TYPES OF

EDUCATIONAL
RESEARCH
TSL3133
ACTION RESEARCH 1
TESL (METHODOLOGY)

2. TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL
RESEARCH

1.BASIC RESEARCH
2.APPLIED RESEARCH
3.ACTION RESEARCH
4.EVALUATION
RESEARCH

INTRODUCTION TO VARIOUS TYPES

OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH DESIGN

Quantitative research
-Experimental
- Quasi-experimental
- Survey
- Correlational
Qualitative research
- Ethnography
- Case study
- Historical

LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end of the lesson, students
should be able to:
1. describe the educational
research methods and their use in
education.
2. explain the basic of research
including types of educational
research, research designs,
procedure and ethics.

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

BASIC RESEARCH

Aimed at obtaining empirical data used

to formulate and expand theory

Not oriented in design or purpose toward
the solution of practical problems
(expand frontiers of knowledge without
regard to practical application)
Much early psychological investigation of
reinforcement was basic research (later
social scientists found that
reinforcement theory resulting from that
research had educational applications.

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

BASIC RESEARCH

Concerned with clarifying underlying

processes , with the hypothesis

usually expressed as a theory
Not particularly interested in
examining the effectiveness of
specific educational practices
E.g. an attempt to refine one or more
stages of Ericksons psychological
theory of development.

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

APPLIED RESEARCH
To solve an immediate,

practical problem
Oriented to specific problem
May contribute to general
knowledge of the field

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

APPLIED RESEARCH (example)
Conduct a survey of the elementary

school teachers in a school system

to determine their preferences and
opinions about several available
reading programmes. (conducted by
a curriculum committee or school
systems administration concerned
with the problem of selecting
reading program or materials to be
purchased)

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

BASIC & APPLIED RESEARCH

(Basic & Applied Research are

differentiated by their goals or
purposes)
Basic Research: extension of

knowledge
Applied Research: solution of an
immediate, practical problem

(Wiersma, W. 2000: 10)

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

ACTION RESEARCH (a type of applied research)

Conducted by teacher, administrator or

educational professional to aid decision

making in the local school
Solution to day-to-day problems at local
level
Little concern about generalizing results
of action research to other educational
settings
Often, only a small, accessible population
is used (biology classes in a single high
school)

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

ACTION RESEARCH (a type of applied

research)
Usually less rigorous in terms of

design and methodology

Often, intact group (only a single
group or an individual )
Combined with what is known from
research literature, provide useful
and viable approach to making
educational decisions at local level

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

EVALUATION / EVALUATIVE RESEARCH

(can be considered a part of applied

research)
Use many same procedures as research
The function is to access the merits of a
product, programme, or a practice
Application of results is at a given site
or sites
Aids in decision making in a specific
situation as with applied research

(McMillan and Schumacher, 1997)

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Choosing a study design:

Match between type of

research and personality,

attributes and skills and
becoming informed of
design choices available
within the paradigm
(Merriam, S.B. 1998: 1)

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Choosing a study design:
It is like planning for a vacation trip
- what sort of trip most appeals to you
- what you like to do
- what it might cost
- where you want to go
- how best to get there
- how long to stay
etc
(Merriam, S.B. 1998: 3)

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Choosing a study design:
How much structure are you

comfortable with?
Do you prefer to work with
people or things?
Does writing come easily to
you?
Or is it a struggle?
(Merriam, S.B. 1998: 3)

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Positivist or quantitative
Education or schooling is considered

the object, phenomenon or delivery

system to be studied
Knowledge gained through scientific
and experimental research is
objective and quantifiable.
Reality in this perspective is
stable, observable, and measurable.
(deductive and testing)
(Merriam, S.B. 1998: 4)

APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Positivist (a family of philosophies

characterized by an extremely
positive evaluation of science and
scientific method. (Reese, 1980:
450)
More closely associated with
deduction, reasoning from general
principles to specific situations
Associated with scientific method

(Wiersma, W. 2000: 12)

APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Positivist or Quantitative
Emphasise on facts, relationships,

and causes
Place great value on outcomes
and products
Tend to be more theory-based
Look for more context-free
generalizations

APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Interpretive or qualitative
Education is considered to be a process

and school is a lived experience

Understanding the meaning of the
process or experience constitutes the
knowledge to be gained
Inductive, hypothesis- or theorygenerating mode of inquiry.
Multiple realities are constructed
socially by individuals
(Merriam, S.B. 1998: 4)

APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Interpretive or qualitative
Has its origins in descriptive

analysis, and is essentially an

inductive process, reasoning
from the specific situation to a
general conclusion
Follows naturalist paradigm
(specific to that setting and its
conditions)

(Wiersma, W. 2000: 12)

APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Interpretive or qualitative
Holistic interpretation of

the natural setting

Have great concern for
the impact of the process
(Wiersma, W. 2000: 12)

APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Interpretive or qualitative
Does not emphasize a theoretical

base
A theory may develop, it may
changed, dropped or refined
grounded theory in the data (if
no theory emerges - atheoretical,
will still retain its descriptive
value)
(Wiersma, W. 2000: 12)

APPROACH IN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Interpretive or qualitative
Context-specific with researchers

role being one of inclusion in the

situation
Belief that particular physical and
social environment has a great
bearing on human behaviour
Perceive facts and values as
inextricably mixed
(Wiersma, W. 2000: 12)

Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Different in purpose
Qualitative: to understanding

social phenomena, social

being used in a broad sense
Quantitative: to determine
relationships, effects, and
causes
(Wiersma, W. 2000: 12)

POSITIVIST PERSPECTIVE
Dropping out of school (noncompletion)
begin by hypothesizing that students

drop out of high school because of low

self-esteem.
Then design an intervention program to
raise the self-esteem of students at risk
Set up an experiment controlling for as
many variables as possible
Then measure the results
(Merriam, S.B. 1998: 4)

INTERPRETIVE PERSPECTIVE
Dropping

out of school (noncompletion)

Would not test theory, set up an experiment, or
measure anything.
Interested in understanding the experience of
dropping out from the perspective of
noncompleters themselves
Interested in discovering which factors
differentiate noncompleters from those who may
have been at risk but who nevertheless
completed high school
Will need to interview students, perhaps observe
them in or out of school and review documents
such as counsellors reports and personal diaries

(Merriam, S.B. 1998: 4)

CONTRASTING CHARACTERISTICS OF
QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
QUALITATIVE
QUANTITATIVE
Inductive Inquiry
Deductive Inquiry
Understanding
Relationships,
Social Phenomena
Effects, Causes
Atheoretical or
Theory-Based
Grounded Theory
Holistic Inquiry
Focused on
Individual Variables
Context-Specific
Context-Free
(Generalizations)
Observer-Participant
Detached Role of
Researcher

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

VALUE OF CLASSIFICATION

SYSTEM
- useful for enhancing
effectiveness and
efficiency by which
research is conducted

TYPES OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Three systems
1. goal or purpose of the

research
2. qualitative-quantitative
dichotomy (two distinct
orientations to phenomena being
studied)
3. classification of general
methods used in educational
research

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
(POSITIVIST)

Deductive: Hope to find

data to match a theory
[Inductive: process
beginning with observations
(data) and then proceeding
to hypothesis formation and
refinement and finally to
theory]

TYPES OF QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH
(POSITIVIST)

Experimental Research
Quasi-Experimental
Research
Survey Research
Correlational Research

UNDERSTANDING
TERMINOLOGY

Variable: is a characteristic
or attribute of an individual
or an organization that:
a. can be measured or
observed by the researcher
b. varies among individuals
or organizations studied

UNDERSTANDING
TERMINOLOGY
sample: is a subgroup of the
target population that the
researcher plans to study for the
purpose of making generalizations
about the target population
Control group: an object or system
which is not changed that you can
compare it with similar objects or
systems which are intentionally
changed

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

Involve situation in which

at least one variable, the
experimental variable, is
deliberately manipulated
or varied by researcher
To determine the effects
of that variation

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
Researcher determines the
variable and extent to which it
is varied
Possible to have >1
experimental variable in a
single experiment
Participants must be assigned
randomly to the experimental
treatment.

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
Example: a researcher in health
education is interested in the
effects of 3 different exercise
periods (varying length) on
resting heart rate
60 young adults (20-1hrs, 2045mins, 20- 1 hr per day)
2 months
Measure resting heart rate (before & after the
programme)

QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL
RESEARCH
Similar to experimental research in
that 1 or more experimental
variables are involved
naturally assembled groups, such
as classes are used in the research
Single-subject designs that include
the use of experimental treatment
Quite common in education bcoz
difficult to form groups by random
assignment.

QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL
RESEARCH
Example: studying effects of
an instructional program in
logical problem solving on
sixth-grade performance on
a mathematics concepts
test.
1 hr of instruction in logical
problem solving perday over a 10week period (16 intact classes 8-8)

SURVEY RESEARCH
Deals with incidence,
distribution, and relationships
of educational, psychological
and sociological variables
No experimental variables are
manipulated
Variables are studied as they
exist in situation (natural
situation)

SURVEY RESEARCH

Some surveys are limited

to describing status quo
(situation as it is)
Others attempt to
determine relationships
and effects occurring
between variable (ex post
facto research)

SURVEY RESEARCH
Example: conducting a study of
professional practices of collegelevel counselors in private colleges
of Ohio
Construct an appropriate
instrument (often: questionnaire to
be completed by a group or entire
population of counselors)
Characteristics as relative
importance(perceive by counselors)
& frequency of practices.

SURVEY RESEARCH
Example: Ex post facto research
Relationship between attitude toward school
and achievement of upper elementary school
students in various cognitive and skill areas
(mathematics, verbal skills, etc)
Administer an appropriate attitude inventory
and achievement measures for cognitive and
skills areas
Attempts to identify any effects that may exist
and tries to explain how the effects are
operating. (Are certain attitude patterns
consistently associated with specific
achievement scores, and if so, are the
attitudes influencing the achievement scores?)

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Nonexperimental research that is
similar to ex post facto research in
that they both employ data derived
from preexisting variables
No manipulation of variables
Differ in that in ex post facto
research, selected variables are used
to make comparisons between 2 or
more existing groups, whereas
correlational research assesses
relationships among 2 or more
variables in a single group

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Ex post facto research
investigates possible causeand-effect relationships;
correlational research typically
does not
Advantage of correlational
research is that it provides
information about strength of
relationships between
variables

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Produce indexes that show both
direction & strength of relationships
among variables, taking into
account entire range of these
variables
This index is called a correlation
coefficient (sign - & + shows
direction, + means 1 variable
increases and the other also
increases; size of correlation
coefficient indicates the strength+1.00 =perfect, 0=no relationship)

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Focus on meaning in context

Requires data collection
instrument that is sensitive to
underlying meaning when
gathering and interpreting
data
Interviewing, observing and
analyzing are activities central

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Focus on meaning in context

Requires data collection
instrument that is sensitive to
underlying meaning when
gathering and interpreting
data
Interviewing, observing and
analyzing are activities central

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Naturalistic inquiry
Interpretive research
Field study
Participant observation
Inductive research
Case study
Ethnograhy

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Qualitative researchers are

interested in understanding the
meaning people have constructed
(how they make sense of their
world and the experiences they
have in the world)
Concern with experience as it is
lived or felt or undergone
(Sherman and Webb, 1988: 7)

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Understanding is an end in itself, not

attempting to predict what may happen
in future necessarily, but to understand
the nature of that setting - what it
means for participants to be in that
setting, what their lives are like, whats
going on for them, what their meaning
are, what the world looks like in that
particular setting and in the analysis to
be able to communicate that faithfully
to others who are interested in that
setting

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

1st Characteristics:
Key concern is understanding
phenomenon of interest from
participants perspectives, not
the researchers
Emic : insiders perspective
versus
Etic : outsiders view

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

2nd Characteristics:
Researcher is the primary instrument for
data collection and analysis
Researcher is responsive to the context:
adapt techniques to circumstances, total
context can be considered, what is known
about situation can be expanded through
sensitivity to nonverbal aspects,
researchers can process data
immediately, can clarify and summarise as
study evolves and can explore anomalous
responses (a thing or person that is different the usual)

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

3rd Characteristics:
Usually involves fieldwork
Physically go to the people, setting,
site, institution (the field) in order to
observe behaviour in its natural
setting
(anthropologists: learn about other
cultures)
Substantial amount of time in natural
setting, intense contact with
participants

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)
4th Characteristics:

Primarily employs inductive research strategy

- builds abstractions, concepts, hypotheses, or
theories rather than testing
Often undertaken because there is a lack of
theory or existing theory fails to adequately
explain a phenomenon
No hypotheses to be deduced from theory to
guide the investigation
Build toward theory from observation and
intuitive understandings gained in the field
Inductive: hope to find a theory that explains
their data

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Typically: qualitative
research findings are in
the form of themes,
categories, typologies,
concepts, tentative
hypotheses, even theory
(inductively derived from
the data)

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

5th characteristics:
Focus on process, meaning, and
understanding
The product qualitative study is
richly descriptive.
Words and pictures rather than
numbers are used to convey
what researcher has learned
about a phenomenon.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Design of qualitative
study:
Emergent and flexible
Responsive to changing
conditions of study in
progress (not always
the case)

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

Sample selection:
(usually)
Nonrandom, purposeful
and small

TYPES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

(INTERPRETIVE / NATURALISTIC)

ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
(ETHNOGRAPHY)
CASE STUDY
HISTORICAL

ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
A form of qualitative
research employed by
anthropologists to study
human society and culture
Culture : beliefs, values and
attitudes that structure
behaviour patterns of a
specific group of people

ETHNOGRAPHY
An in-depth, analytical
description of a specific
cultural situation (culture)
In Education-the process of
providing scientific
descriptions of educational
systems, processes, and
phenomena within their
specific contexts.

ETHNOGRAPHY
Rely heavily on
observation, description,
and qualitative judgments
or interpretations of
whatever phenomena are
being study
An educational
ethnography typically deals
with culture of a school

ETHNOGRAPHY
Example: What is science
instruction like in this
school?
Observation conducted in
science classrooms over
period of school year
Observers take extensive
field notes and interview
students and teachers

ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
a set of methods used to
collect data
Written record that is the
product of using
ethnographic techniques:
interviewing, conducting
documentary analysis,
examining life histories,
creating investigator

ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
Ethnography is a
sociocultural interpretation
of the data
Recreate for the reader the
shared beliefs, practices,
artifacts, folk knowledge
and behaviours of some
group of people

ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
Ethnographic study of a
junior high school: take into
account the community and
its cultural context
The history of the
neighbourhood,
socioeconomic factors,
communitys racial and
ethnic makeup attitudes of

CASE STUDY
More of a way of reporting
& cut across types of
research
- case study involves a
detailed examination of a
single group, individual,
situation or site
- Ethnographic research,
when a single group is
studied in depth (case

CASE STUDY
Employed to gain an indepth understanding of
situation and meaning for
those involved
Interest is in process rather
than outcomes
In context rather than a
specific variable
In discovery rather than
confirmation

CASE STUDY
Intensive descriptions and
analyses of a single unit or
bounded system
Such as individual,
programme, event, group,
intervention, or community

CASE STUDY
Example:
An analysis of culture of a
group such as Gibsons
(1988) study of Punjab
immigrants in an American
high school (ethnographic
case study)
A description and analysis
of a school, programme,
intervention, or practice as

CASE STUDY
Example:
A case study of a single
student learning math
concepts would most likely
draw from concepts and
theories of learning found
in educational psychology
(All can be educational case
studies: focus on some
aspect of educational

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Studying a problem, an
issue, a phenomenon, a
movement, etc., in the
past, and information
collected from the past
serves as data to be
interpreted
Cannot relive the past- use
documents and other

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Describing what was, rather
than what is or what effects
certain variables may have
on others
More than reconstruction of
past involve much
interpretation and a
projection of results and
interpretation onto current

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
In education: deals with
educational matters in
the past.
Example: a study of federal
assistance programmes for
secondary education during
the period 1945-1960.
Legislative documents and
historical summaries.

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Specific factors might be
considered in tracing
history: economic impact &
implications of such impact
for educational decision
making and policy in the
present and for future.

HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Specific factors might be
considered in tracing
history: economic impact &
implications of such impact
for educational decision
making and policy in the
present and for future.

Narrative research
designs

Tsl3133 action research

NARRATIVE RESEARCH
Describe the lives of individuals, collect
and tell stories about peoples live and
write narratives of individual
experiences (Connelly & Clandinin,
1990)
Focus on studying a single person,
gathering data through the collection of
stories, reporting individual experiences
and discussing the meaning of those
experiences for the individual

NARRATIVE RESEARCH
Describe the lives of individuals, collect
and tell stories about peoples live and
write narratives of individual
experiences (Connelly & Clandinin,
1990)
Focus on studying a single person,
gathering data through the collection of
stories, reporting individual experiences
and discussing the meaning of those
experiences for the individual

TYPES OF NARRATIVE
RESEARCH FORMS
Autobiographies * Oral histories
Biographies
* Ethnohistories
Life writing * Ethnobiographies
Personal accounts * Autoethnographies
Personal narratives * Ethnopsychologies
Narratives interviews
* Person-centred
Personal Personal documents
ethnographies
Documents of life
* Popular
memories
Life stories and life histories * Polish memoirs

