Topic 3 Educational Research Procedure LCR (1)

TOPIC OPIC 3

EDUC EDUCA ATIONA IONAL L RES RESEA EARC RCH H PRO PROCE CEDU DURE RES S

3.1 Synopsis

This course explains the procedures procedures in educational educational research, stating research problems, setting objectives, developing research questions, forming research hypothesis, conducting literature review review,, plann planning ing resea research rch desig design, n, dete determi rminin ning g sampl sampling ing proce procedu dure, re, creat creating ing resea research rch instruments, stating validity and reliability of research instruments, determining data collection procedure, collecting data, analysing and interpreting data, and discussing and reporting the results.

3.2 Learning Outo!es 1. to identify identify the the proced procedures ures of of educati educational onal rese research arch 2. to explai explain n the proce procedure dures s of educa education tional al researc research h 3. to synthesise synthesise information information from a variety of of sources sources to understand understand the implementation implementation of educational research 3.3 Coneptua" #ra!e$or% stating research problem

determining sampling procedure

setting objective

building research instruments

developing research questions forming research hypothesis

stating validity and reliability of research instruments

Proe&ures in E&uationa" Resear' determining data collection procedure

conducting literature review

planning research design collecting data discussing and reporting research results

analysing and interpreting data 18

3.( E&uationa" Resear' Proe&ures

ducational research is conducted in a similar manner to scientific research process, using systematic measures from the formulation of research problem to the collection of data! and the production of research report based on the analysis of the data collected.

3.(.1 Stating t'e Resear' Pro)"e! a" #ntroduction #n this section, you will introduce the research problem with some elaborations on your main focus, the variables involved and the purpose of your study. $ou should also highlight some significant researches in the field of study that you choose. #t should be about 2%% words in length.

b" &ac'ground of (tudy #n this section, you should describe the research problem that you have identified and explain why the study is necessary. $ou should outline the current situation or the issue that needs to be addressed, and explain how your research will yield the required solution or explanation to the existing problem. $ou can also explain related literature to your research and any significant findings.

c" (tatement of )roblem (tatement of problem can be written as a general purpose of study or in the form of a research question. *enerally, this statement is very specific and contains the variables of the study. #f you are using hypothesis, as in most quantitative research, it needs to be stated as well. The following are some examples of statements of problem in the form of questions. +i" hat are the professional needs of nglish teachers+ii" o they need pedagogical courses, for example, pedagogical 'nowledge of teaching young learners, curriculum courses, classroom management courses or other courses+iii" (hould teachers/ professional courses be distinguished based on their monthly salary scale+iv" o the students who attend reading classes possess better reading s'ills as compared to those who do not-

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3.0.2 (etting esearch bjectives (pecific goals of the research statement need to be listed before a research study commences. The listing of specific goals of a study is very important to researchers so that they can collect appropriate data and use relevant instruments. To build questionnaire items, you should refer to your research objectives. #n the same context, you are guided by the objectives throughout the course of observation, interviews and document analysis. &elow are some sample objectives of a study on excellent teachers. The objectives of the study are 1. to identify approaches in teaching nglish, including teaching strategy, methodology and techniques used 2. to identify strategies used by teachers in the 4T classroom 3. to provide a description of the reading s'ills to be acquired 0. to obtain students5 perceptions of their teacher/s personality and teacher 6 students relationship

3.0.3 eveloping esearch 7uestions esearch questions and objectives are closely related. 8 research question is formulated based on a research objective. The answer to this question helps the researcher to achieve the objective and aim of the research. &elow are a few examples of research questions. +a" hat are some of the teaching strategies, methodology and techniques that have been employed by excellent teachers in the classroom+b" 9ow do the teachers conduct reading lessons+c" hat are the students5 perceptions of their teacher : i.e. as a friend, an authoritative person or an information provider+d" 9ow is the teacher/s teaching performance being evaluated by educators and students-

3.0.0 eveloping esearch 9ypothesis 9ypothesis is a statement that is anticipated to be the solution to a problem. The features of a hypothesis are as follows ; 8 statement which is predicted to be a valuable answer to the research question ; 8 prediction which shows a correlation between several variables or the effect of one variable on other variables ; 8 hypothesis can be tested specifically 3.0.0.1 ifferences between esearch 9ypothesis and (tatistical 9ypothesis 20

esearch hypothesis is a statement about the expected result. n the other hand, statistical hypothesis is a statement about an assumption made that there is no relationship between the variables of the study. The assumption that the variables of the study are not related is necessary because any statistical method used to test the hypothesis must assume that there is or example 9o ?1 @ ?2 +statistical hypothesis A null" 9a ?1 B ?2 +research hypothesis A alternative" ?1 @ mean of population 1 ?2 @ mean of population 2 >or any null hypothesisAstatistics that is built, there should be an alternativeAresearch hypothesis if the null hypothesis is being rejected. 9ence, there is a set of hypothesis. Cull hypothesis is usually written as Dno differenceD. &esides, a hypothesis cannot be tested if the dependent variable is not quantifiable. 7ualitative data which is not measurable with numbers cannot be analysed statistically. Therefore, the research hypothesis is inapplicable, and the research question is answered descriptively without numerical evidence.

