kv712 intro to research methodology v2
TRANSCRIPT
Irena Andrews (Programme Leader) Andy DaviesKeith Turvey (Course Leader)Richard Wallis
MA Education (Teaching Leaders)
KV712 Research Contexts Professional Enquiry 2013/14
Constructing knowledgeMasters level research aims to produce warrantable knowledge
•It can inform theory, policy and practice•We aim not only to find out, but also to convince others•Frameworks guide and shape our inquiry•Research does not take place in a vacuum
A community of scholars who share similar conceptions of proper questions, methods, techniques and forms of explanations
Paradigm the word that describes the
community of scholars and the conception of problem and method they share (Schulman, 1986; Sparkes, 1998:11)
Paradigms provide particular sets of lenses for seeing the world and making sense of it in different ways (Sparkes, 1992:12)
Paradigms are basic belief systems that represent the most fundamental positions we are willing to take (Guba and Lincoln, 1998:24)
A set of assumptions which a group of scientists or other theorists share, and which form a basis for their investigations (Kuhn, 1962, 1970 in Swann and Pratt, 2003:207)
3 elements of a paradigm (Guba and Lincoln, 1998, p.201 - 220)
Ontology: What is the form and nature of reality/truth?
Epistemology: What is the nature of the relationship between the knower (you) and what can be known (knowledge)?
Methodology: How can the enquirer find out what s/he believes can be known?
Quantitative Research• Views social world as hard and objective
and similar to the natural world
• Assumes that clear cause and effect relationships can be established while scrutinising human behaviour
• Knowledge of the social world is discovered in the same way as scientists discover knowledge about the physical world
• Knowledge is gained only through our senses
• Facts are substantiated scientifically or by a large number of people
Qualitative Research• Based on the premise that the social world
is different from the natural world and what we see is not necessarily the truth
• Cause and effect statements cannot always be made to explain events
• Social reality is created by human experience rather than discovered
• Aims to describe views, perceptions and events scientifically to explain phenomena
Mixed Research approaches
•Recognises multiple influences
•Takes a pragmatic approach
•Collects different types of data simultaneously or sequentially to best understand research problems
Influences on the research process process
Adapted from Newby 2010 p 32
Philosophy ParadigmsEducational
theory
Research process
Methodology MethodsResearch question
‘Philosophy
Paradigm s
Educational theory
Research
process
Met hodology
Met hods
Research quest ion
In groups discuss
What type of researcher am I and how can I articulate this in the light of philosophy, values and paradigms?
What type of researcher am I and how might that affect my choice of methodology and hence the sort of research I might do?
Why?
Common research models in teacher research
What is:
• Action research?
• Case study?
• Evaluation?
What type of outcomes might you
expect in each case?
Action Research
Research and action together
• change to practices occurs within the research project;
• the research process has discrete cycles;
• literature reading is cyclical; • knowledge claimed from a
singularity, generalisability is fuzzy
Case Study and Evaluation
•change to practices emerge after the research project;
• research process is linear; • literature reading provides
context for analysis; •knowledge claimed from a
singularity, generalisability is fuzzy
Survey•change to practices emerge after the research project;
•practices drawn from the quantitative paradigm;
• research process is linear;
•literature reading is context for analysis;
•knowledge claimed is generalisable to a defined population.
Experimental research• Aims to show relationship between cause and
effect – eg effect of TA’s on reading ability• Groups need to be matched for age, gender,
social class, ethnicity etc• True experiment: a laboratory setting.
Variables isolated, controlled and manipulated
Quasi-experiment: a natural setting. Variables isolated, controlled and manipulated. – Difficult to match groups and achieve corresponding features between groups in a natural setting
Intended Research Outcomes
Some associated approaches
Some examples of questions
Changes in practice – How can…?How has…?
Action research
Evaluative case studies
How can we improve teachingHow effective was ….
Data gathered and analysed – Statements of what is the case
Surveys: Questionnaires and Interviews (descriptive analysis)Ethnographic studies (illustrative narrative)
What do teachers think about the role of ICT in the curriculum?
New explanations – explanatory theories of what is the case
Experimental/quasi- experimental research (Hypothesis testing)Ethnographic studiesSurveys – open ended and semi structured interviews
Why are teachers responding in this way to this particular initiative?
Data Collection tools
•Questionnaires• Interviews•Focus Groups•Observation•Documentary evidence
Documentary evidence
•Source – is it current? Reliable? Accurate?•Where did it come from and who is it for?•How might interpretations of different recipients (parents/pupils /teachers/ policy makers) vary?•What implicit values, ideologies or assumptions about the social/political/ educational context are present?•What alternative discourses exist?
The place of the researcher
• Detached observer: ‘One way mirror’ looking in from the
outside
• Observer who balances participation with detachment; closeness with distance; familiarity with strangeness
• Complete participant: Complete participation, lives with the respondents
5 important focussing questions
1 What is the nature of the phenomenon or process or social reality that I wish to investigate?
2 What will count as evidence?3 What broad area is the research
concerned with?4 What is the intellectual puzzle?5 What do I want to get out of it?6 What do I want to be able to say?
(after Mason, J. (1996) Qualitative Researching London: Sage Publications
An intellectual puzzle?
• Research is not a report, or a quick fix solution
• Research is grounded in and informed by theory
• Theory is concerned with the systematic construction of knowledge
• It can explain phenomena• Enlighten about what is already known
and how that knowledge has been constructed
• Research based in a theoretical framework can help us to formulate questions and tell us how to proceed
• Think about your Impact Initiative in the light of a masters level research study * How can the two activities complement each other?
*Where are the potential tensions?
* How might you plan to address this?
Discuss
Frames for research questions
Research questions
What
ContextCommunity of practiceYou and positionsConcerns for whom and why
Meanings/frameworks
Data?Ethics?
Feasible – time & resources
What/when/how?
Fit?Enquire
into what?
Researchable?
Concepts: What are the main concepts in your research thinking? How will you describe them?
Issues: Draw a map indicating the key ideas of debate and contestation that are relevant to your particular concerns.
Contexts: Draw up a genealogy of the key thinkers in your research area to indicate the development of theories, perspectives or methodsFrom: Blaxter et al (2001) How to Research Buckingham: Open University Press
Getting started – individually start to identify the following: