Research Seminars inIT in Education(MIT6003)

Research methods in education

Dr Jacky Pow

Agenda Historical research Developmental research Surveys Correlational research Experiments and quasi-experiments Case studies Action Research

Historical research 歷史研究法 Systematic analysis of related

documentation or information:– For prediction of a trend– For explanation of a phenomena– For accurate description of an event

Discover rather than generate (create) data

Historical research 歷史研究法 Travers (1978): the study of,

– Where did the event happen?– Who had participated in it?– When did it happen?– What kind of activities had involved in it?

Historical research is a kind of reflective process ( 從歷史中學習 )

Historical research 歷史研究法 Documentary ( 文獻 ) research

– Content analysis

Bibliographical ( 書目 ) research– Classification analysis

Legal ( 法規 ) research

Historical research 歷史研究法 Primary sources

– Official documents– Oral testimony– Remains or relics

Secondary sources– Text book– Encyclopedia

This classification is not exclusive:– Sometimes a secondary source could be the

primary source of a study

Developmental research 發展性研究法

The study of the development or growth process of organizations or living things– Describe the relationships among variables in a

given situation over time– Account for changes occurring in those

relationships as a function of time

Developmental research 發展性研究法

Longitudinal study (cohort study)– Gather data of the same respondents over an

extended period of time

Sample A

Observation 1

Sample A

Observation 2

Sample A

Observation 3

Developmental research 發展性研究法

Cross-sectional study– Gather data of different respondents at different

points in time

Sample

C

Sample

B

Sample

A

Sample

D

Sample

E

Social processes

Over time

Retrospective Prospective

Developmental research 發展性研究法

Trend or prediction study– Study a few selected factors continuously over

time

Recorded data on factors a, b, c

Predicted patterns

Observations on a, b, c

1 2 3 4 5

Surveys 調查研究法 A very popular method in educational

research and other research in social sciences

Gather data of a sample ( 樣本 ) in a population, and generalize the findings to the population ( 母體羣 )

Surveys 調查研究法 Three prerequisites: The exact purpose of enquiry

– Must have a clear focus, change of design (e.g., questionnaire) is hard

The population on which it is to focus– Population is not always easily identifiable

The resources that are available– Determine the sample size and design

Surveys 調查研究法 Descriptive in nature:

– Describe the nature of existing conditions (e.g., how many teachers are using PowerPoint in their teaching?)

– Identifying standards against which existing conditions can be compared (e.g., how does school A compare to other schools in HK in terms of PowerPoint usage?)

– Determining the relationships that exist between specific events (e.g., Is there any relationship between availability of training of PowerPoint and its usage?)

Surveys 調查研究法 Probability samples

– Simple random sampling– Systematic sampling– Stratified sampling– Cluster sampling– Stage sampling

Surveys 調查研究法 Non-probability samples

– Convenience sampling– Quota sampling– Purposive sampling– Dimensional sampling– Snowball sampling

Surveys 調查研究法 Sample size

– >30 in order to use some form of statistical analysis

Sampling error– When the sample fails to represent accurately

the population

Class activity

Construct a short questionnaire for the problem

In some informal settings, you realise that most of the pupils in your school do not have a computer at home. You want to know whether this has an effect on the learning of computer skills.

Correlational research 相關研究法 The study of the relationship between two

or more variables – Quantitative in nature

Descriptive research– Not to identify causal relationship

Prediction studies 預測研究– The score in one variable is used to predict the

score of another variables (e.g., academic achievement and IQ)

Correlational research 相關研究法 Coefficient of correlation 相關系數 (a

continuum)

-1.00 0 +1.00

Perfect negative correlation

No correlation (pure random)

Perfect positive correlation

Correlational research 相關研究法 Multiple correlation (regression) 複迴歸

– Degree of association between 2 or more variables simultaneously

Factor analysis 因素分析– The technique to identify the pattern of a large

number of variables– To filter out irrelevant variables

Experiments 實驗研究法 Experiments

– The study that deliberately controls and manipulates the conditions which determine the event or phenomenon of interest

– To change the value of the independent variable and observe the effect of that change on the dependent variable

– Most of the research in education is not true experiment, they are quasi-experiment

Experiments 實驗研究法 Pre-experimental design: the one group

Pretest-Post-test

O1 X O2

O = observationX = experimental manipulation (treatment)

experimental

Experiments 實驗研究法 ‘True’ experimental design: the Pretest-

Post-test control group design

RO1 X O2

RO3 O4

R = randomizationO = observationX = experimental manipulation (treatment)

Experimental

Control

Experiments 實驗研究法 Quasi-experiments design 準實驗研究法 :

the Non-equivalent control group design

O1 X O2

O3 O4

Experimental

control

O = observationX = experimental manipulation (treatment)

Case studies 個案研究法 The intensive analytical study of the

phenomena or problems in the life cycle of an unit (e.g., a child, a class, a school or a group of schools)

To establish generalizations about the wider population to which that unit belongs

Case studies 個案研究法 Observation method

– Can collect data on non-verbal behaviour– Can make notes on salient features of the

behaviour– Can develop a more intimate and informal

relationships with the participants

Case studies 個案研究法 Participant observation

– The research takes part in the process

Non-participant observation– The research only observes the process

Case studies 個案研究法 The steps:

1. Formulate a rough definition of the phenomenon

2. Formulate a hypothetical explanation of that phenomenon

3. Study the case in the light of the hypothesis4. If the hypothesis does not fit the facts, either

reformulate the hypothesis or redefine the phenomenon to be explained

5. Continue step 4 until a universal relationship is established

Action Research 行動研究法 A balanced composition of three elements

(Greenwood and Levin, 1998): – Research (generation of new knowledge) – Participation (strong commitment to the

knowledge generation process) – Action (improvement of an existing educational

situation)

Action Research 行動研究法 Action research is a systematic research that involves

“a self-reflective spiral of planning, acting, observing, reflecting and re-planning” (McNiff, 1988)

Through cycles of a plan-action-observation-reflection-plan process, the researcher develops his/her own understanding of an issue from the process and consequently generates knowledge that ‘critically transforms’ a social phenomenon http://www.infed.org/research/b-actres.htm

Action research is grounded on practicality and if action is absent, then the process is by no means action research

Action Research 行動研究法 Action research fell out of favour in the late

1950’s (not having ‘rigour’ and restricted to individual development )

Became one of the most popular educational research methods in the 1980’s– highlighted the participative role of teachers in

the larger questions of curriculum development and the creation of knowledge about education

Action Research 行動研究法 Criticism of action research:

– Not to involve theorizing and modeling – Limited transferability of the research findings

as a result of the localized and personal experience