ACTION RESEARCH

SCE 3113

DR ROSMAWATI SHAHARUDDIN

Educational Research Procedure1. Choosing a research problem.2. Determining the research

objectives.3. Determining the research

questions.4. Determining the research hypothesis. 5. Reviewing the literature.6. Planning the research design.7. Determining the sampling procedure.8. Constructing the research instrument.

Educational Research Procedure9. Constructing the validity and

reliability of the instrument.10. Determining the data collection

procedure.11. Analysing and interpreting the data.12. Reporting the results and findings.

Why do research?

To satisfy intellectual curiosity. To better understand things. To be at the forefront of an exciting,

technical field. To always be learning new things.

Helpful Personal Qualities in Pursuing Research

Creativity Curiosity Independence of thought Good communication skills Perseverance Self-discipline Interaction skills

Choosing the research problem Problem should be important. Problem should hold your personal

interest. Problem should have depth, in terms of

aspects possibly available for investigation.

Problem might come from questioning existing literature.

Choosing the research problem Problem may be amenable (bertepatan)

to some technique you already have devised.

Problem may lead you into new technology.

Problem may be in a ‘hot’ area. Pros and cons

Flowchart of the development of a research idea. 1. Research topic – the broad subject

matter area to be investigated. 2. Research problem – the educational

issue or problem within a broad topic area. 3. Research purpose – a statement of the

intent or objective of the study. 4. Research question – 5. Hypotheses – a prediction or best guest

of the relation that exists among the variables being investigated.

What Constitutes a Research Topic? Unanswered question Unsolved question Concern Query Statement of inquiry

How to Select a Research Topic?

Personal interest Social problem Testing theory Prior research Program evaluation Human service practice Minorities in research

What are some of the Limitations Encountered when Doing or Thinking

of Doing a Research Project? Time constraints Financial consideration Anticipating and avoiding problems Equipment limitations Human resource limitations “Out of the box” thinking “In the box” thinking

Situation A researcher is interested in determining

whether or not there are differences in students classroom participation as a result of the kind of feedback provided by the teacher. Being aware of prior research indicating that boys and girls participate at difference levels, the researcher will make sure that the sample consists of approximately equal numbers of third grade boys and girls. The data will consist of the observed frequency with which students will volunteer to participate or respond during class activities.

Situation

The sample will be divided into three groups, which will differ in the kind of feed back the teacher provides to the students. One group will receive oral feedback only, the second group will receive written feedback only, and the third group will receive oral and written feedback. The researcher will compare the frequency of students voluntary participation among the three groups after the feedback treatment has been used for three weeks.

Determining the research objectives. Research objective is the statement of the

purpose of a research study. Example: If you want to investigate the

causal connection that might exist between a treatment for learning disability and the effect of that treatment on spelling ability, your statement could be stated as:

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect that treatment for a learning disability has on the spelling proficiency of children with learning disability.

Determining the research objectives. If the intent of your study was to describe

the relationship between spelling proficiency and the extent of a person’s learning disability, your objective statement could be stated as follows:

The purpose of this study is to describe the degree of relationship that exists between spelling proficiency and the extent of a person’s learning disability.

Determining the research questions.

Types of research questions: Descriptive research Relational research Causal-comparative research.

Descriptive research

The careful mapping out of a situation or a set of events in order to describe what is happening behaviorally.

Example:A researcher wants to identify the amount of time each week that typical American adults spend in various activities, including exercise.

Relational Research

Has its focus the identification of how changes in one characteristics or variable correspond (or do not correapond) to changes in another characteristic or variable.

Example:A researcher is interested in finding out whether or not there is any relationship between exercise habits and health status (or between height and weight measurements) for a group of people.

Causal-comparative research

Has its focus the identification of cause and effects.

Example: A researcher wants to know if more exercise results in people being healthier, he or she might designed a study where people were assigned to different groups each of which was led in different amounts of exercise. By comparing the health status of the groups, after some time had passed, the researcher could infer the extent to which differences in exercise cause health status differences in people.

