Hunter College, City University of New York, Department of Curriculum & Teaching

EDTATS Primer

Session 2 - Developing a Research Plan

Dr. Anthony G. Picciano, e-mail address: anthony.picciano@hunter.cuny.edu

Topics Covered in this Session

• The Educational Research Process
• Selecting a Topic
• Stating the Problem
• Theoretical Framework
• Review of the Literature
• Methodology
• Results

The Educational Research Process

Educational research is conducted according to a process akin to the scientific method used in many disciplines. The scientific method consists of the following steps:

• defining a problem;
• stating a main question or hypothesis;
• collecting relevant data;
• analyzing the data to answer the question or test the hypothesis.

Paralleling the scientific method, the educational research process generally consists of the following activities:

• identifying a problem and stating why it is worthy of study;
• clarifying the problem and reviewing what is known and what still needs to be known;
• formulating research questions and/or hypotheses;
• developing and carrying out procedures for collecting, summarizing, and analyzing data;
• stating the findings based on data analysis;
• drawing conclusions related to the research questions or hypotheses.

Selecting a Topic

Frequently the most difficult part of undertaking a research project is identifying what to study.

1. Topics for teaching are very extensive i.e. instructional methods, classroom activities, teacher attitudes, etc.
2. Topics for administration and supervision are more limited i.e. leadership, communication, change, etc.
3. In initiating a research project, most students tend to select a topic which is much too broad for an individual to study. Major studies in education increasingly are being carried out by well-funded organizations and teams of researchers. These are not the topics typically being pursued by graduate students. Graduate school faculty/mentors in assisting students to conduct research, spend a good deal of time helping their students to refine and narrow their topics to a project that is doable by an individual. .
4. Important Considerations in Selecting a Topic
   • Personal Interest (to the individual researcher)
   • Importance (Is the topic important?)
   • Usefulness (Is the topic useful?)
   • Timeliness/Newness (Is the topic timely or new?)
   • Time (How much time is needed to complete a study of the topic?)
   • Difficulty (How difficult will it be to complete a study of the topic?)
   • Expense (How expensive will it be to complete a study of the topic?)
   • Ethics (Why are you doing this research?/Will you be objective?)

Study Outline

Stating the Problem

1. Clear, Direct, Succinct Statement of Purpose. ( The purpose of this study was to ......)
2. Hypotheses/Research Questions
   • Definition - provisional conjecture used to guide research. Conjecture is a statement of an opinion (guess, intuition) without evidence or proof.
   • Research Hypothesis - stated positively. Example: Students who begin school in a pre-kindergarten program will perform better academically in later years than students who begin school at the kindergarten level.
   • Null Hypothesis - stated negatively and is more appropriate for certain statistical procedures. Example: No difference exists in academic achievement in later years for students who begin school in a pre-kindergarten program as opposed to those who begin at the kindergarten level.
     In the above examples, a t-test procedure could be used to determine if a difference of means exists in academic achievement scores between the two groups. It is easier to reject a null hypothesis in this case stating that no difference exists between the two groups than to try to retain a research hypothesis stating that a difference does exist between the two groups.
   • Type I and Type II Errors - are errors made in analyzing data to retain or reject a null hypothesis. In analyzing data to retain or reject a null hypothesis, a researcher has four possibilities:
     1. The null hypothesis is true and the researcher concludes that it is true.
     2. The null hypothesis is false and the researcher concludes it is false.
     3. The null hypothesis is true and the researcher concludes it is false - Type I Error.
     4. The null hypothesis is false and the researcher concludes it is true - Type II Error.
   • Research Questions - are as legitimate as hypotheses in guiding research, especially exploratory research. Research questions tend to be less specific than hypotheses and leave open an extension of the research depending upon the findings. Example: Is there any difference in the academic achievement in later years of students who begin school at the pre-kindergarten level versus the kindergarten level.

Theoretical Framework

1. Definition - a general or overall theory which explains or helps one understand some aspect of the phenomenon to be studied.
2. Examples:
   • Jean Piaget - theory of cognitive development.
   • Herbert Simon - limits of rationality, satisfice model of decision making - explains decision making as a satisfy/suffice exercise and not as a maximizing exercise.
   • General Systems Theory - (input - process - output)
   • Vincent Tinto - a social system theory/model on student drop-out behavior based on Durkheim's theory of suicide.
   • Getzels/Guba - social systems theory of organizations which explains organizational behavior in terms of how it meets the social needs of its participants.
   • Maslow - hierarchy of individual needs.

Review of the Literature

1. Review what other researchers have found and develop a research proposal or plan in relation to their findings.. A common question is whether the literature is consistent or inconsistent in what it says.
2. Review also what others have found over time. Has it changed? Is it changing?
3. A good place to start researching a topic is to read a review of the literature on the topic done by someone else.

Methodology

Depending upon the type of research to be done, (i.e.ethnographic, historical, descriptive, correlational, action, evaluation, causal-comparative, experimental), and the nature of the problem, different approaches can be considered in deciding the most appropriate way of conducting research on the topic. Important decisions are made and special considerations are given regarding data needs, statistical procedures, samples, test instruments, etc.

Reporting Results

To share what is learned with others who might be interested, a report is generally prepared in the form of an article, monograph, thesis, etc. The culminating section of the report is usually the results and includes:

1. Findings
2. Statement on whether hypotheses were retained or rejected.
3. Conclusions
4. Recommendations

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE TOPICS COVERED IN THIS SESSION, PLEASE REFER TO CHAPTER 2 OF A.G. PICCIANO "EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH PRIMER".

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