertaken to
discover or establish facts and principles in education.
Educational research is the systematic and objective analysis
and recording of controlled observations that may lead to the
development of generalizations, principles, or theories,
resulting in prediction and ultimate control of many events that
may be consequences or causes of specific educational
activities.

THE GOAL OF SCIENCE, RESEARCH AND

EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

The characteristics of educational research are the same with other

scientific research. The goal of science and research is to describe,
explain, construct, predict, and/or control phenomena. The goal of
educational research follows from the goal of all science and
research, namely to describe, explain, construct, predict, and/or
control educational phenomena. (Bahan interview mid semester)
The major difference between educational research and other
scientific research is the nature of the phenomena investigated.
It is plausible to say that situations and conditions involving human
beings, as the most complex of all organisms, are considerably
more difficult to explain, predict, and control compared to other
phenomena. Human beings develop along with the development of
science and technology.
This implies that educational concerns will be varied and more
varied in forms in the future and the solutions will call for more
efforts and more sectors to involve.

THE APPLICATION OF SCIENTIFIC

METHOD IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Referring to Gays (1996:7), the steps involved in conducting (educational) research
should look familiar since they directly parallel those of the scientific method:

Selection and definition of a problem. A problem is a hypothesis or question of

interest to education which can be tested or answered through the collection and
analysis of data.
Execution of research procedures. The procedures reflect all the activities involved
in collecting data related to the problem, e.g. selection of subjects, selection or
development of measuring instrument, and how data are collected and from whom
and where. The design of the study will dictate to a great of extent the specific
procedures involved in the study.
Analysis of data. Data analysis usually involves application of one or more
statistical techniques. Data are analyzed in a way that permits the researcher to
test the research hypothesis or answer the research question. For some studies,
data analysis involves verbal synthesis of narrative data these studies typically
share resulting insights and/or generate hypotheses.
Drawing and stating conclusion. The conclusions are based on the results of data
analysis. They should be stated in terms of the original hypothesis or research
question. Conclusions should indicate, for example, whether the research
hypothesis is accepted or not supported. For studies involving verbal synthesis,
conclusions are much more tentative.