Research Defined “Research is a cyclical process of steps that typically begins with identifying...

Research Defined “Research is a cyclical process of steps that

typically begins with identifying the problem or issue of the study. It then consists of reviewing the literature, specifying a purpose for the study, and forming an interpretation of the information. This process culminates in a report disseminated to the audience that is evaluated and used in the educational community.” (p. 18-19)

Lines of Research

What do you Want to do?

What do you Want to do?

What doesthe Research Say?

What doesthe Research Say?

What lines ofResearch help

You?

What lines ofResearch help

You?Research Research

LinesLines

The Research SpiralIdentify the

Research Problem

Review theLiterature

Evaluate Dataand

Write Report

Specify a Research Purpose

Collect Data

Analyze andInterpret

Data

Definitions of Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is an inquiry approach useful for describing trends and explaining the relationship among variables found in the literature. To conduct this inquiry, the investigator specifies narrow questions, locates or develops instruments using statistics. From the results of these analyzes, the researcher interprets the data using prior predictions and research studies. The final report, presented in standard format, display researcher objectivity and lack of bias.

Qualitative Research Quantitative research is an inquiry

approach useful for exploring and understanding a central phenomenon. To learn about this phenomenon, the inquirer asks participants broad, general questions, collects the detailed views of participants in the form of words or images, and analyzes the information for description and themes. From this data, the researcher interprets the meaning of the information drawing on personal reflections and past research. The structure of the final report is flexible, and it displays the researcher’s biases and thoughts.

Characteristics of Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the Process

of ResearchSteps in the Research Process

Analyze and Interpret Data

Report and Evaluate

Collecting Data

Specifying a Purpose

Reviewing the Literature

Identifying a Problem

Quantitative Characteristics

Qualitative Characteristics

Description of trends and Explanation Oriented

Exploratory/ Understandinga Central Phenomenon

•Major Role•Justify Problem

•Minor Role•Justify Problem

•Specific and Narrow•Measurable/Observable

•General and Broad•Participants’ Experience

•Pre-determined Instruments•Numeric Data•Large numbers

•Emerging Protocols•Text or image data•Small Number

•Statistical•Description of Trends•Comparisons/Predictions

•Text Analysis•Description/Themes•Larger meanings of findings

•Standard and Fixed•Objective and Unbiased

•Flexible and Emerging•Reflexive and Biased

Characteristics of Quantitative and Qualitative Research in the Process

of Research

Steps in the Research Process

Analyze and Interpret Data

Report and Evaluate

Collecting Data

Specifying a Purpose


Identifying a Problem

Research DesignsTwo Approaches

QuantitativeQualitative






•Experimental•Correlational•Survey

•Ethnography•Grounded Theory•Narrative

•Mixed•Action

Differences Among Topic, Problem, Purpose and Questions

General

Specific

Topic

ResearchProblem

PurposeStatement

ResearchQuestion

Distance Learning

Lack of students in distance classes

To study why students do not attend distance education classes at a community college.

Does the use of web site technology in the classroom deter students from enrolling in a distance education class?

Overall Direction

Distinguishing among various forms of direction in research

PurposeStatement

Research Questions

HypothesisResearch

Objectives

Intent

Form

Use

Placement

One or moresentences

Quantitative andQualitative Research

End ofIntroduction

Raise questionsto be answered

One or morequestions

Quantitative andQualitativeResearchEnd of the introduction, after the literaturereview, or in a separate section of the study

Make predictionsabout expectations

One or morequestions

QuantitativeResearch

One or MoreObjectives

TypicallyQuantitativeResearch

State Goals

Flow of Ideas in a Problem Statement

Topic

Evidence for the Issue

Deficiencies in the Evidence

What Remedyingthe Deficiencies will do for SelectAudiences

FLOW OF IDEAS

SubjectArea

EducationalIssue

•A Concern•A Problem•Something that needs asolution

•Evidence fromthe literature•Evidence frompracticalexperiences

•In this body ofevidence, what ismissing? •What do we need to knowmore about?

