RESEARCH METHOD AND DESIGN

Research Method and Design



Research Method and Design

Introduction

Educational research and its associated methodologies comprise a vast array of investigative methods, all of which are intended to improve the quality and delivery of educational services today. Traditionally, scientific studies have been thought of as either basic or applied. Whereas the purpose of the former has been simply to advance knowledge, the purpose of the latter has been to solve immediate, practical, or pressing problems. However, not all studies fit this simple dichotomy, particularly those in the social and biobehavioral sciences. Recently, a third term has been put forth by the scientific community to include those studies that are neither exclusively basic nor exclusively applied and that serves as a bridge between the two. Blackbourn & Fillingim (2004) mention these studies are referred to as translational research and have the express purpose of linking new developments in the laboratory with improvements in clinical practice and care. In the applied social sciences, like education, investigators tend to further classify their methods based on the nature of their data rather than simply the type of outcome. In this regard, educational researchers tend to describe their methods as either quantitative or qualitative (Blackbourn & Fillingim, 2004). The following discussion of educational research methods is organized this way as well and I will use all the characteristics of research mentioned in the below lines.

Scientific Method

Within any scientifically justifiable form of research resides a scientific method. Although the sequence of events may vary based on the type of research practiced, investigators of all disciplines recognize the importance of a sound and verifiable methodology (Blackbourn & Fillingim, 2004). For example, investigators using quantitative methods tend to follow a linear sequence of events in the execution of their studies:

Observe ? Define ? Hypothesize ? Test ? Conclude

Investigators using qualitative methods tend to follow a different, more circular path to knowledge generation. The qualitative approach requires that the investigator repeatedly cycle through the first three steps of the sequence, at increasingly greater depths, before ending with a hypothetical statement (Goodall, 2000). Both approaches are scientifically valid and philosophically justifiable, but neither one alone is capable of capturing the breadth and depth of investigative educational research methodologies today, despite the recent attempt to reinforce the primacy of some methods by the National Research Council's 2002 book Scientific Research in Education.

Quantitative Methods

Quantitative research methods are those in which statistical techniques are applied to data gathered as a part of well-defined, carefully executed study. Very often these studies involve experimental methods using numerical data or, more formally, a numerical explanation of some aspect of reality. Quantitative methods assume that the characteristics of events can be accurately represented with numbers, and that if we can understand how the numbers fluctuate or covary with other factors, we will be closer to understanding the events and the problems that give rise to them well enough to intervene (Goodall, 2000). The philosophical basis for this line of thinking is considered to be positivism, the premise ...