Importance of

Educational Research
Contents

Purpose of Conducting
Scientific Inquiry
Educational Research

Features of Quantitative
Types of Research
and Qualitative Research

Process of Conducting
Research Ethics
Research
Purpose of Conducting Educational Research
• Generation of New Intellectual Knowledge:
• Provision of Practical Guidelines
Exercise
1. State two (2) purposes of educational research.
2. Explain two (2) sources of knowledge.
3. State three (3) differences between quantitative and qualitative research
methods.
4. Give a definition of theory and explain what role theory plays in research.
5. Explain two (2) importance of ethics in educational research.
6. List three (3) methods in quantitative research
7. List three (3) methods in qualitative research
8. Explain the purpose of action research carried out by school teachers.
9. Draw and explain the main processes in scientific research
1. Scientific inquiry is a form of problem-solving and
questioning that helps people come to a greater
understanding of observable phenomena.
2. It forms the basis upon which the nature of science
itself rests.
1. The goal of all scientific endeavors is to describe, explain, predict,
and/or control phenomena.
2. Compared to other sources of knowledge, such as experience,
authority, inductive reasoning, and deductive reasoning,
application of the scientific method is the most efficient and
reliable.
3. The scientific method is an orderly process that entails recognition
and definition of a problem, formulation of hypotheses, collection
and analysis of data, and statement of conclusions regarding
confirmation or disconfirmation of the 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 of measuring instruments,
• the need to address participants’ needs in ethical
and responsible ways.
Research is the formal, systematic application of
the scientific method to the study of problems;
educational research is the formal, systematic
application of the scientific method to the study
of educational problems.
• The major difference between educational research and some other
types of scientific research is the nature of the phenomena studied.

• It can be quite difficult to explain, predict, and control situations

involving human beings, by far the most complex of all organisms.
• The research process usually comprises four
general steps:
• Selection and definition of a problem
• Execution of research procedures
• Analysis of data
• Drawing and stating conclusions
• Research Philosophies
• There are certain philosophical assumptions that
underpin an educational researcher’s decision to
conduct research.
• These philosophical assumptions address issues
related to the ,
,
and the methods used to study a particular
phenomenon (methodology).
• Quantitative research is the
collection and analysis of
numerical data to explain,
predict, and/or control
phenomena of interest
Quantitative Research

• Key features of quantitative research are hypotheses that predict the

results of the research before the study begins; control of contextual
factors that may influence the study;

• Collection of data from sufficient samples of participants; and use of

numerical, statistical approaches to analyze the collected data
Quantitative Research

• The quantitative approach assumes the world is relatively stable,

uniform, and coherent.
Qualitative Research

• Qualitative research is the collection, analysis, and interpretation of

comprehensive narrative and visual (nonnumeric) data to gain
insights into a particular phenomenon of interest.
Qualitative Research

• Key features of qualitative research include

• defining the problem, but not necessarily at the start of the study;
• studying contextual factors in the participants’ natural settings;
• collecting data from a small number of purposely selected
participants;
• and using nonnumeric, interpretive approaches to provide
narrative descriptions of the participants and their contexts.
Qualitative Research

• An important belief that underlies qualitative research is that the

world is not stable, coherent, nor uniform, and, therefore, there are
many truths
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
BY METHOD
• A research method comprises the overall strategy followed in
collecting and analyzing data.

• All educational research ultimately involves the decision to study

and/or describe something—to ask questions and seek an answer.

• However, the approaches used to answer these questions can be

broadly classified as quantitative or qualitative research
Quantitative Approaches

• Quantitative research approaches are intended to describe current

conditions, investigate relations, and study cause–effect phenomena.

• Survey research involves collecting numerical data to answer

questions about the current status of the subject of study
Quantitative Approaches

• Correlational research examines the relation between two or more variables.

• A variable is a 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.
Quantitative Approaches

• Causal–comparative research seeks to investigate differences

between two or more different programs, methods, 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.

