EDS 502

Research Methods

in Education

Unit IIIUnit III

Research Ethics/Proposal PreparationResearch Ethics/Proposal Preparation

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

The "Piltdown Man" is a famous hoax consisting of fragments of a skull and jawbone collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, a small English village. The fragments were thought by many experts of the day to be the fossilized remains of a hitherto unknown form of early human.

The significance of the specimen remained the subject of controversy until it was exposed in 1953 as a forgery, consisting of the lower jawbone of an orangutan combined with the skull of a fully developed, modern man.

The Piltdown hoax is perhaps the most famous scientific hoax in history.

Charles Dawson is now regarded as being responsible for this and several other “amazing finds” in English archeology.

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

Impartiality; objectivity

Openness; full disclosure

Confidentiality

Due diligence / duty of care

Fidelity to professional responsibilities

Avoiding potential or apparent conflict of interest

Concern for the well-being of others

Respect for the autonomy of others

Benevolence / doing good

Preventing harm

Guiding Principles

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

Autonomy

Justice

Beneficence

Human Subjects

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

Principle A: In planning a study, the investigator has the responsibility to make a careful evaluation of its ethical acceptability.

Principle B: Considering whether a participant in a planned study will be a "subject at risk" or a "subject at minimal risk" according to recognized standards is of primary ethical concern to the investigator.Risk includes both risk of physical harm and emotional harm.

By minimal risk, the standard means that participating in the experiment is no more risky than you would expect the person's daily life to be.

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

Principle C: The investigator always retains the responsibility for insuring ethical practice in research.

Principle D: Except in minimal risk research, the investigator establishes a clear and fair agreement with research participants, prior to their participation, that clarifies the obligations and responsibilities of each.

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

Principle E: Methodological requirements of a study may make the use of concealment or deception necessary. Before conducting such a study the investigator has a special responsibility to:

1. Determine if deception is justified by the study's possible scientific, educational or applied value

2. Determine whether alternative procedures are available that do not use concealment or deception

3. Insure that the participants are provided with sufficient explanation as soon as possible

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

Principle F: The experimenter respects the individual's freedom to decline to participate in or withdraw from the research at any time.

Principle G: Subjects should be informed of any risks posed by the experiment.

Principle H: After the data are collected the investigator provides participants with information about the nature of the study and attempts to remove any misconceptions that may have arisen.

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

Principle I: Where research procedures result in undesirable consequences for the individual participant the investigator has the responsibility to detect and remove or correct these consequences.

Principle J: Information obtained about the research participant during the course of an investigation is confidential unless otherwise agreed upon in advance.

The Ethics of The Ethics of ResearchResearch

The people who participate in our experiments are volunteers and they deserve to be treated with respect and shown appreciation.

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

At the conclusion of this section of the class you should be able to:

Identify the three major components of a research proposal.

Describe the value of a literature review.

Describe the steps in conducting a literature review.

Describe the organization of a literature review.

Identify the major components of the methods section of a proposal.

Review of Related Literature

• The systematic identification, location, and analysis of documents containing information related the research problem or question.

• The literature review should be as thorough and comprehensive as time and money permit. A literature review keeps one from “plowing old ground”. The main purpose of a literature review is to determine what has been done in the field. Your study should build upon what is already known.

• A literature review can provide valuable information about techniques, procedures, and design for the study. If a great deal of work has already been done.....then use only the most closely related material......if little has been done, use what you can. Organize your literature review either chronologically or “from the general to the specific”. The literature review provides the reader a quick way to get “up to speed” on your topic. The literature review should provide the basis for a logical justification for your study.

Types of Sources

• General References: Catalogs of sources for information

• Primary Sources: The journal and other publications in which research is reported.

• Secondary Sources: Publications in which authors describe the work of others.

General References

The Education Index: Bibliographic index of hundreds of education related periodicals from 1929 to 1969.

Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature: Similar to the Education Index but for popular magazines.

Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI)

Psychological Abstracts (PA)

Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)a. Resources in Education (RIE)b. Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE)

Review of Educational Research (RER).

Primary Source

Cakir, S. & Aydin, G. (2006). Parental attitudes and ego identity status of Turkish adolescents. Family Therapy, 33(3), 157-169.

Author(s) Publication YearArticle Title

Journal Name

Volume and number Pages

Primary Source

Regardless whether you do your search manually or with the assistance of computers, you will need:

A. Key words, search terms, or descriptorsB. To read lots of abstracts to identify relevant

materialC. Record the following information for use later…

1. Problem2. Hypothesis3. Procedure4. Findings

5. Conclusions

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

The Major components of a research proposal include:

IntroductionLiterature review

Method

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

Introduction: The introduction is not a heading and it should provide a rationale or justification for the entire study. I should include….