Exercise A teacher is interested in determining

whether there is a connection between how much television children watch and their performance in school.

WHAT TYPE OF RESEARCH QUESTION IS THE TEACHER PROBABLY ASKING IN THIS RESEARCH?

Statement of the research problem Example: Original : Achievement and teaching techniques. Restatement: A study of the effects of three

teaching techniques on science achievement of junior high school students.

Question form: Do three different teaching techniques have differing effects on science achievement scores of junior high school students?

The statement of the research problem should be concise and should be identify the variables of the research study.

Variables

1. Constant – is a characteristic or condition that is the same for all individuals in a study.

2. Independent variables – A variable that affect (or assumed to affect) the dependent variable under study and is included in th research design so that its affect can be determined.

3. Dependent variables – The variable being affected or assumed to be affected by the independent variable.

4. Intervening variables – A variable whose existence is inferred but cannot always be manipulated or measured.

Variable

5. Control Variables – A variable other than the independent variables of primary interest, whose effects are determined by the researcher.

Operational Definitions (OD)

OD are based on the observable or measurable characteristics of what is being defined.

Example: Intelligence Operationally defined as a score from a widely

accepted standardized test. Socioeconomic status Operationally defined by whether a student is

eligible for free or reduce lunch or not.

Example

1. A study of teacher-student classroom interaction in different levels of schooling.

IV :- DV :- 2. A study of location of school effect

upon attitudes toward school of seventh grade students.

IV: DV:

Determining the research hypothesis.

What is Hypothesis?

A research hypothesis is a predictive statement that represents a very specific proposed answer to the problem statement.

It must be stated in an empirically testable form, and should indicate the specific nature of the connection (usually a difference or a relationship) between or among variables that was initially identified in the problem statement.

Hypotheses Logically deduced from relevant theories

or logically induced from prior related research and may be stated in either the NULL or ALTERNATIVE form.

Null HypothesesIs a statement that we expect that there will be no connection among variables. Example:There will be no difference in the level of enthusiasm between students in the two field experience groups.

Hypotheses

Alternative hypotheses states the nature of the connection between or among variables that we aspect, based on theory and/or prior research.

Hypotheses

Non-directional hypotheses state that a connection among variables exists.

ExampleThere will be a difference between elementary and secondary teachers in the amount of professional reading that they do.

Hypotheses

Directional hypotheses state that the particular nature of the connection.

Example:There will be a difference between elementary and secondary teachers in the amount of professional reading that they do AND secondary teachers do more professional reading than their elementary counterparts

Hypotheses

Null Hypotheses Example:

There will be no difference between elementary and secondary teachers in the amount of professional reading that they do.

Reviewing literature

Before any research planning or data collection takes place it is of central importance to

ensure that you have adequately reviewed the literature relevant to your

research question.

Reviewing the literature.

What is a Literature review?A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area, and sometimes information in a particular subject area within a certain time period.

What is a Literature review?

Systematic review of available resources Theoretical and conceptual concepts Identification of independent and

dependent variables Measurement and operational definitions Selection of appropriate research technique Sampling strategy Statistical technique Findings and conclusions of similar studies

studied

Why do we write literature reviews?

• Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. If you have limited time to conduct research, literature reviews can give you an overview or act as a stepping stone.

• For professionals, they are useful reports that keep them up to date with what is current in the field. For scholars, the depth and breadth of the literature review emphasizes the credibility of the writer in his or her field.

• Literature reviews also provide a solid background for a research paper's investigation. Comprehensive knowledge of the literature of the field is essential to most research papers.

Where do I find Sources of Information for my Literature Review?• Books• Journals• Internet• Data bases• Archives• Interviews• Observations• Reports • Records

EVALUATION CRITERIA

• Introduction .......................... Why did they start the research?

• Methods ............................... What did they do?

• Results .................................. What did they find?

• Discussion ............................. What do the results mean?

Planning the research design.

• Research Plans Depend on Information You Need and Available Resources.

What is research design?• The research design is the master plan

specifying the methods and procedures for collecting and analyzing the needed information.