How will addressingwhat we need toknow help: researchers– educators– policy-makers– individuals like those in the study

Key Concepts Functions of Literature Reviews Designing and Constructing a

Literature Review

The Literature Review

The review of the literature involves the systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related to the research problem

Literature Review in a Quantitative Study Documents the importance of the

research problem at the beginning of the study

Supports the theory or explanation used in the study

Foreshadows the research questions Provides an explanation for the results

in other studies and in the theoretical prediction at the end of the study.

The Literature Review Functions of a literature review

Determine what has been done already Provide insight necessary to develop a logical

framework into which the topic fits Provides the rationale for the hypotheses being

investigated and the justification of the significance of the study

Identifies potentially useful methodological strategies

Facilitates the interpretation of the results

Literature Review in a Qualitative Study Documents the importance of the research

problem at the beginning of the study Does not foreshadow the research questions

(which are broad in scope to encourage participants to provide their own views)

Is used to compare and contrast with other studies at the end of the study

The Literature Review Recommendations for conducting a

review Bigger does not mean better Heavily researched topics provide

enough references to focus only on major studies

Lesser researched topics require reviewing any study related in some meaningful way

Designing and Conducting a literature review Identify key terms Locate literature Read and evaluate the relevance of the

literature to your topic After selection, organize the literature into a

coherent picture of studies and documents on your topic

Write a review by developing summaries of the literature

Identifying key terms Write a preliminary “working title” for the

project and select two or three key words that capture the essence of the project

Pose a short general research question that you would like to answer in the study

Look in a thesaurus of terms to find words that match your topic

Scan the contents in your library stacks and the table of contents of educational journals


Four stages of conducting a review Identifying key words to guide the

search Identifying sources Abstracting your references Analyzing, organizing and reporting

the literature


Identifying key words Indexing systems of indices in which

you will search Importance of experimenting with

several key words and combinations of them

ERIC Thesaurus


Identifying sources Characteristics of sources

Primary and secondary Empirical and opinion

Importance of using handbooks, encyclopedias, and reviews early in the review process

The Literature Review Identifying sources

Broadening and narrowing keyword searches

Three important Boolean operators AND narrows a search OR broadens a search NOT narrows a search

Narrowing and focusing by date of publication, specific authors, titles, etc.


Searching for books Electronic databases of university libraries Keyword searches

Searching for journals ERIC Education Index Psychological Abstracts Dissertation Abstracts Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature Annual Reviews of Psychology


Identifying sources Searching the web

Search engines Google, Excite, HotBot, Northern Light

Subject directories Yahoo!, Web Crawler, Lycos

Meta search engines Dogpile, Momma, Vroosh


Educational sites ERIC, Ingenta, New Jour, Education Week, National

Center for Education Statistics, Bill Hunt's Homepage, US Dept. of Education, WWW Library Resources, Psych Web

Evaluating web sites Quality, honesty, bias, and authenticity Internet Detective, Thinking Critically about WWW

Resources, Critically Analyzing Information Sources

The Literature Review Abstracting the references

Locating, reviewing, summarizing, and classifying references

Seven steps Read the article abstract Skim the entire article Record complete bibliographic information Classify and code the article Summarize the article Identify thoughts about the article you believe

important Indicate direct quotes properly

The Literature Review Recommended strategies when abstracting

Begin with the most recent references and move toward the most dated

Record all bibliographic information Author, date of publication, title, journal name or book

title or website name, volume and issue, pages, library call number or URL

Identify direct quotes and record page numbers Identify main ideas

Literature Review Analyzing, organizing and reporting

Technical nature of reporting Documentation Formal language Adherence to prescribed styles (e.g., APA)