• Statement of the problem• Significance of the problem

• History of the problem

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

Introduction:

Taming Effects of Traumatic Compression of Musca Domestica

Troublesome and irritating insect behavior has long been a human concern since the presence of some insects poses not only health hazards but contributes to confusion at picnics. It has long been surmised that the eradication of insect life from the planet, while often seen as desirable, would create a serious environmental threat and provide the “tree huggers” with yet one more reason to hold demonstrations. It would seem that a possible alternative solution would involve attempts to modify insect behavior in such a way as to make their presence less problematic. The present study represents an attempt to investigate a possible solution to the troublesome aspect of insect behavior.

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

Literature review: This comprehensive review of relevant and related research serves a number of purposes including:

• What is already known about the topic

• What is in need of further investigation

• What types of methodologies and instruments/procedures have been used by prior investigators. (no need to re-invent the wheel).

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

Review of Literature should include

A. Review of related literature. What do we already know or what have other researchers discovered about the topic. Typically these “lit reviews are organized either chronologically or from general to specific.

b. Statement of hypothesis or research question. Specifically what is the proposed study going to answer or what hypothesis will be

tested??

c. Operational definitions (Special terms or concepts which has special meaning for your study are defined in terms of how they are measured,

eg. Tameness is defined as not moving when touched by the experimenter’s finger.

Mastery is defined as scoring a raw score of 80% or more on the data collection instrument.

Writing your Literature Review:

Organize your literature review in the following order…

Introduction: Rationale and justification for the studyBody: review of prior findings and investigations…

(from general to specific or chronologically)Summary: Brief summary of all significant findings…Conclusions: What still needs to be answered….Research Question/Hypothesis(es)DefinitionsReferences (These will go at the end of the

proposal/report)

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

Review of Literature

Attempts to tame the house fly (Musca Domestica) using traditional conditioning paradigms (Sturge, 1953), punishment (Stevens, 1937; Smith, 1962), or manipulation of early experiences (Smedley, 1965a) have met with a consistent lack of success. Since traumatic compression is frequently employed with the fly, the effectiveness of this procedure on taming was tested. The term "taming" will be defined behaviorally as occurring when subjects make no further attempts to flee or attack upon being touched by the experimenter's finger. This study will be conducted to test the null hypothesis that no difference would be detectable between two groups of house flies one of which had undergone the experimental treatment of traumatic compression.

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

Method: This represents a description of what will be done in conducting the study and how it will be investigated. This section generally is composed of the following sections.

• Subjects/Participants• Instrument (Apparatus)• Procedure• Proposed data analysis

techniques.

Preparing your Preparing your ProposalProposal

Method: This represents a description of what will be done in conducting the study and how it will be investigated. This section generally is composed of the following sections.

• Subjects/Participants• Instrument (Apparatus)• Design/Procedure• Proposed data analysis

techniques.• Limitations/Restrictions

Method

SubjectsThe subjects in the study will be at least 24 randomly selected

flies selected from a population maintained in the faculty offices of the Department of Counseling and Psycho-Ceramics at Middle East Technical University. All subjects will be assumed to be approximately the same age and with remarkably similar life experiences. No attempt will be made to control for socio-economic or educational level.

Apparatus (Materials)Traumatic compression will be applied with a Swanson (Model

28-B) swatter having a 20 gram, 100 X 150 cm perforated polyethylene head on a flexible 38.43 cm, 14 gauge twisted wire shaft (see fig. 1). All treatment will be carried out on a laminated office desk top.

Figure 1

Design and Procedure

The subjects will be randomly assigned to two groups and handled one at a time. All subjects will be tested within a one-hour period on each of two successive days. Each subject will be confined within a bell jar and placed on a desk top over a drop of honey. When the subject alights on or near the honey, the jar will be carefully removed. The experimental group will be traumatically compressed with a sharp blow using the apparatus described above. The swatter, at impact will have measured velocity of at least 5.13 m/sec. The control group will be given sham compression by having the blow land just to the side of the subject.

Tameness, in terms of response to being touched with a finger, will be measured on a 10-point scale with 10=totally tame. Three observers will make independent judgments and individual's scores were reduced to the arithmetic means. Tameness will be tested immediately after compression and 24 hours later. Mean tameness scores for experimental and control groups will be examined for significant difference using the student’s t-test and the .05 level of significance will be used.