Research Methods for Education

by Gregory J Privitera

Science is one way of knowing about the world. The word science comes from the Latin scientia, meaning knowledge. From a broad view, science is any systematic method of acquiring knowledge apart from ignorance. From a stricter view, though, science is specifically the acquisition of knowledge using the scientific method, also called the research method.

Science is the acquisition of knowledge through observation, evaluation, interpretation, and theoretical explanation.

The scientific method, or research method, is a set of systematic techniques used to acquire, modify, and integrate knowledge concernin...

The scientific method is composed of six general steps, which are shown in Figure 1.1. The steps are as follows: Identify a problem Develop a research plan Conduct the study Analyze and evaluate the data Communicate the results Generate more new ideas

A variable, or any value that can change or vary across observations, is typically measured as a number in science. The initial task in developing a research plan is to define or operationalize each variable stated in a research hypothesis in terms of how each variable is measured. The resulting definition is called an operational definition.

An operational definition is a description of some observable event in terms of the specific process or manner by which it was observed or measured.

To operationally define a variable, you define it in terms of how you will measure it.

We typically need to choose one operational definition, which can be influenced by the type of study we conduct in Step 3.

Notice in the figure that we must be able to observe and measure behaviors and events. Behaviors and events of interest (such as liking a food) must be observable because we must make observations to conduct the study (Step 3). Behaviors and events must be measurable because we must analyze the observations we make in a study (Step 4)—and to analyze observations, we must have defined the specific way in which

A population is a set of all individuals, items, or data of interest about which scientists will generalize. A sample is a set of selected individuals, items, or data taken from a population of interest.

Using Operational Definition 1, we predict that children in the Emoticon Group will choose more healthy food options than those in the No Emoticon Group. To test this prediction, we set up a two-group design to compare the number of healthy food choices between the two groups.

Using Operational Definition 2, we predict that children will choose more healthy food options when emoticons are added compared to when they are not added. To test this prediction, we set up a one-group design in which we take the difference in the number of healthy foods chosen with versus without the emoticons added. Selecting an appropriate research strategy and design is important, so Chapters 6 to 12 in this book are devoted to describing this step.

Data (plural) are measurements or observations that are typically numeric. A datum (singular) is a single measurement or observation, usually called a score or raw score.

The strongest method for communication, however, is through publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Written research reports often must conform to the style and formatting guidelines provided in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2009), also called the Publication Manual. The Publication Manual is a comprehensive guide for using ethics and reducing bias, writing manuscripts and research reports, and understanding the publication process. It is essential that you refer to this manual when choosing a method of communication.

The researchers call this strategy emolabeling, and it is one of the first efforts to develop a strategy that can effectively communicate information about health (and influence healthy food choices) to early literacy children.

The scientific process is cyclic, not linear; it is open to criticism and review.

Although not an exhaustive list, the five nonscientific ways of knowing introduced in this section are tenacity, intuition, authority, rationalism, and empiricism. Keep in mind that at some level, each of these methods can be used with the scientific method.

Tenacity is a method of knowing based largely on habit or superstition; it is a belief that exists simply because it has always been accepted.

A belief in superstitions, such as finding a penny heads up bringing good luck or a black cat crossing your path being bad luck, also reflects tenacity. Tenacity may also reflect tradition. The 9-month school calendar providing a 3-month summer vacation originated in the late 1800s to meet the needs of communities at the time (mostly due to heat, not farming). While the needs of our society have changed, the school calendar has not.

The disadvantage of using intuition as a sole method of knowing is that there is no definitive basis for the belief. Hence, without acting on the intuition, it is difficult to determine its accuracy.

Intuition also has some value in science in that researchers can use their intuition to some extent when they develop a research hypothesis, particularly when there is little to no information available concerning their area of interest. In science, however, the researchers’ intuition is then tested using the scientific method. Keep in mind that we use the scientific method to differentiate between hypotheses that do and do not accurately describe phenomena, regardless of how we initially developed our hypotheses. Hence, it is the scientific method, and not intuition, that ultimately determines what we know in science.

The disadvantage of using authority as a sole method of knowing is that, in many cases, there is little effort to challenge this type of knowledge, often leaving authoritative knowledge unchecked.

Like intuition, authority has value in science. Einstein’s general theory of relativity, for example, requires an understanding of mathematics shared by perhaps a few hundred scientists. The rest of us simply accept this theory as accurate based on the authority of the few scientists who tell us it is. Likewise, many scientists will selectively submit their research for publication in only the most authoritative journals—those with a reputation for being the most selective and publishing only the highest-quality research compared to other presumably less selective journals. In this way, authority is certainly valued to some extent in the scientific community.

Rationalism is any source of knowledge that requires the use of reasoning or logic.

behavior. For example, if a spouse is unfaithful to a partner, the partner may reason that the spouse does not love him or her; if a student receives a poor grade on a homework assignment, the professor may reason that the student did not put much effort into the assignment. Here, the spouse and professor rationalized the meaning of a behavior they observed—and in both cases, they could be wrong. This is a disadvantage of using rationalism as a sole method of knowing in that it often leads to erroneous conclusions.

Even some of the most rational ideas can be wrong. For example, it would be completely rational to believe that heavier objects fall at a faster rate than lighter objects. This was, in fact, the rational explanation for falling objects prior to the mid-1500s

until Galileo Galilei proposed a theory and showed evidence that refuted this view.