Characteristics
Identify a research problem seeks to
understand and represent experiences
through the stories individual(s) live and tell
Review the literature Seeks to minimize
the use of literature and focuses on the
experiences of the individual(s)
Develop a purpose statement and research
questions Seeks to explore the meaning of
the individuals experiences as told through
a story or stories

Characteristics
Collect qualitative data seeks to collect field texts
that document the individuals story in his or her
own words
Analyse and interpret qualitative data seeks to
analyse the stories by retelling the individuals story
- seeks to analyze the stories by identifying themes
or categories of information
- seeks to situate the story within its place or
setting
- seeks to analyse the story for chronological
information about the individuals past, present and
future

Characteristics

Write and evaluate a study- seeks to

collaborate with the participant when
writing the research study
- seeks to write the study in a flexible
storytelling mode
- seeks to evaluate the study based on the
depth, accuracy, persuasiveness and
realism of the account

Major Characteristics
Experience of an individual
Chronology of experiences
Life stories
Restorying (or retelling or developing a metastory)
from the field texts (p.510 : table 15.2)
Coding the field texts for themes or categories
Incorporating the context or place into the story or
themes
Collaboration between the researcher and the
participants in the study such as negotioating field
texts

Characteristics of Qualitative Research Types

Type of
Qualitative
Research

Key Characteristics

Case study research

What are the
characteristics of this
particular entity,
phenomenon, person,
or setting?

Has multidisciplinary roots (business, law,

medicine)
Focuses on a single unit
Produces an in-depth description
Is anchored in real life
Uses multiple data collection techniques
Provides a rich, holistic description of context,
issue
Time spent examining the unit is important

Ethnographic research
What are the cultural
patterns and
perspectives of this
group in its natural
setting?

Has its roots in anthropology

Studies the naturally occurring behavior of a group
Focuses on culture and societal behavior
Describes beliefs, values, and attitudes of a group
Observation is the primary data collection tool
Immersion in the site is important
Provides a holistic description of context and
cultural thems

Historical research
How can historical

Has its roots in the study of history

Focuses on the past

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE AND

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
POINT OF
COMPARISO
N
FOCUS OF
RESEARCH

QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH

QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH

Quality (nature,
essence)

Quantity (how
much, how
many)
Positivism,
logical
empiricism
Experimental,
empirical,
statistical

PHILOSOPH Phenomenology,
ICAL ROOTS symbolic

interactionism
ASSOCIATE Fieldwork,
D PHRASES ethnographic,
naturalistic,
grounded,
constructivist

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE AND

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
POINT OF
COMPARIS
ON
DESIGN
CHARACTE
RIS-TICS
SAMPLE

DATA
COLLECTI
ON

QUALITATIVE
RESEARCH

QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH

Flexible, evolving, Predetermined

emergent
, structured
Small,
nonrandom,
purposeful,
theoretical
Researcher as
primary
instrument;
interviews,

Large,
random,
representative
Inanimate
instruments
(scales, tests,
surveys,

CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE AND

QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH
POINT OF QUALITATIVE
COMPARIS RESEARCH
ON

MODE
OF
ANALYS
IS
FINDIN
GS

Inductive (by
researcher)

QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH

Deductive
(by
statistical
methods)
Comprehensive, Precise,
holistic,
numerical
expansive,
(statistical
richly
results)
descriptive

TUTORIAL
Contrast qualitative
approach with
quantitative approach
For each approach, give
2 examples of topics
which can be researched
on using each approach

ISL
Search and list
down suitable
reference books in the
library/web page
Search for information from the
internet or library on qualitative
and quantitative approaches
Summarizes lecture notes and
reference materials into concept
maps
Summarize lecture notes and
reference materials into concept

REFERENCES
Wiersma, W. (2000). Research methods

in education, an introduction. MA:

Allyn and Bacon.
Fraenkel, A. R. & Wallen, N. E. (2009).
How to design and evaluate research in
education. Boston: McGraw-Hill.

REFERENCES
Creswell, J. w. (2005). Educational

research. Planning, conducting and

evaluating quantitative and qualitative
research. Ohio: prentice Hall.
Cohen, L, Manion, L. & Morrison, K.
(2001). Research methods in
education (5th Eds.). London:
Routledge Falmer.