Research methods in education (Timed test guidelines)
Educational research study is a scientific enquiry of knowledge. Justify this statement.
Suggested Answers:
Research is systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among the natural phenomena.
Research is the pursuit of truth with the help of study, observation, comparison and experiment, the search of knowledge through objective and systematic method of finding solutions to a problem. Therefore research is the scientific enquiry of knowledge or information pertaining to a particular event, situation or object.
Educational research study is the application of scientific research methods, processes and procedures in solving educational problems in educational field.
Educational research study is educational research as a systematic collection and analysis of data in order to get valid description and generalization interventions in education.
Why Educational research study is a scientific enquiry of knowledge?
The following are the points which justify that educational research is a scientific inquiry of knowledge;
a) Educational research involves gathering new data or using existing data for a new purpose.
b) It is directed towards the solution of a problem which is the focus of the whole research.
c) It relies on the empirical evidence that is the verification of the results by observation.
d) It is systematic and procedural in planning, collection of data, analysis and reporting. It follows the clearly structured procedures under a research process.
e) It emphasizes on making generalization, developing principles and establishment of the theories.
f) It requires careful and accurate observation and description.
g) It is logical and objective; every possible step is taken to ensure validity of procedure, tools and conclusions.
h) It is generative, that is it generates other researches.
i) It forecasts future events and predicts and future occasions.
Any research study starts in the library and ends in the library. Comment.
Solution
The library is the most likely physical location for the research literature and it’s review. Within the library there is access to books, periodicals, technical reports and academic theses.
Other sources are the Educational Resources Information centre which closely resemble library.
Computer assisted searches of literature have become very common today which also are stored and accessed from the libraries.
Basing on the above library storage of information it can be argued that every research process step should involve the use of information from the library. This is in order to make the researcher resourceful and equipped.
The use of library in the research process steps;
a) Formulation of the research problem
The best way of understanding the problem is to focus and examine conceptual and empirical literature in the subject. This examination become helpful to the researcher if she or he seek the assistance from the library through reviewing research works, reports, journals, books, newspapers.
The researcher must at the same time examine all available literature in the library to get himself acquainted with the problem. These may be both conceptual literature focusing on the theories and empirical literature focusing on the studies made earlier.
Importantly; a researcher should use library sources in this stage of formulating research problem in order to be able to focus on the problem analytically and operationally. This is because the task of formulating research problem is of greatest importance in the entire research process.
b) Extensive literature review;
Researcher should write down a brief summary of the formulated problem.
Researcher should make extensive literature survey in journal and published and unpublished publications, academic journals, conference proceedings, government reports, books all from the library.
A good library will be of the great help to the researcher at this stage.
c) Development of working hypothesis
Again in developing hypotheses, a researcher has to do the following;-
Examination of data and records “concerning the problem for possible trends stored in the library”.
Reviewing the similar studies in the area or of the studies which can be found in libraries.
d) Preparing the research design;
Before preparing and selecting a design, a researcher should review the previous studies made earlier and examine whether a design he wants to choose has been succeeded in those works or not.
It is only library where a researcher can find various related research works and evaluating their strengths, gaps, contradiction arising among those designs, and weakness.
e) Determining sample design
In this step, library plays a part in helping a researcher to calculate the extent to which the sample will be; by surveying on the previous studies of the same nature; to know the population size to be included in the sample.
f) Collection of data
Largely, in this library become part and parcel in the data which are to be collected by using the secondary sources which most of them are library-based. For example documentary review.
g) Analysis and interpretation of data.
Through tabulation and coding, inference and editing, libraries have to be used as they store computers from which the researcher can access and perform the above operations.
h) Hypothesis testing
i) Generalization of the findings
j) Preparation of the report or the thesis
This is the last output of the research,
The research outputs should be brought up to library for further review by the other researchers wishing to perform the same research.
Therefore the use of library in research is therefore cyclic as it starts from the beginning across its steps and ends up in library.
Compare and contrast qualitative and quantitative research paradigms.
