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RFC 1 ch 1
Summary of Chapter 1
Question | Answer |
---|---|
The goal of all scientific endeavors | Describe, explain, predict, and/or control phenomena |
Compared to other sources of knowledge, such as experience, authority, inductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning, application of | Scientific method is most efficient and reliable |
Scientific method | Orderly process that entails recognition and definition of a problem, formulation of a hypotheses, collection, & analysis of data, & statement of conclusions regarding confirmation or disconfirmation of hypotheses |
Four main factors put limitations on the use of a scientific and disciplined inquiry approach: | Inability to answer some types of questions, inability to capture the full richness of the research site, and the complexity of the participants, limitations or measuring instruments, & the need to address participants' needs in ethical & responsible way |
Research | Formal, systematic application of the scientific method to the study of problems |
Educational research | formal systematic application of the scientific method to the study of educational problems |
Major difference between educational research and some other types of scientific research | Nature of the phenomena studied. |
It can be quite difficult to explain, predict, and control situations | Involving human beings, most complex of all organisms |
Research process usually comprises of 4 general steps | a. selection & definition of a problem b. execution of research procedures c. analysis of data d. drawing & stating conclusions |
Quantitative research | Collection & analysis of numerical data to explain, predict, and/or control phenomena of interest |
Key features of quantitative research | a. hypotheses that predict the results of the research before the study begins b. control of contextual factors that may influence the study |
Key features of quantitative research | c. collection of data from sufficient samples of participants d. use of numerical, statistical approaches to analyze the data collected |
Quantitative approach | Assumes the world is relatively stable, uniform, & coherent |
Qualitative researcher | Collection, analysis, & interpretation of comprehensive narrative & visual (nonnumeric) data to gain insights into particular phenomenon of interest |
Key factors of qualitative research | a. defining the problem, but not necessarily at the start of the study b. studying contextual factors in the participants natural settings |
Key factors of qualitative research | c. collecting data from a small number of purposely selected participants d. using nonumeric, interpretive approaches to provide narrative descriptions of the participants and their contexts |
Important belief that underlies qualitative research | the world is not a stable, coherent, nor uniform, & therefore, there are many truths |
Research method comprises | the overall strategy followed in collecting and analyzing data |
Quantitative research approaches | are intended to describe current conditions, investigate relations, & study cause-effect phenomena |
Survey research | involves collecting numerical data to answer questions about the current status of the subject of study |
Correlational research | examine the relation between two or more variables |
Variable | placeholder, such as age, IQ, or height that can take on different values |
In correlational research | the degree of relation is measured by a correlation coefficient |
If two variables are highly related | one is not necessarily the cause of the other |
Causal-comparative research | seeks to investigate differences between two or more different programs, ethos, or groups |
The activity thought to make a difference (e.g., the program, method, or group) is called | the grouping variable |
The effect is called | the dependent variable |
In most causal-comparative research studies, the researcher does not have control over the grouping variable | because it already has occurred or cannot be manipulated |
Causal-comparative research | useful in those circumstances when it is impossible or unethical to manipulate an independent variable |
True experimental research | investigates causal relations among variables |
The experimental researcher | controls the selection of participants by choosing them from a single pool and assigning them at random to different causal treatment |
Because participants are randomly selected and assigned to different treatments | experimental research permits researchers to make true cause-effect statements |
Single-subject experimental designs | type of experimental research that can be applied when the sample is one individual or group |
Single-subject experimental designs | often used to study the behavior change an individual or group exhibits as a result of some intervention or treatment. |
Qualitative approaches include | narrative research, ethnographic research, and case study research |
The focus of narrative, ethnographic, and case study research | is on deep description of aspects of people's everyday perspectives and context |
Narrative research | study of how individuals experience the world. |
The narrative researcher | typically focuses on a single person & gathers data through the collection of stories |
Ethnographic research | the study of the cultural patterns and perspectives of participants in their natural setting |
Ethnography | focuses on a particular site or sites that provide the researcher with a context in which to study both the setting & the participants who inhabit it. |
Case study research | is a qualitative research approach to conducting research on a unit of study or bounded system (e.g., classroom, school). |
Qualitative research generally involves six steps | 1. identifying a research topic 2. reviewing the literature 3. selecting participants 4. collecting data 5. analyzing & interpreting data 6. reporting & evaluating the research |
Qualitative data | gathered directly from participant |
Qualitative researchers | spend a great deal of time with participants as they consider alternative explanations for the behavior they see. |
Qualitative research reports include | detailed descriptions that include the voices of the participants as well as the biases & perspective of the researcher, |
Type of research method needed for a given study | depends on the way the problem is defined |
Basic research | conducted to develop or refine theory, not solve immediate practical problems |
Applied research | conducted to find solutions to current practical problems |
Purpose of evaluation research | inform decision making about educational programs and practices |
Major purpose of research & development (R & D) | to develop effective products for use in schools. |
Purpose of action research | provide teachers with a method for solving everyday problems in their own settings |
Ethical considerations | play a role in all research studies |
All researchers must be aware of and attend | to ethical considerations in their research |
Two overriding rules of ethics | 1. participants should not be harmed in any way-physically, mentally, or socially 2. Researchers must obtain the participants' informed consent. |
Professional organizations develop | ethical principles for their members, & the federal government has enacted laws to protect research participants from harm & invasion of privacy. |
Definite source of ethical guidelines for researchers | Ethical Principles of Psychologists & Code of Conduct prepared for and published by the American Psychological Association (APA) |
Led to the creation of standard set of federal guidelines for the protection of human research participants | National Research Act of 1974 |
Hospitals, colleges, & universities require that proposed research activities involving human participants be | reviewed & approved by an Institutional review Board (IRB) prior to the execution of the research, to ensure protection of the participants. |
Researchers obtain informed consent | by making sure that research participants enter the research of their free will & with understanding of the nature of the study & any possible dangers that may arise as a result of participation |
Study participants are | assured of confidentiality; researchers promise not to disclose participants' identities or information that could lead to discovery of those identities. |
Confidentiality differs from anonymity | the identities of anonymous participants are hidden from the researcher as well. |
Protects the privacy of the educational records of students. Data that identify participants by name may not be made available to the researcher unless written permission is granted by the participants. | Family Educational Rights and Privacy act of 1974, referred to as the Buckley Amendment |
Studies involving deception of participants | are sometimes unavoidable but should be examined critically for unethical practices |
Qualitative researchers | because of their closeness to participants, must pay special attention to ethical issues & view informed consent as a process that evolves & changes throughout the study |
Qualitative researchers | may witness dangerous or illegal behavior & may have to make ethical decisions on the spot. |