Quantitative Approaches

• 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 is useful in those circumstances when it

is impossible or unethical to manipulate an independent variable
Quantitative Approaches
• True experimental research investigates causal relations among
variables.
Quantitative Approaches
• The experimental researcher controls the selection of participants by
choosing them from a single pool and assigning them at random to different
causal treatments.
• The researcher also controls contextual variables that may interfere with the
study.
• Because participants are randomly selected and assigned to different
treatments, experimental research permits researchers to make true
cause–effect statements.
Quantitative Approaches

• Single-subject experimental designs are a type of experimental

research that can be applied when the sample is one individual or
group.

• This type of design is often used to study the behavior change an

individual or group exhibits as a result of some intervention or
treatment.
Qualitative Approaches

• Qualitative approaches include narrative cresearch, ethnographic

research, and case study research.

• The focus of these methods is on deep description of aspects of

people’s everyday perspectives and context
Qualitative Approaches

• Narrative research is the study of how individuals experience the

world.

• The researcher typically focuses on a single person and gathers data

through the collection of stories.
Qualitative Approaches

• Ethnographic research is 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 and the
participants who inhabit it.
Qualitative Approaches

• Case study research is a qualitative research approach to conducting

research on a unit of study or bounded system (e.g., classroom,
school).
THE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PROCESS

• Qualitative research generally involves six steps: Identifying a

research topic, reviewing the literature, selecting participants,
collecting data, analyzing and interpreting data, and reporting and
evaluating the research.
Characteristics of Qualitative Research

• Qualitative data are gathered directly from participants, and

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 and
perspective of the researcher.
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
BY PURPOSE
• Basic and Applied Research
• Basic research is conducted to develop or refine theory,
not to solve immediate practical problems.
• Applied research is conducted to find solutions to current
practical problems.
• Evaluation Research
• The purpose of evaluation research is to inform decision
making about educational programs and practices
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
BY PURPOSE
• Research & Development
• The major purpose of R&D efforts is to develop effective products for use in
schools.
CLASSIFICATION OF RESEARCH
BY PURPOSE
• Action Research
• The purpose of action research is to provide teacher
researchers with a method for solving everyday problems
in their own settings
THE ETHICS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

• Ethical considerations play a role in all research studies, and all

researchers must be aware of and attend to ethical considerations in
their research.

• The two overriding rules of ethics are that participants should not be
harmed in any way—physically, mentally, or socially—and that
researchers must obtain the participants’ informed consent.
THE ETHICS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

• Professional organizations develop ethical principles for their

members, and the federal government has enacted laws to protect
research participants from harm and invasion of privacy.
• Probably the most definitive source of ethical guidelines for
researchers is the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of
• Conduct, prepared for and published by the American Psychological
Association (APA).
THE ETHICS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
• Most hospitals, colleges, and universities
• require that proposed research activities
• involving human participants be reviewed and approved by an
Institutional Review
• Board prior to the execution of the research,
• to ensure protection of the participants.
THE ETHICS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

• Researchers obtain informed consent by making sure that research

participants enter the research of their free will and with
understanding of the nature of the study and 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
• 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 and view informed
consent as a process that evolves and changes throughout the study.

• Qualitative researchers may witness dangerous or illegal behavior and

may have to make ethical decisions on the spot.
• It is rarely possible to conduct research without the cooperation of
other people.

• The first step in acquiring needed cooperation is to follow required

procedures in the chosen site.
• A formal approval process usually involves the completion of one or
more forms describing the nature of the research and the specific
request being made of the school or other system.
• The key to gaining approval and cooperation is good planning and a
well-designed, carefully constructed study
• After formal approval for the study is granted, you should invest the
time necessary to explain the study to the principal, the teachers,
and perhaps even parents.
• If these groups do not cooperate, you likely will not be able to do your
study.
• If changes in the study are requested and can be made to
accommodate the normal routine of the participants, these changes
should be made unless the research will suffer aas a consequence.
• The feelings of participants should be monitored and responded to
throughout the study if the initial level of cooperation is to be
maintained.
• Human relations are important when conducting research in applied
research settings