Introduction to EDER 603. 21 L03
Research Methodology in
Education
Hongxia Shan, PhD
Schedule
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Self-introduction
Introduction to the course
Introduction to research in education
Q and A
Self-introduction
 A few words about yourself, particularly your
professional backgrounds;
 Any experiences of research before;
 Your research interests;
 Your research questions if you have any;
 The research methodologies that you are considering
if you are at this stage.
Introduction to the course
Creswell, J. W. (2011). Educational Research: Planning,
Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative
Research, 4th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill
Prentice-Hall.
Reading schedule is at the end of the course syllabus.
Introduction to the course
 Goals
 Expectations and assignments
 Library resources
Goals of the course
 To introduce you to a range of research
methodologies;
 To interrogate the personal pre-judgements and
methodological positionings that frame your
questions, selection of methods, data collection, and
data analysis.
 To introduce you to the issues and challenges of
conducting ethical research.
Learning outcomes
 Formulate preliminary research questions in your interest areas;
 Develop critical understandings of different research
methodologies, and evaluate the strengths, weaknesses and
relevance of each methodology in education;
 Evaluate the relevance of educational research methodologies with
special consideration given to stated research questions and the
knowledge being sought;
 Develop a critical understanding of criteria of “good” research:
Reliability vs. Reasonableness, Validity vs. Viability, Predictability vs.
Practicality, Rigor vs. Relevance
 Develop a critical understanding of ethical considerations in
educational research, particularly with regard to the study related
to human subjects;
Class expectations and assignments
Class participation
 Learning media - discussion board;
 A minimum of three posts; demonstrate your
understanding of the readings and the topic of the
week;
 Evaluated not only by quantity but also by quality.
 Three days before a session ends, a collective learning
thread will be created where each group can bring their
questions and key issues for collective discussion.
Class Presentations
 All presentation materials should be posted by 9:00
pm Sunday night before your weeks start;
 Small group discussion are expected;
 Three days before the session ends (or by Friday), I
will have a collective learning thread created where
each discussion group, or the facilitators of the
sessions will bring key questions and issues that
emerged in your groups for our collective learning as
a class.
Peer work – review an educational
journal
 Due date: Jan. 28 - A one page handout to the class
submitted on Blackboard
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Feb. 01 – A 3-to-5 page written journal submitted
to the course instructor
 With your partner (randomly assigned to you), select,
analyze, and report on an educational research journal. The
principal intention here is to engage critically with the
manner in which journals contribute to the ways
‘acceptable claims’ must be formatted within a field.
Peer work – review an educational
journal
 Examine a minimum of 8 articles around one common research methodology to draw
conclusion around the research methodology around the following questions:
 Does it appear to be an accepted orientation towards research?
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Has this changed over time?
 Choose one article in which the research methodology chosen is particularly
compelling and examine it in detail. Consider the relevance of the research method
employed to the research questions posed, and start evaluating the method of data
collection, sample selection and size (if applicable), data analysis and presentation of
findings.
 Create a one-page handout for the class.
 Respond to the inquiries of your peer students re the methodology and journal article
you selected on blackboard.
 Write a 3 to 5 page summary re the methodology and submit it to the course
instructor.
 How can you perhaps get published.
Peer work – review an educational
journal
 What to include in the summary?
 What is the methodology that you reviewed?
 What is the philosophical foundation underpinning this methodology if this
is discussed in the articles you chose;
 What methods are commonly used for this methodology;
 Is this methodology an accepted orientation towards research? (The
strengths or limitations of the methodology);
 Refer to the article of your choice, evaluate the relevance of the
methodology and research methods to answer the research questions, the
methods of data collection, sample selection and size (if applicable), data
analysis and presentation of the findings;
 Discuss any ethical issues involved when using this methodology;
 Provide the reference of the 8 articles in APA style.
Presentation of a research
methodology
 In small groups, research, summarize, select
exemplars for, present on, and lead a discussion of a
prominent methodology in contemporary educational
research.