Similarities;
They are all scientific (though with different epistemological positions) paradigms used for the inquiry of knowledge
They are all useful and proper ways of going to study the social world.
Both paradigms (sometimes) can be used for exploring an area and generation of hypothesis and theory
Both paradigms can be used to test hypotheses and theories even though (quantitative) is mostly used for theory generation
Sometimes qualitative paradigms involves quantification such as statements like, more than, less than, most and specific numbers.
Qualitative paradigms using questionnaire can sometimes collect qualitative data through open ended questions
The underlying philosophical positions are not necessarily so distinct as the stereotypes suggest in both paradigms.
Both qualitative and quantitative paradigms can be combined to provide the general picture
With examples, justify the statement that, ‘Educational research is a process which entails application of structured principles and procedures’.
Solutions.
The term scientific method denotes the principles that guide scientific research and experimentation, and the philosophical bases of those principles. It makes use of standard procedures and criteria; it is possible to minimize those influences when developing a theory.
Educational research is one of studies that use scientific method.
The Principles that underlie educational research are as follows;
i. It must be objective to reduce bias in methods and interpretation of results.
ii. It should be conducted through a process of systematic observation that can be verified by experience (empiricism).
iii. There should be careful recording, documenting, archival and sharing of all data and methodology (full disclosure) to make it available for scrutiny by other researchers, thereby allowing them to verify results by attempting to reproduce them.
iv. It involves gathering new data or using existing data for a new purpose.
v. It should be directed towards the solution of a problem.
vi. It should rely on empirical evidence, i.e. on events or data that can be verified by observation. This distinguishes formal research from informal research whose findings and conclusions are based on popular belief, dogma, hearsay, hunches, guess work and other subjective methods that people resort to when seeking answers to questions.
vii. It should be systematic in procedures of planning, collection of data, analysis and reporting. It follows clearly stipulated procedures. All these must be carefully recorded and described. Research ethics require that terms are defined, limiting factors stated, procedures described, references given and results reported faithfully. The report should also be availed for scrutiny by other interested researchers.
viii. It should aim at generalizing findings to larger groups by discovering general principles that will be helpful in predicting future occurrences.
ix. It should involve careful and accurate observation and description.
x. It must be logical and objective; every possible step is taken to ensure validity of procedure, tools and conclusions. The researcher strives to eliminate personal feelings and bias. These could be intended or unintended.
xi. Research findings are sometimes contrary to popular belief.
Procedures that underlie the educational research are described as follows;-
i. Formulating the research problem;
ii. Extensive literature survey;
iii. Developing the hypothesis;
iv. Preparing the research design;
v. Determining sample design;
vi. Collecting the data;
vii. Analysis of data;
viii. Hypothesis testing;
ix. Generalizations and interpretation
x. Preparation of the report or presentation of the results,
Explain the characteristics of two types of educational research.
Types basic and applied research
“There are many types of educational research studies and there are also a number of ways in which they may be classified. Studies maybe classified according to topic whereby the particular phenomena being investigated are used to group the studies”.
i. Psychological; e.g. learning theories, factors that affect learning, remembering and forgetting, motivation, maturation, growth and development etc.
ii. Philosophical e.g. worthiness of education, educational aims, moral judgments, methods of reasoning, meaning, nature and sources of knowledge etc.
iii. Evaluation e.g. continuous assessment, test instruments, examinations, item analysis, students’ report cards, curriculum evaluation etc.
iv. Curriculum content e.g. the choice of school subjects, factors affecting choice of curriculum content, curriculum organization, curriculum implementation etc.
v. Methodological e.g. methods of teaching, teacher effectiveness, instructional resources, teaching practice, micro-teaching etc.
vi. Administrative e.g. school financing, discipline, school records, classroom management, leadership styles, recruitment and deployment of staff etc.
vii. Sociological e.g. school community relations, teacher-pupil relations, interpersonal relations within the school, Classroom behavior of students, students’ unrest, cultism etc.
viii. Historical e.g. history of institutions, programs, places or persons of educational interest.
