Introduction to Research

ByDr Syed Manzoor Hussain Shah,

EPPSL Department,AIOU Islamabad

Broader lay out of This session……..

• How do we know• Steps of scientific method• Educational research• Research types• Researches by purpose

1. Basic Research2. Applied Research3. Evaluation research4. Action research

• Researches by method1. Historical Research2. Descriptive Research3. Experimental Research

• Design of Action Research• Activity………………..

How do we know• Personal Experience, limited, mistakes in our

observations, personal biases• Tradition, advice, rules, and approaches from year to

year and accepted as truth• Expert Opinion• Logic, Deductive and inductive method• Research ( "recherche“) means to travel through or

surveyBased on Scientific Method. research involves a systematic process of gathering, interpreting, and reporting information

Educational research• The application of the scientific method to study educational

problem

• Educational research is formal systematic application of scientific method for solving some educational problem

• Steps for conducting educational research1. Selection of a problem2. Use of specific research procedures to design and collect

data3. Analysis of data4. Statement of conclusions based on the results of the

data analyses

Steps in the scientific method

1. Recognition and definition of the problem

2. Formulation of hypotheses3. Collection of data4. Analysis of data5. Stating conclusions

Research Types

• Broadly researches are divided into two major categories:

1. PurposeThe degree of direct applicability of research toeducational practices and settings

1. Basic2. Applied3. Evaluation4. Action

2. MethodThe overall strategies followed to collect andanalyze data

Basic Research• Also called pure or fundamental research• The goal is to understand and explain, to provide

broad generalizations about how phenomena are related.

• Not concerned with immediate application of the results to practical situations

• Most educational research does not fall into this category! How does one learn psychomotor skills

Applied Research• Field research,• The purpose is to test theories and other ideas in

the context of naturally occurring educational settings.

• Usually focused on a problem that needs to be solved to improve educational practice.

• What is the effect of immediate feedback and delayed feedback on student achievement?

Action Research

• It focus immediate problem. It is conducted in local setting. Typically done in a school setting. It involve limited sample.

• Action research can be done by individuals or by teams of colleagues.

• Can be conducted to improve teaching, address students problem or administrative problem etc.

Design of Action research

• Identification of problem area• Identification of specific problem• Probable causes of problem• Hypothesis• Designing of the study• Tool of research• Data collection • Data analysis• Conclusion/acceptance-rejection of hypothesis

Research by method• Historical research (what was) • The purpose is to study the past in order to

understand the present, and maybe to plan for the future.

• Involves describing and interpreting events, conditions, or situations of the past

• It generally relies on qualitative data such as written

documents and oral histories.• Research Tools structured interviews, visits to

historical sites and buildings. archives, libraries

• Descriptive research (what is)• Descriptive - attempts to describe and

explain conditions of the present. • It relies on qualitative and quantitative data • Most popular form of research in education

today• Research Tools, structured interviews.

structured, questionnaires standardized tests.

• Experimental (what can be ) attempts to explore cause and effect relationships.

• It relies mostly on quantitative data such as test scores and measures of performance.

• Research method in which conditions are controlled and one more independent variables are manipulated to test a hypothesis about a dependent variable.