Research

Research

Research

QUESTION 1

Quantitative research has had a significant impact in the field of education. Analyze the key components of quantitative research. Also, within this analysis describe the appropriateness of using a quantitative approach to evaluate the factors that influence increased graduation rates for secondary special education students enrolled in vocational and technical training programs

Explain why a quantitative approach is preferred for this study.

Ling Pan, M. (2004). Preparing literature reviews. (2nd ed.) Glendale, CA:

Pyrczak Publishing.

Introduction

According to Hara (1995), qualitative research in educational development, can be used in natural science. He further explains that there were two reasons due to which qualitative research was used in the educational research area. The first reason was that educational research process, concepts and purpose can be applied to quantitative research. Secondly, it also provided necessary standards for educational research.

The firm conviction has surfaced, that, in order, to investigate and to make specific definitions of facts were of primary importance in doing quantitative research of natural science in education. To find out the universal truth in quantitative research, a research goal in natural science was formed. Quantitative research in education has helped in discovering the facts which exist under research. It is a belief that the research act must be a neutral activity from the researcher's subjective viewpoint. Thus, quantitative research can be assumed as a journey of the facts Hara, 1995).

There is an assumption that "neutral, scientific language" should be used in quantitative research to find out accurate facts. Neutral scientific language means to express the research itself by figures that had unchanged the control in all research environments and was universally acceptable. It is assumed that using neutral scientific language for providing research facts may also be effective in explaining statistical truths. In addition, neutral scientific language was able to directly demonstrate the findings of the study without a researcher's value estimations.

In other words, the research results existed in isolation from the researcher's perspective. A researcher was considered to be "an outsider to the research" or an objective observer (Creswell, 2009).In sum, the discovery of existing facts by employing neutral scientific language in quantitative research emphasizes effectiveness. Ideology, this belief is based on a "subject-object relationship" in which human reality is able to be in seclusion and exist independently from the researcher's opinion. The results of the investigation, therefore, are presented in a statistical and objective way.

Impact on education

Quantitative research has had a significant impact in the field of education and will continue to provide important data that will aide parents and all other stakeholder in the process of providing our children with appropriate education in all aspects of development. Becker (2004) acknowledged that in contemporary America today, at the local, state and federal levels, quantitative data such as results from criterion and norm testing play a vital role in curriculum development, instructional strategies, and assessment tools. This data on a national, state and local basis is also used in forecasting social and economic tendencies within our multicultural ...