3.0.E eviewing 4iterature Freswell +2%%G" defined literature review as a summary of written articles from journals, boo's and other documents that provide an overview of information of past and present. #t is organised according to the research topic. elevant literature needs to be reviewed and should also match the documents required by the research.

4iterature review should allow researchers to have a better understanding of the related research problem. 4iterature review also informs the researcher whether other researches have been done. (teps in reviewing the literature a. identify 'eywords b. obtain a variety of literature resources c. evaluate critically d. sort the literature materials e. write the literature review 3.0.H )lanning esearch esign 21

esearch design is a plan of how the research sample is divided into groups, what treatment +if  any" is to be given to these groups as well as what and how the data are to be collected. There are eight commonly used research designs in educational research. esearch design can be either quantitative, qualitative or at times a combination of both.

1. 7uantitative esearch esign ; xperimental ; 7uasi6xperimental ; Forrelation ; eview

2. 7ualitative esearch esign ; *rounded Theory ; thnography ; Carrative ; Fase (tudy

3. Fombination of 7uantitative and 7ualitative esearch esign ; Iixed Iethod ; 8ction esearch

3.0.J etermining the (ampling )rocedure The first step in writing an academic research is the drafting of a research proposal, which is a systematic summary or a document consisting of the outline of the research to be conducted. 8 comprehensive research proposal usually contains information on the research problem, research question, literature review, research methodology and a list of references.

3.0.G hy rite a esearch )roposal  8 research proposal consists of a conceptual framewor' of the research, aim and objective of  the research, research questions and hypothesis, significance of research and limitations, literature review, research tools and data analysis techniques.

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The researcher will conduct his research based on this proposal, and the end result can be in the form of a research paper, dissertation, thesis or project. &y preparing a research proposal, the researcher is able to identify problematic issues to be studied and state a set of questions that needs to be answered in the research.

elevant literature that is related to the research problem needs to be reviewed +indicating the status of academic 'nowledge in the field", and to identify areas that are yet to be explored or  are yet to be addressed by researchers. *enerating hypothesis +predicted answer to the research question, if applicable"! constructing research methodology to test a hypotheses or  answer a research question! developing research design! choosing appropriate data collection techniques! identifying appropriate data collection procedures.

3.0.G &uilding esearch #nstrument #n general, the instrument is any device, way or method for obtaining and collecting research data. The building of instruments is created by the researcher based on the research questions and adapted from previous researchers and using available standard instruments. 7uantitative esearch #nstrument +7(#" uses questionnaires, a variety of tests and chec'lists.

 8im and design of quantitative research are 1. to create the perception, opinion or trend in society towards an issue xample )#(I) students/ perception towards the importance of research +research design survey" 2. to review the effectiveness of a treatment. xample ffectiveness of cooperative learning methods +research design experimental" Cote random sampling 3. to review the effectiveness of a treatment. xample ffectiveness of cooperative learning methods +research design quasi6experimental" Cote non6 random sampling 0. to review the relationship between variables +research design correlation" xample relationship between phonic reading method with reading proficiency"

xperimental esign The main features 1. respondents are selected and assigned randomly into experimental and control groups 2. an intervention is applied to one or more groups

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3. resultAoutcome is measured at the end of the experiment 6 can determine the cause and effect of the research 0. procedure is designed to address threats to validity E. statistics is used to ma'e comparisons

xample 1 esearch Title 4earning (tyles among $ear H (chool )upils in Corth Kinta istrict. esearch &ac'ground 1. 8cademic achievement is important for the students/ future and direction. 2. (tudents are incapable of choosing the most appropriate learning style that suits them and prefer to practise last minute learning style before examinations. 3. esearch in the form of a survey was conducted to investigate the learning styles practised by the $ear H school pupils in Corth Kinta istrict and the relationship with academic achievements based on the four learning modelsAstyles founded by unn and unn +1LJG" 6 a" environmental stimulus b" emotional stimulus c" psychological stimulus d" sociological stimulus 0. This study uses a 06point scale questionnaire as the research instrument.