Types of Research Design• Although every problem and research objective may

seem unique, there are usually enough similarities among problems and objectives to allow decisions to be made in advance about the best plan to resolve the problem.

• There are some research designs that can be successfully matched to given problems and research objectives.

Types of Research Design• Three traditional categories of research design:

• Exploratory• Descriptive• Causal

• The choice of the most appropriate design depends largely on the objectives of the research and how much is known about the problem and these objectives.

Research Design: Some Observations• The overall research design for a project

may include one or more of these three designs as part(s) of it.

• Further, if more than one design is to be used, typically we progress from Exploratory toward Causal.

Basic Research Objectives and Research Design

Research Objective Appropriate Design

To gain background information, to define terms, to clarify Exploratory problems and develop hypotheses, to establish

research priorities, to develop questions to be answered

To describe and measure marketing phenomena at a point Descriptive

in time

To determine causality, test hypotheses, to make “if-

then” Causal statements, to answer questions

Research Design: Exploratory Research

• Exploratory research is most commonly unstructured, “informal” research that is undertaken to gain background information about the general nature of the research problem.

• Exploratory research is usually conducted when the researcher does not know much about the problem and needs additional information or desires new or more recent information.

• Exploratory research is used in a number of situations:• To gain background information• To define terms• To clarify problems and hypotheses• To establish research priorities

Research Design: Exploratory Research

• A variety of methods are available to conduct exploratory research:• Secondary Data Analysis• Experience Surveys• Case Analysis• Focus Groups• Projective Techniques

Research Design: Descriptive Research• Descriptive research is undertaken to provide

answers to questions of who, what, where, when, and how – but not why.

• Two basic classifications:• Cross-sectional studies • Longitudinal studies

Research Design: Causal Research• Causality may be thought of as

understanding a phenomenon in terms of conditional statements of the form “If x, then y.”

• Causal relationships are typically determined by the use of experiments, but other methods are also used.

Experimental Design

• An experimental design is a procedure for devising an experimental setting such that a change in the dependent variable may be solely attributed to a change in an independent variable.

• Symbols of an experimental design:• O = measurement of a dependent variable• X = manipulation, or change, of an independent

variable• R = random assignment of subjects to

experimental and control groups• E = experimental effect

Key Considerations to Design Your Research Approach

Consider the following key questions when designing your research plan:• 1. For what purposes is the research being done.• 2. Who are the audiences for the information from the research.• 3. What kinds of information are needed to make the decisions you need

to make and/or to enlighten your intended audiences, e.g., do you need information to really understand a process, the customers who buy certain products, strengths and weaknesses of the product or service or program, benefits to customers, how the product or service or program failed some customers and why, etc.?

• 4. From what sources should the information be collected, e.g., employees, customers, groups of employees or customers, certain documentation, etc.?

• 5. How can that information be collected in a reasonable fashion, e.g., questionnaires, interviews, examining documentation, observing staff and/or clients in the program, conducting focus groups among staff and/or clients, etc? (An overview is provided about each method, back in the section Basic Research Methods).

• 6. When is the information needed (so, by when must it be collected)?• 7. What resources are available to collect the information?

Determining the sampling procedure. Define the population. Frame the population. Choose a sample design. Draw the sample. Execute the research.

Designing The Sampling Procedure• Probability (random) samples- Simple random sampling.- Stratified sampling- Cluster sampling.- Systematic sampling

• Non probability samples- Judgement sampling- Convenience sampling- Volunteer sampling- Quota sampling.

Sampling

Random Sampling -Involves selecting a sample from a population using table of random numbers or a computer program so that each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Stratified Sampling – Involves selecting a sample from specified strata of sub populations. The number chosen from each stratum may be equal or proportional to the number in each stratum.

Sampling

Cluster Sampling – Involves choosing a sample from intact mutually exclusive groups, such as school classes. The clusters may be randomloy selected from a set of available clusters. All members of the cluster can be included in tha sample.

Systematic Sampling – Involves choosing every nth (example 4th, 10th ) name or number associated with a name on a list.