Class presentation
 Prepare a presentation as a PowerPoint document. In this document
 Define the research design/methodology you are dealing with;
 Define the key terms;
 Review the historical development of the research design and
methodology;
 Review the current types of research in this particular tradition;
 Discuss the kind of knowledge claims the research tradition makes;
 Discuss the kind of techniques commonly used in the research tradition;
 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the research tradition.
 Present some key references
 Post a typical example of studies using your choice of research design and
facilitate the class to explore research design issues, ethics and power
issues.
Class Presentation
 Post all presentation materials by 9:00 pm Sunday
night before your weeks start;
 Small group discussion are expected;
 Three days before the session ends (or by Friday), I
will have a collective learning thread created where
the facilitators of discussion will bring key questions
and issues that emerged in your groups for our
collective learning as a class.
Narrative situating and emerging
research commitments
 In this 10–15-page document, you will begin to situate
your interests, experiences, and expertise within one
of more of the research methodologies and methods
studied. This assignment will allow you the
opportunity to present the research questions you
have formulated and discuss the protocols relevant to
your study.
Narrative situating and emerging
research commitments
 You are required to
 (1) examine the sorts of research interests that you
currently have;
 (2) examine the methodological considerations that
accompany that interest;
 (3) develop preliminary research questions and examine
not only how these questions might be answered, but of
the complexities of finding answers;
 (4) the theoretical and ethical considerations that might
arise in pursuit of greater understanding of that interest.
Library resources
 See library information on blackboard
 For more information, please see
https://elluminate.ucalgary.ca/play_recording.html?reco
rdingId=1276147943134_1321555226793
(you can choose to start from 33 mins after the session
starts)
Education journals
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Journal of educational research;
The journal of experimental education;
The journal of applied measurement;
The journal of learning disabilities;
International education journal;
Journal of teacher education;
International journal of lifelong learning;
Educational leadership
Adult Education Quarterly
…..
Any questions about the course or course assignment?
What is education research
 Research is organized, systematic, rigorous, and
methodological inquiry that seeks to answer wellframed questions.
 Research designs are plans and procedures for
research that span the decisions from broad
assumptions to detailed methods of data collection
and data analysis. - it is the major body of your
research proposal.
What is educational research
 Contrast research and ordinary experiences:
 In our daily experiences, we all note patterns and
make generalizations;
 Researchers may ask the same question, but use
organized, systematic, rigorous and methodological
ways to do so;
 One of the hallmarks of good research is
disconfirmability. In good research, the findings can
surprise you.
Why do we conduct research
 Answer a question;
 Understand patterns and changes;
 Establish relationship;
 Predict for the future;
 Evaluate programs;
 Test/build/modify theories;
 Inform policies, practices, and actions;
….
Ethical issues to consider
 Researchers need to protect their research
participants, promote the integrity of research; and
guard against misconduct and impropriety.
Ethical issues to consider
 National associations have their codes of ethics. For
instance,
 Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research
Involving Humans
http://www.pre.ethics.gc.ca/english/policystatement/introduc
tion.cfm
 The American Educational Research Association Ethical
Standards of the American Educational Research Association
www.aera.net
 Universities have ethics reviews for all research projects
conducted by faculty and students.
 University of Calgary http://www.ucalgary.ca/research/cfreb
Literature review
 Determine whether the topic is worthy studying;
 Provides insights into ways in which the researcher
can limit the scope to a needed area of inquiry;
 Determine if your study is innovative or needed, or
how your study can be innovative and contribute to
knowledge building;
Steps in literature review
 Identifying key words which may emerge when exploring a
topic;
 Search for articles and books (ERIC, Proquest, Google Scholar);
 Locate a number of articles, browse them, produce annotated
bibliography – using APA reference style for educational
research, and identify those articles central to your topic;
 Develop a literature map: virtual picture of groupings of the
literature on the topic;
 Draft summaries of the most relevant articles;
 Assemble the literature review, structuring it thematically or
organizing it by important concepts.
Questions and Answers