Empiricism is knowledge acquired through observation. This method of knowing reflects the adage “seeing is believing.” While making observations is essential when using the scientific method, it can be biased when used apart from the scientific method. In other words, not everyone experiences or observes the world in the same way—from this view, empiricism alone is fundamentally flawed.

One way that the scientific method handles this problem is to ensure that all variables observed in a study are operationally defined—defined in terms of how the observed variable is measured such that other researchers could observe that variable in the same way. An operational definition has the advantage of being more objective because it states exactly how the variable was observed or measured.

Many factors bias our perception of the behaviors and events we observe. The first among them is the fact that human perception can be biased. To illustrate, Figure 1.5 depicts the Poggendorff illusion, named after the physicist who discovered it in a drawing published by German astrophysicist Johann Zöllner in 1860. The rectangles in Parts A and B are the same, except that the rectangle in Part A is not transparent. The lines going through the rectangle in Part A appear to be continuous, but this

is an illusion. Viewing them through the transparent rectangle, we observe at once that they are not. There are many instances in which we do not see the world as it really is, many of which we still may not recognize or fully understand.

Human memory is also inherently biased. Many people are prone to forgetting and to ...

In science, we do not make observations for the sake of making observations. Instead, we make observations with the ultimate goal to describe, explain, predict, and control the behaviors and events we observe.

To understand the behaviors and events we study, we must describe or define them. Often, these descriptions are in the literature. We can even find descriptions for behaviors and events quite by accident, particularly for those that are not yet described in the literature or not fully understood. For example, a young boy named John Garcia had his first taste of licorice when he was 10 years old. Hours later, he became ill with the flu. Afterward, he no longer liked the taste of licorice, although he was fully aware that the licorice did not cause his illness. As a scientist, Garcia tried to describe his experience, which eventually led him to conduct a landmark study showing the first scientific evidence that we learn to dislike tastes associated with

illness, known as taste aversion learning (Garcia, Kimeldorf, & Koelling, 1955).

To understand the behaviors and events we study, we must also identify the conditions within which they operate. In other words, we identify what causes a behavior or event to occur. Identifying cause can be a challenging goal in that human behavior is complex and often caused by many factors in different situations. Suppose, for example, that we want to understand what makes people view someone as being competent, which we describe as the ability to successfully master some task or action. Some obvious causes for being viewed as

competent are someone’s rank or position at work, as well as education and income level. Less obvious, though, is that an individual will be viewed as more competent if he or she is simply more attractive (see Langlois et al., 2000). Imagine now how many less obvious factors exist but have not yet been considered. Explaining behavior is a cautious goal in science because there are so many variables to consider.

The ability to control behavior is important because teachers can use this knowledge to provide interventions that can help students learn and use knowledge to improve their lives. For example, Maynard, Kjellstrand, and Thompson (2014) used their knowledge of a variety of factors related to school completion and dropout prevention to implement a program for middle and high school students at risk for dropping out of school. Their work found that monitoring school attendance, disciplinary referrals, and academic performance and building relationships with students to problem-solve these issues led to greater academic achievement and attendance and a decrease in disciplinary referrals.

Basic research is an approach where researchers aim to understand the nature of behavior. Basic research is used to answer fundamental questions that address theoretical issues, typically regarding the mechanisms and processes of behavior. Whether there are practical applications for the outcomes in basic research is not as important as whether the research builds upon existing theory.

Applied research, on the other hand, is an approach in which researchers aim to answer questions concerning practical problems that require practical solutions. Topics of interest in applied research include issues related to obesity and health, traffic laws and safety, behavioral disorders, and drug addiction.

Researchers who conduct applied research focus on problems with immediate practical implications to apply their findings to problems that have the potential for immediate action.

While basic and applied research are very different in terms of the focus of study, we can use what is learned in theory (basic research) and apply it to practical situations (applied research), or we can test how practical solutions to a problem (applied research) fit with the theories we use to explain that problem (basic research).

Basic research is used to address theoretical questions regarding the mechanisms and processes of behavior; applied research is used to address questions that can lead to immediate solutions to practical problems.

Quantitative research uses the scientific method to record observations as numeric data. Most research conducted in the behavioral sciences is quantitative. Qualitative research uses the scientific method to make nonnumeric observations, from which conclusions are drawn without the use of statistical analysis.

Whereas in quantitative research, the researcher defines the variable of interest (e.g., attraction) and then makes observations to measure that variable, in qualitative research, the participants describe the variable of interest, from which researchers interpret and explain that variable.

For example, quantitative research can be used to determine how often and for how long (in minutes, on average) students study for an exam, whereas qualitative research can be used to characterize their study habits in terms of what they study, why they study it, and how they study. Each observation gives the researcher a bigger picture of how to characterize studying among students. In this way, both types of research can be effectively used to gauge a better understanding of the behaviors and events we observe.

However, sometimes knowledge can be presented as if it

is scientific, yet it is nonscience, often referred to as pseudoscience; that being said, all nonscience is not pseudoscience (Hansson, 2015; Mahner, 2007).

Pseudoscience is a set of procedures that are not scientific, and it is part of a system or set of beliefs that try to deceptively create the impression that the knowledge gained represents the “final ...