Probability Samples

When to use stratified sampling- Primary research is to compare groups.- There are separate confidence interval

objectives by strata.- Costs differ by strata.- Prior informations differ by strata. Examples of cluster sampling: Blocks,

dorm, classes, courses.

Exercise

1. Random Sampling Exercise: A school district produces educational

television programming for its resident. This is a costly venture. Since budget cuts need to be made, the administration wants to survey district residents as to the value of the programming. It plans to do this by randomly selecting families and conducting telephone interviews. Briefly, describe how the sample would be chosen.

Constructing the research instrument. Anything that become a means of

collecting information for your study is called ‘research tool’ or ‘research instrument’.

Examples:Observation forms, interview schedules, questionaire, interview guides etc.

Constructing the validity and reliability of the instrument.

Validity – meaning strong. Refers to the degree with which correct inferences can be made from the results of a research study.

Internal validity – A researcher wants to have confidence that the outcomes observed in a research study are a function of the conditions observed, measured, and/or manipulated in the study and not due to other factors that were not addressed in the study.

Potential threats to internal validity History Testing Instrumentation Statistical regression Mortality Selection

Validity External Validity – The extent to which the

results of a research study are able to be generalized confidently to a group larger than the group that participated in the study.

Usually researchers want to use the results of a research study to make a claim not just about the participants in a study but also about the larger population of which the participants are a sample. The ability to make such claims or generalizations depends on the external validity.

Potential threats to external validity Effect of testing Multiple-treatment interference Selection treatment interaction Effects of experimental arrangements Experimenter effects. Specificity of variables.

Exercise

During a six-week classroom unit in which cooperative learning is being studied, several of the students in the class are severely injured on a field trip in a bus accident and are hospitalized for a brief time. Following their release from the hospital, they continue as participants in the study.

Constructing the validity and reliability of the instrument. How Valid Are Experiments?• An experiment is valid if:

• the observed change in the dependent variable is, in fact, due to the independent variable (internal validity)

• if the results of the experiment apply to the “real world” outside the experimental setting (external validity)

Reliability of Research Refers to the consistency of the research

and the extent to which studies can be replicated.

Internal reliability refers to the extent that data collection, analysis and interpretation are consistent given the same conditions.

External reliability deals with the issue of whether or not independent researchers can replicate studies in the same or similar settings.

Reliability

Reliability of research concerns the replicability and consistency of the methods, conditions and results.

Reliability is a necessary characteristic for validity: A STUDY CANNOT BE VALID AND LACK RELIABILITY.

Determining the data collection procedure.

How to Collect Data? Observations Interviews Reports Records

What Type of Data to Collect? Categorical

nominal-observations that can be coded ordinal-observations that can be ranked

Continuous-Observations that can be counted or measured

Mixed matrix of categorical and continuous data

Analyzing and interpreting the data.

How to Analyze Data?

Need to consider the type of data collected-categorical -continuous-mixed

Analyzing and interpreting the data.

What are some of the Tests Used on Categorical Data?

• Chi-squared test-to determine the relationship between variables

• Fisher’s test-to compare two unpaired groups• McNemar’s test-to analyze a matched case-

control study• Kappa-to quantify interafter agreement• Wilcoxon test- to compare one group to a

hypothetical value• Kruskal-Wallis test-to compare three or more

groups• Spearman test-to compare association

between variables

What are some of the Tests Used on Categorical Data? T test- to compare one or two groups ANOVA-to compare three or more groups Pearson test-to compare the association

between variables

Reporting the results and findings.

How to Draw Conclusions from Data? Use of graphical presentations Use of statistical analyses Sharing data among colleagues and

receiving constructive feedback Critically analyzing data and results

How to Present Research Findings?• Tables-matrix of rows and columns

representing variables• Figures-visual organization of

data/observations-pictures-pie charts-line charts-bar charts-flow charts-organizational charts-cartogram charts-Gantt charts-scatter plot charts

Tutorial

A student wishes to study on ” Factors that cause students of Class Year 5 Awana to be sleepy during teaching and learning” What research design can be used ? Using a flow chart, discuss the procedures needed to conduct a research?