Developing Student Researchers

Part 3

Dr. Gene and Ms. Tarfa Al-Naimi

Research Skills Development UnitEducation Institute

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Enquiry Cycle

1. Getting Ideas and Motivating Students

3. Collecting and Analyzing

2. Defining and

Shaping Ideas

4. Reporting and

Sharing Ideas

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Collecting and Analyzing InformationThis stage of the cycle is all about –

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What should students be doing during this stage?

• Searching for more information• Consulting with others . . . With experts• Trying things out (prototyping, experimenting)• Collaborating with others• Reflecting and planning• Developing an Action Plan

– What do you want to find out?– How will you do it?– When?– Who will be involved?– What resources will you need?

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My Research Plan

Things I need to do

Who will participate in my study

How I will collect my data

My Research Question

My Research Topic

Template for a Simple Research Plan

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What are data?

Data refers to a collection of organized information . . . this may consist of numbers, words, or images, particularly as measurements or observations of a set of variables.

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Two Types of Data:

Data can be Qualitative or QuantitativeQualitative data are descriptive Qualitative data do not use numbers. They are completely descriptive. Qualitative data are often subjective (depending on people's

opinions). So, qualitative data may be less objective than quantitative data.Examples: eye colours, hair colours

Quantitative data measure quantities: Quantitative data are anything that you can measure in numbers Quantitative data tend to be easier to analyze than qualitative

data.Examples: Heights, weights, test scores, time to complete homework

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Quantitative or Qualitative?

Type of Data Quantitative

Qualitative

Number of students in each class.

Time taken for an ice cube to melt.

The colours of desert plants.

The attitudes of students toward science.

The nationalities of peoples in Qatar.

Directions: Classify each type of data listed below as quantitative or qualitative. Then list two more examples of each kind of data.

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How do we collect data?

• Questionnaires (surveys)• Interviews• Observations• Experiments• Photos/videos• Audio

It is important to choose the right tool for the job!

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Questionnaire

• It is an instrument consisting of a series of questions for gathering information from respondents

• It is used to reach more people.• Questionnaires and surveys usually used to collect

two types of information:– Factual information– Attitudes and opinions

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Online Surveys and Questionnaireswww.surveymonkey.com

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Interview

• Interview is used to collect data about :

– Attitude

– Opinions

– Values

– Beliefs

• Advantage of using interviews– Used for specific in depth information

• Disadvantage of using interviews– It consumes time.

• Ethical issues

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Observation

• Observation means you use your senses to collect information about something (objects, people and events).

• Naturalistic versus Participant Observation• Photos • Video • Taking notes • Observational checklist

• Non-systematic Observation • Systematic Observation

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Guidelines for Making Observations1. Decide which type of observation is suitable for

your research.Is it naturalistic or participant observation?Is it systematic or non-systematic observation?

2. Planning for the observationWhere will you observe? Do you need to get

permission?When will you observe?

3. Which type of observation form will you use? Field notes? Recording sheets? Checklist?

Observation guide?Have you created the forms so they are ready to use?

4. How often will you observe?Will you observe every day? Every week?

5. How long will you observe?Will you observe for just a few minutes? An hour?

Longer?6. Do the observation

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Experiments• Experiments are different from other types of research

because experiments try to establish cause-effect relationships.

• In doing an experiment, the researcher hopes to show that one thing causes something to happen.

• independent variable: The independent variable is the variable that a research is investigating or manipulating. Sometimes the independent variable is called the “treatment.”

• dependent variable: The dependent variable is the thing the researcher is trying to affect. For example, if a research is testing the effects of a new drug (cause), the dependent variable would be wellness or good health (effect).

extraneous variable: The extraneous variable is an “outside” variable that could affect the dependent variable or the results of an experiment

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What are experimental designs?1. Pretest-posttest Control Group Design

2. Quasi-experimental Design

3. Time Series Design

4. Withdrawal Design

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Let’s Practice!

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Scenario:Your school has just purchased the EASY ENGLISH PROGRAM, a new textbook program that teaches English speaking skills easily and quickly. Your principal wants to conduct an experiment to see if this program really works. Task:Identify the independent, dependent, and extraneous variables. Discuss what the researcher needs to do to set up a valid experiment and then consider what the ethical implications are .

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Scenario:A researcher wants to find out the effect of using calculators in math classes on students problem-solving skills. The researcher is also worried about the students depending on the calculators too much so she is wondering what happens if they gradually remove them.

Task:Identify the independent, dependent, and extraneous variables. Discuss what the researcher needs to do to set up a valid experiment and then consider the ethical implications.

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Scenario:Some students claim that they can concentrate better if they listen to music while they are studying. Task:Identify the independent, dependent, and extraneous variables. Design a valid experiment to investigate this topic.

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How to choose the right tool?1. Look at the research question

2. Decide what type of information you need3. Ask, which data collection tool can give you that

information?

You can use more than one tool

Triangulation

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Sampling

Before start collecting data , choose a sample.

What do you mean by sample!!

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Sampling • Sample: a sample is a smaller part of the

population. Researchers often do their research on a sample of the population.

Example:What do students think about the school uniform?Possible samples:• Primary? Preparatory? Secondary?• Girls? Boys?• Grade?

How can your sample affect the results?

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Data Analysis• organizing and examining the collected data

using narratives, charts, graphs or tables.

• What does data tell you?

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How should you present your data?See Lesson 11: Analyzing Quantitative Data

Special section on “Tabulating and Presenting Data”

Most Common Display Tools

• Bar graphs• Pie graphs• Line graphs• Histograms• Scatter plots or scatter diagrams

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Bar Graphs

0

10

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90

Class1 Class2 Class3

Pepsi

Seven Up

Merinda

0 50 100

Class1

Class2

Class3

Merinda

Seven Up

Pepsi

VerticalHorizontal

the scores are in the form of categories rather than ordered scores

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Pie Graphs

Pepsi

SevenUp

Merinda

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Line Graph

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20

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Months

Stu

dents

' gra

des

Math

Science

Arabic

A line chart is often used to visualize a trend in data over intervals of time, thus the line is often drawn chronologically.

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Histogram

histograms are suitable when the scores obtained by the participants can be ordered from low to high.

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Scatter Plot

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Which data display tool would you use?

Mariam has collected data from the girls at her school about the time they spend watching TV each day and their grades. She wants to show the relationship between those two variables.

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Which data display tool would you use?

The Director of the Education Institute wants to show the number of students enrolled in Independent Schools from 2003 to 2008.

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Which data display tool would you use?

A professor at Qatar University is doing some research on the Independent Schools. He wants to show the nationalities of the teachers working in the Independent Schools in a graphical way.

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Which data display tool would you use?

The Academic VP at your school wants to show how students performed on the QCEA.

[QCEA reports five performance levels]– Meets Standards– Approaches Standards– Below Standards Level 3– Below Standards Level 2– Below Standards Level 1

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Which data display tool would you use?

One of your students has done a study on smoking. She wants to show the percentage of smokers (male and female) at three different age groups:20 – 2940 – 4960 - 69

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Thank you for listening!

If you have questions about researchor need additional information,

feel free to contact us.

Dr. Genee.jongsma@sec.gov.qaOffice Phone: 456-0153

Mobile: 681-3987

Tarfat.alnuimi@sec.gov.qaOffice Pone: 456-0l69