1 / 77

Educational Research: Descriptive Research

Educational Research: Descriptive Research. Shannelle Gay P. Paracha Master of English in Applied Linguistics. Research. The systematic application of a family of methods employed to provide trustworthy information about problems. "recherche".

dena
Download Presentation

Educational Research: Descriptive Research

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Educational Research: Descriptive Research Shannelle Gay P. Paracha Master of English in Applied Linguistics

  2. Research... • The systematic application of a family of methods employed to provide trustworthy information about problems. • "recherche"

  3. DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH (“SURVEY RESEARCH”) …collects data in order to answer questions about the current status of the subject or topic of study …uses formal instruments to study preferences, attitudes, practices, concerns, or interests of a sample

  4. Descriptive-Qualitative(Ethnography/ Case Study) Detailed descriptions of specific situation(s) using interviews, observations, document review You describe things as they are. • How do people implement this program? • What challenges do people face? • What are people’s perceptions? Did the program cause any changes in participants’ outcomes?

  5. Descriptive-Quantitative Numerical descriptions (frequency, average) You measure things as they are. • How many people are participating in this program? • What are the characteristics of people in this program? • How well did participants in this program do? Did the program cause any changes in participants’ outcomes? Why did the program work this way?

  6. The basic steps of conducting a descriptive research... recognizing and identifying a topic to be studied selecting an appropriate sample of participants collecting valid and reliable data reporting conclusions

  7. Descriptive Research Step 1: Statement of the problem • Do teachers hold favorable attitudes toward using computers in schools? • What is the best way to provide access to computer equipment in schools? • What is generally the word-formation process utilized in the formation of text- message registers?

  8. Step 2: Identification of information needed to solve the problem

  9. Step 3: Selection or development of instruments for gathering the information • surveys, • interviews, • observations, and • portfolios

  10. Kinds of Survey CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY… …involves collecting data from selected individuals in a single time period however long it takes to collect data from participants

  11. LONGITUDINAL SURVEY… …involves collecting data at two or more instances in order to measure changes over time

  12. SELF-REPORT SURVEY… …requires individuals to respond to a series of statements or questions about themselves

  13. OBSERVATION STUDY… …the researcher obtains data by watching participants in a situation

  14. TYPES OF SELF-REPORT ITEMS …scaled …ranked …checklist …free response

  15. Step 4: Identification of target population and determination of sampling procedure …use an appropriate sampling technique …participants must be able to provide the desired information sought and willing to provide it to the researcher

  16. Step 5: Design of procedure for information collection Step 6: Collection of information Step 7: Analysis of information Step 8: Generalizations and/or predictions

  17. Conducting a questionnaire study… 1. state the problem 2. select participants 3. construct the questionnaire 4. prepare cover letter 5. pretest questionnaire 6. follow up activities 7. analyze/report results

  18. Designing an instrument… …include a brief statement describing the study and its purpose at the top of the instrument …provide standardized directions …organize items leaving sufficient white space on instrument

  19. …place similar items together …ask general, non-threatening items first, moving into more specific, self-revealing items

  20. SOME DO’S AND DON’T’S… …construct items according to a set of predetermined guidelines …include only items relating directly to the purpose of the study …avoid jargon or any term or concept that might mean different things to different people

  21. …each item should deal with a single concept and be worded as clearly as possible …items should indicate a point of reference beyond the self in order to judge the self …avoid ambiguous terms like several or usually

  22. …avoid touchy matters in items which respondents might not respond to honestly or at all …avoid leading questions which suggest that one response may be more appropriate than another …each item must be able to stand on its own

  23. …don’t jam items together …don’t put the most important questions at the end of the instrument

  24. prepare the cover letter… …a brief, neat, explanation of the significance of the study and what is being asked of the respondent and why …addressed to the specific, potential respondent

  25. …an endorsement adds credibility …guarantee anonymity or confidentiality …include a specific deadline date by which the completed instrument (“questionnaire”) is to be returned

  26. …individually sign each letter …include a self-addressed, stamped, return envelope

  27. pretest the instrument… …conduct a pilot study to gather information about deficiencies and suggestions for improving the instrument …provides greater content validity

  28. follow-up activities… …because first mailing results tend to be low (30% - 50% response rate), researchers need strategies to increase the response rate

  29. initial follow-up strategies to increase response rate up to 20%… …send out reminder postcard …mail a second packet with a new, positively worded cover letter and another self-addressed, stamped, return envelope

  30. secondary follow-up strategies to increase response rate up to 10%… …telephone nonrespondents to encourage them to respond

  31. dealing with nonrespondents …study whether nonrespondents differ from respondents in some systematic way by selecting a sample from the nonrespondents …telephone sample, aggregate data, include in report

  32. dealing with nonresponses …study the items to determine the problem with the item …include description of the nonresponses and the determination of the reason in the report

  33. analyze/report results… …discriminant item analysis includes giving the response rate for each item as well as the total sample size and the overall percentage of returns, since not all respondents will answer questions

  34. …group items into clusters that address the same issue and develop total scores across an item cluster in order to avoid “information overload”

  35. Conducting an interview study… 1. state the problem 2. select participants 3. construct the interview guide 4. communicate professionally and record responses accurately 5. pretest interview procedure 6. analyze/report results

  36. 1. STATE THE PROBLEM… …topic must be of sufficient significance to motivate individuals to participate and justify the research effort in the first place …define topic in terms of specific objectives indicating the kind of information needed

  37. 2. SELECT PARTICIPANTS… …use an appropriate sampling technique …participants must be able to provide the desired information sought and willing to provide it to the researcher

  38. 3. CONSTRUCT THE INTERVIEW INSTRUMENT (“INSTRUMENT GUIDE”)… …indicates the question to be asked, the order, and how much additional prompting or probing is permitted …the goal is to obtain standardized, comparable data from each interviewee

  39. 4. COMMUNICATE PROFESSIONALLY AND RECORD RESPONSES ACCURATELY… …effective interviewing requires training and experience to avoid interviewer bias and interviewer error

  40. …record responses manually on the interview guide …(requires interviewee permission) use a tape recorder or VCR to verify accuracy of responses

  41. 5. PRETEST INTERVIEW PROCEDURE… …use a small group from the same population or a similar population to the one being studied to validate the interview instrument and the interviewer’s communication and recording skills

  42. 6. ANALYZE/REPORT RESULTS… …item analysis includes giving the response rate for each item, as well as the total sample size and the overall percentage of returns, since not every respondent will answer all questions

  43. …also include in-depth data to open-ended interview items to portray responses in more accurate and honest terms

  44. Conducting an observational study… 1. state the problem 2. select participants 3. define the observational variables 4. record observations 5. assess observer reliability 6. reduce observer bias 7. analyze/report results

  45. 1. STATE THE PROBLEM… …topic must be of sufficient significance to motivate potential respondents and justify the research effort in the first place …define topic in terms of specific objectives indicating the kind of information needed

  46. 2. SELECT PARTICIPANTS… …use an appropriate sampling technique …participants must be able to provide the desired information sought and willing to provide it to the researcher

  47. 3. DEFINE THE OBSERVATIONAL VARIABLES… …operationalize the variables to be observed in terms of specific behaviors that can be quantified …ensure that the observations can be quantified in a way so that all observers will count the behavioral activities in exactly the same way

  48. …simplify procedure for recording observations by developing a coding procedure

  49. 4. RECORD OBSERVATIONS… …record behavior at the time it occurs …alternate observation periods and recording periods

  50. 5. ASSESS OBSERVER RELIABILITY… …use at least two observers who make independent observations …compute interobserver reliability

More Related