Studies may also be classified according to whether they are exploratory or confirmatory.
An exploratory study is under taken in situations where there is a lack of t theoretical understanding about the phenomena being investigated so that key variables, their relationships, and their (potential) causal linkages are the subject of conjecture.
Confirmatory study is employed when the researcher has generated a theoretical model (based on theory, previous research findings, or detailed observation) that needs to be tested through the gathering and analysis of field data.
A more widely applied way of classifying educational research studies is to define the various types of research according to the kinds of information that they provide. Accordingly, educational research studies may be classified as follows:
Basic research (also called fundamental or pure research) is mainly concerned with generalizations and the formulation of theory. It is driven by curiosity or interest in a subject. The main motivation is to expand man’s knowledge, not to create or invent something. Many scientists believe that basic research lays the foundation for the applied research that follows.
Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the society. It can be argued that the goal of applied research is to improve the human condition. An example of applied research could be a study to find out how the school feeding programme has affected school enrolment rates in drought prone districts.
Applied research is increasingly gaining favour as it is helps to address the problems facing the world today such as overpopulation, pollution, depletion of natural resources, drought, floods, declining moral standards and disease. Action research is a unique form of applied research. It is a reflective process of progressive problem solving. It is also called "practitioner research" because of the involvement of the actual practitioner in real life. Action implies that the practitioner is involved in the collection of data, analysis, and the interpretation of results. He or she is also involved in implementing results of the research and is thus well-placed to judge the effectiveness of the interventions.
Read the following Statement of the research problem and answer the questions below:
In January 2003, the Kenya government made primary education free in public primary schools. Perhaps one of the most serious problem facing primary schools has been lack of textbooks. To overcome this problem, the government sent funds to primary schools. There have been complaints that the funds sent to schools have not been utilized properly. It is important to find out whether the money sent to schools has been used to buy textbooks and whether the books have actually been distributed to pupils. This will provide data to help the government identify flaws in policy implementation. Moraa (2003) and Karimi (2003) have identified poor distribution of textbooks as a key factor undermining the implementation of the free education programme in provinces and district respectively. These studies report that some school committees have used the money meant for textbooks to build classrooms. No research, however, has been undertaken to find out what proportion of textbooks reach the pupils and the extent to which they are used by pupils. This study will therefore investigate the distribution and the use of textbooks in primary schools in Kenya.
a) Suggest the possible title of your study with less than 16 words
Solution;
Investigation of the distribution and the use of textbooks in primary schools in Kenya
b) Identify major three components in the statement of the research problem
Solution;
Statements of the social needs
i. “The study will help to find out whether the money sent to pupils in schools has been used to buy textbooks”,
ii. “Whether the books have actually been distributed to pupils”.
iii. “To provide data to help the Government identify flaws in policy implementation”.
Statement of the knowledge gaps and empirical study
i. “Moraa (2003) and Karimi (2003) conducted studies to identify whether a poor distribution of textbooks is a key factor undermining the implementation of the free education programme in provinces and district respectively”.
ii. “However, their studies respectively left many questions; to be answered such as to what extent these books are distributed in those schools? What is the proportionality in the use of those books in classroom?”.
Categorical statements;
i. “No research has been undertaken to find out what proportion of the textbooks reach the pupils and the extent to which they are used by pupils such as the study of Moraa (2003) and Karimi (2003) above”.
ii. “Therefore, this study will explore and investigate the distribution and use of the textbooks in primary schools in Kenya as well as exploring the books proportion in the classroom context”.
c) Suggest four possible objectives of your study
i. To gain the understanding on the major challenges facing the primary schools in the implementation of free education programme.
ii. To find out what is the proportionality of textbooks to students and how they are used.
iii. To test the hypothesis; that is whether the poor distribution of textbooks in primary schools hinder the implementation of free education programme in Kenya.
iv. To explore and or investigate thoroughly what are the gaps left by the previous research studies on the same topic and categorically bridge them.
d) Suggest four hypotheses and or questions that will guide your study
Hypotheses;
i. The relationship between establishment of the free primary education and the lack of textbooks
ii. The relationship between the policy intervention and implementation and the students achievements
iii. The relationship between the proportionality of textbooks to the number of students in the classroom
iv. The relationship between the equitable and use of textbooks and the students’ achievements.