Outline the review Group by topics Analyze for similarities and differences within

subheadings Discuss the lest relevant studies first followed by the

most relevant studies Summarize the review and discuss the implications

related to the research problem

Literature Review Differences between quantitative

and qualitative reviews Quantitative reviews are typically

conducted in the initial stages of the study

Qualitative reviews are ongoing throughout the entire study reflecting the need to understand data as it is collected, interpreted, and synthesized

Locate the Literature: Classification of Sources

Early Stage Material

Indexed Publications

Journal Articles

Books

Low Standardsto ensure quality

Ideas AppearFirst

High Standardsto ensure quality

Ideas appear 10+years after initiation

Summaries

Locate the literature: Examples of Sources Stacks in the Library Data Bases (e.g. ERIC, First Search) Encyclopedias Summaries Dictionaries and glossaries of terms Handbooks Statistical indexes Reviews and Syntheses

Evaluating the relevance of the literature: Questions to ask Topic relevance: Is the literature on

the same topic as your proposed study? Individual and site relevance: Does

the literature examine the same individuals and sites you want to study?

Evaluating the relevance of the literature: Questions to ask Problem relevance: Does the

literature examine the same research problem as you propose in your study?

Accessibility relevance: Is the literature available in your library or can it be downloaded from a web site?

Organizing the literature Copy and file materials Construct a Literature Map

Procedure for constructing a Literature Map Identify key terms for the topic and put them

at the top of the map Sort studies into topical areas or “families of

studies.” Provide a label for each box which will become

a heading for the review Develop the map on as many levels as

possible

Procedure for constructing a Literature Map Draw a box toward the bottom of the

figure that says “my proposed study” Draw lines connecting the proposed

study with other branches of the literature

Literature MapThe need for Teaching Programs to be Culturally Responsive

Bennett, 1995; Eastman, Smith, 1991; Grant 1994; Noel,1995

Study Abroad Programs

Attitude TowardStudy Abroad

King, Young ,1994

Personal insightsof Preservice Teachers

Friesen, Kang McDongall, 1995;Mahan, Stachowski, 1991

Possible Improvements

Martin, Rohrlich ,1991; Stachowski,1991

Personal insightsof Preservice Teachers

Cockrell, PlacierCockrell, Middleton1999, Goodwin, 1997Kea, Bacon, 1999

Predominately EnglishSpeaking Countries

Mahan, Stachowski, 1990;Quinn, Barr, McKay,Jarchow, Powell, 1995;Vall, Tennison, 1992

Need for further study:Non-English Speaking Cultures

Question: Do short-term studyabroad programs in non-Englishspeaking cultures help createcultural responsiveness inpreservice teachers?

Conventional Programs

Colville-Hall Macdonald, Smollen, 1995;Rodriguez, Sjostrom, 1995; Vavrus, 1994

Cross-CulturalPrograms

Cooper, BeareThorman, 1990;Larke, Wiseman,Bradley, 1990

U.S.Programs

Circular Literature Map

Study AbroadProgram

U.S. Programs

Attitudes TowardStudy Abroad(King, Young 1994)

Personal insights ofPreservice Teachers(Friesen, Kang,McDougall, 1995)

Predominately English Speaking Cultures (Maha, Stachowski, 1990)

Cross-Cultural Program(Cooper, Beare, Thorman, 1990)

Personal Insights ofTeachers (Cockrell,Placer, Cockrell,Milleton, 1999

Conventional ProgramsPreservice Teachers(Friesen, Kang,McDougall, 1995)

Need for Further StudyNon-English Speaking CulturesQuestion: “Do short term study abroad programsin non-English speaking cultures help createcultural responsiveness in preservice teachers?

Writing a review of the literature

Identify and summarize each study in an “abstract” that highlights important elements

Write out complete citations for the summaries with headings that use appropriate style manual formats

Write the review using writing strategies related to the type and extent of the review

Quantitative and Qualitative Abstracts

Quantitative The research

problem The hypothesis or

research questions The data collection

procedure Results of the

study

Qualitative The research

problem The central

phenomenon The data

collection procedure

Findings

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