Educational Research Procedure

Educational Research Procedure prepared prepare d by Rozainizam and Zyarfan Hakim Date January 15, 2014

Reviewing the Literature !

Literature review is a process of studying related literature and past research.

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Help researchers to gain understanding of the research area: concepts, theories and models.

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Expose to related past research research and recommendation for further research.

 Why? Why is it necessary for you to have a strong knowledge  background in your research area? Literature review facilitates your explanation on the important variables of your research topic.

Literature Review

Understanding Research Area

Survey of Findings of Past Research

Survey of Methodology of Past Research

Understanding Research Area

Survey of Findings of Past Research !

Past Research in Malaysia

- survey on the kinds of research that have been done within Malaysia, which are similar to your topic. !

Past Research in Foreign Countries

- if your research problem has not been done by many Malaysians, you would have to refer to studies from abroad.

Survey of Methodology of Past Research !

There are qualitative and quantitative studies with distinct research designs.

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Methods of studies: experiment, survey, case study and ethnography.

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Compare and contrast : strengths and weaknesses - to help you to choose what is best for your own research

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Research Designs

- strategy of conducting the research - involving choice of samples, organizing the samples into suitable grouping and methods and techniques of data collection. !

Research Sample and Instruments

- decision on size of sample for your study depends on the research methodology you used. - Survey research (big sample), Experimental studies (environmental constraint), Ethnographic study and case study (small sample).

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Methods of Data Analysis - journals, theses, and research reports give a systematic account of data analysis. - data presented descriptively and being analyzed using specific methods.

Planning the Research Design Research Research is a formal and systematic application of the scientific and disciplined inquiry to the study of problems.

Research Planning !

Research plan describes the nature of the participants

in the research, variables, the kind of data, the instruments used, the condition for data collection and the techniques to analyse the data. !

After identifying the area or the topic for the research: Formulate the purpose, objectives, questions and hypothesis

Draw out methods and procedures

Research Design

Quantitative 1. Experimental 2. Quasi experimental 3. Survey 4. Correlational Combination of Quantitative and Qualitative

Qualitative 1. Ethnographic 2. Case study 3. Historical

1. Mixed Method 2. Action Research

Determining the Sampling Procedure !

Describe and execute procedures to collect information. - identifying research participants, the strategies to collect data and activities describing how, when, why and from whom the data were collected. *flaws in procedure might jeopardize the validity of the research findings.

Constructing the Research Instrument !

Research instrument should be planned and developed well to suit the purpose and objectives of the research. 1.

Determining Objectives

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Determining Contents

Constructing the Validity and Reliability of the Instrument !

Validity is concerned with the appropriateness of the interpretations made from the data collection.

1. Content validity - degree to which a research covered an intended content area. - item validity : whether the test items really measures the content area. - sampling validity : how well the test samples the total content area being tested. - experts in the research covered are asked to assess its content validity.

 Validity 2. Criterion-Related validity - concurrent validity : degree to which scores on one test correlate to scores on another equivalent test. - predictive validity : predict how well individuals will do in a future situation.

3. Construct validity - constructs are non-observable traits such as anxiety, intelligence, and honesty (but you can only observe its effect). - the construct explains “what does this research conducted for?”

Reliability Reliability - reliability is a synonym for consistency and replicability over time, over instruments and groups of respondents (Creswell, 2002). i) Stability

- reliable instrument will achieve similar data from similar respondents over time. ii) Equivalence

- if the equivalent forms for the test produces similar results, then the instrument is reliable. iii) Internal Consistency

- demands the instrument to be run only once. - test items divided into two halves (matching difficulty or content), the marks obtained in each half should be correlated highly to the other half.

Data Collection procedure !

Sampling in Qualitative research a) Sampling strategies (non-probability sampling strategies) - Convenience sampling : relies heavily on the subjects’ accessibility - Snowballing sampling : to locate subjects with certain attributes necessary in a study. - Purposive sampling : research use their expertise about some group to select subjects from the population. - Quota sampling : develop table with cells to indicate gender, age, education, and other attributes identified by the researcher.

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Methods of data collection (Qualitative research) - data from documents - data from interviewing - data from observation

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Quantitative research data collection: 1. Achievement tests 2. Examination scores 3. Questionnaires 4. Inventories 5. Checklist 6. Observation schedules 7. Rating scales

 Analysing and Interpreting the Data Analysing and Interpreting the Data

Qualitative

Quantitative

 Analysing Qualitative Data !

Steps use to analyze qualitative data: - preparing and organizing data - describing and developing themes - reporting findings - interpreting the findings - validating the accuracy and credibility

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Useful conceptualization is to think about the process as both simultaneous and iterative - going back and forth a few times

 Analysing Quantitative Data !

Before quantitative data could be analyzed, a researcher would have to prepare and organize data for analysis as follows: 1. Assemble all data into numeric score or value 2. Selecting a statistical programme 3. Inputting data 4. Exploring and descriptively analyzing the data (to examine for errors and missing data) 5. Cleaning and accounting for missing data 6. Calculating descriptive and inferential statistics - measures of central tendency - measures of variability - measures of relative standing

Reporting the Results and Findings !

The results of a research study are the products of the data analysis.

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Conclusions are the inferences that the researcher draws

from the results. !

Logical flow is critical - convince the reader

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Tables can be used effectively for summarizing results but

their content must be adequately labelled and logically organized.

Reporting the Results and Findings !

Introduction

- The results chapter is probably the most straightforward to write. - Include tables and graphs that illustrate your finding !

Writing your results

- Stress on the purpose - to present facts. - Communicate the answer to your research questions to your audience in clear manner as possible.

Reporting the Results and Findings !

Profile Respondents

- Respondents are your subjects, person who answers the questions either in an interview or a questionnaire. - The name(s) of the respondents must be complete, inclusive of their  background information such as: gender, age, education, family or economic status !

Research Findings

- The findings report - based on the research questions - The result of the data analysis should be reported in an objective manner. - Research findings relate to the outcome of the research : “did they answer your research questions?”

“One is all, All is one”

 –Rozainizam, Zyarfan Hakim and The Hard Rock Cafe