Research questions;
i. What do you think are the challenges facing the implementation of the Free primary education in Kenya primary schools?
ii. What is the proportion of textbooks to students and how they are used?
iii. Does the poor distribution of textbooks in primary schools affect the implementation of Free primary education programme? Explain.
iv. What are the gaps in research around the title “implementation of the free education programme?
e) Identify theories that will guide your study
Solution;
The possible theories that will guide the study are;-
i. Human capital theory
ii. Systems theory
iii. Constraints theory.
Human Capital theory;
Was formulated by Adam Smith and reformulated by Slavin in 1996.
He defines human capital as “the acquired skills of an individual education, training and work habits”.
Human capital theory, is the key determinant of economic performance
Human capital theory influenced Kenya Government commitment to invest in education through establishment of Free education program (2003), learning institutions especially primary schools and financing the education through donation of money to buy textbooks.
Following the deficiency of personnel in Kenya, the government therefore undertook initiative to provide education as a way to create a pool of human resource to promote economic growth.
The setting up of education commissions and prioritizing education needs in the subsequent development plans proves the Government efforts to invest in her people.
This declaration of free education (2003) in a milestone in Kenya government efforts to invest in human capital.
Systems Theory;
Was formulated by biologist Ludwig Von Bertalanffy and defined by Little John (1983) as “a set of objects or entities that interrelate with one another to form a whole.
That is Input, Processes and Output.
Systems theory is basically concerned with problems of relationships of structure and of interdependence rather than with the constant attributes of objects.
Systems theory views an organization as a social system, consisting of individuals who cooperate within a formal framework, drawing resources, people finance from their environment and putting back into that environment the products they produce or the services they offer managers should focus on the role played by each.
This theory is based on the view that an organization, rather than dealing separately with the parts.
The system theory maintains that an organization (school) does not exist in a vacuum. It does not only depend on its environment but it is also a part of a larger system such as society or the economic system to which it belongs.
The system approach is concerned with both interpersonal and group behavioral aspects leaving to a system of cooperation.
The educational system is a complex system comprising of sub systems at different levels; these are the state (macro), the school (meso) and classroom and the student (micro). At each level the educational decisions are influenced by different actors;
The systems theory emphasizes unity and integrity of the organization and focus on the interaction between its component parts and the interactions with the environment.
It suggests the organizations must be studied as a whole taking into consideration the interrelationship among its parts and relationship with the environment.
Schools are open-systems. The implementation of the free primary education is an example of a change from the external environment.
f) Suggest four subtitles that will form part of your literature review section
Solution;
i. Assessment of management challenges facing the implementation of free primary education in Kenya.
ii. Assessment of the factors for the inefficiency of new educational reforms in Kenya
iii. Evaluation of the implementation of the free primary education programme in kenya: successes and challenges.
iv. Investigation of factors for uneven distribution of the textbooks in Kenyan primary schools.
Solution;
The following is a summary of a classroom study.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate a science project designed to improve science achievement among a group of standard six pupils. A comparison group of standard six pupils using a different programme was employed. Subjects were randomly assigned to the groups. Equal numbers of boys and girls were used in each group. A science achievement test was administered both as pre test and post test measures.
Which design was used to carry out the study? Identify the steps in a research process outlined in this summary.
Solution;
i. Experimental design
Research process steps;
a) Formulating the research problem
b) Purpose of the study
“The purpose of the study was to evaluate a science project designed to improve science achievement among group of standard six pupils”.
ii. Research (sample) design
“Sampling technique was; Random sampling”
“Sample was; standard six pupils”.
iii. Data collection;
“Administering a science achievement test (both post and pre test).
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