3.0.L (tating the Malidity and eliability of the esearch #nstrument Malidity and reliability of an instrument is very important in maintaining the accuracy of the instruments from being exposed to errors. The higher the validity and reliability, the more accurate the data obtained in producing good quality research.

1. (urvey #nstrument Malidity +7uantitative" Malidity is defined as the appropriateness, truthfulness, meaningfulness and usefulness of  instruments that enable data to be inferred. Malidity also means to maximise the agreement between two trials in measuring similar traits using different methods. The Friterion 6 elated vidence technique is most commonly used by researchers for questionnaires instrument to collect evidence on the validity of the instrument by a group of consultants. 9ence, a researcher  normally appoints some experts to validate the instrument.

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Malidity of #nterview and bservation #nstruments +7ualitative"

>or qualitative research, triangulation techniques are used to strengthen the validity of data collected through interview, observation and documents. The triangulation techniques +questionnaires, interviews and observations" which are conducted simultaneously in a research should be done in an equivalent form +same criterion and construct of items via different types of instruments".

Nsing the triangulation technique, such as collecting data from documents as one of the sources, not only supports and enhances evidence from various sources, but also helps to confirm the information obtained from interviews and observations. Malidity in qualitative research +use of interview, observation and document as instruments" not only focuses on research outcome but the entire research process.

>or a researcher using the survey method, internal validity and criterion validity are used simultaneously to prove the validity of the interview instrument. #nternal validity is seen from the aspect of manipulative control in ascertaining the relationship of the variables. Thus, the morale ballot and cross6chec'ing techniques are used simultaneously to strengthen the validity of the data, especially in interviews. #n light of this, researchers usually have two informants +one male and one female" for every purpose of the interview in a particular research.

The validity of criteria in interview is achieved through interviewing individuals who are 'nowledgeable and well6informed in the field of research. >or this, the researcher will interview several informants with similar characteristics and capacities in different locations. 9owever, validity in observations is done using the construct validity technique, by way of categorising events observed into several clusters for the desired variables, and comparing the past observation with the present observation.

Malidity of instrument is done by the researcher to ensure the validity of the items +instruments" used so that they have the following criteria

i. defensibility +can be defended 6 findings are accurate and useful" ii. accuracy +accurately answer the research question" iii. appropriateness +suitability 6 relevant to the aim of the study" 25

iv. meaningfulness +implication 6 ma'ing sense of the data through scoring" v. usefulness +usability 6 able to ma'e decisions in relation to what is being researched on or produced as the results of the assessment which can provide meaningful information about the title and the variables to be measured by ma'ing inferences from the data obtained via survey"

3.0.1% 8nalysing and laborating ata

 8 typical quantitative research tool will generate a large amount of data. 8s a researcher, you are responsible for processing the data into an appropriate format so that the data can be appropriately analysed and interpreted later. $ou have to manipulate the data into category, percentage, mean and standard deviation. &elow are the steps in data analysis +a" pre6analytical phase +b" reduction of data siOe phase +c" display data phase +d" data validation phase +e" generating findings phase

#n a pre6analytical phase, the details of the research variables are to be read and understood, updated and completed. $ou must be certain that the 'ey variables are properly labelled by type or category. They should be properly arranged according to the analysis theory.

ata )rocessing  8s mentioned in the previous topic, the data are collected and updated through the following procedures +a" 8 letter requesting for permission to conduct research should be sent to

the school

administrator, along with a letter of authorisation from the Iinistry of ducation. +b" 8fter receiving approval from the principal, ma'e an appointment with the class teacher for a suitable time for you to carry out the research. &ac'ground information on the class should also be 'nown before starting the research. +c" 8fter the samples have been identified, questionnaires A inventories are to be distributed for  them to fill.

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d" )rior to analysis, raw data obtained should be processed in order to acquire bac'ground information of the research subjects, such as the percentage of pupils by gender, parents/ socio6 economic status, total income and school location. +e" ata from research tools, such as questionnairesAinventories, should be changed to research variables score. This is usually done using calculation, such as counting the total or  mean of specific items in order to calculate the score for the DattitudeD variable. #f the score has been obtained manually, then the accuracy needs to be reviewed. +f" hen all the bac'ground information of the research subjects and the scores of all variables have been obtained, the researcher can begin to analyse the survey data in order to answer  questions andAor hypotheses of the research.

3.0.11 iscussing and eporting >indings