Module_3

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// **Overview of the Research Process** //
When we start to conduct research, we need to provide the background information, address the research problem and significance, present the purpose of the research, and state the research questions or hypothesis. The background information, problem statement, and significance will tell readers why the research is a worthy endeavor. The purpose and objectives, research questions or hypothesis will inform your readers what is being researched. It is also essential to make sure that the research is ethically researchable. In this module, we are going to discuss the above points one by one. **//Objectives//** In this module you will learn the following concepts: · Background of the Study · Statement of the Problem (Knowledge Gap) · Significance of the Study · Research Purpose and Objectives · Research Questions · Hypotheses (if quantitative) · Definitions of Terms and/or Variables · Ethical concerns (Note that although not necessarily labeled or ordered as such, most research papers in any field should contain the above components.)

//Background of the Study//
Background setting is where the research idea is originated. For example our research ideas can come from personal experience (e.g., **//blood donor return rate//**), contemporary event (e.g., **//patriotic education after 9-11//**), policy movement (e.g., **//state-mandated testing//**), research finding (e.g., **//breakfast boosts GPA//**, **//FCAT//**) experience, or call for proposal (e.g., **//OERI, ODE, NSF, NIH//**). Whatever prompted the study, it must be substantiated by pertinent studies (e.g., **//There has been a steady increase of teacher turn-over rate in the past twenty years//**//).//

**//Statement of the Problem//**
The Problem Statement delineates the //knowledge gap// existing in the current body of research literature, something unknown and waiting to be answered, and/or something required to be done in the present study to resolve a problem or issue in society. It must logically lead to the research purpose.
 * // Examples of knowledge gap //** : a never-been-researched area, an inconclusive finding, or an inappropriate methodology.

**//Significance of the Study//**
The significance statement usually reinstates the importance and impact of filling the knowledge gap. It often appears after the Problem Statement, but sometimes also after the Research Questions. It is concerned with **// substantive significance //** as opposed to **// statistical significance //****//. //** Substantive significance refers to its potential contribution to the field; statistical significance refers to confidence level or error probability of the conclusion.

//** Purpose and Objectives **//
· Research purpose is a narrative statement describing the overall research goal. This is the single most important statement in the entire paper. o Should clearly delineate main focus of research o Must directly address the problems identified · Research objectives are specific goals the study seeks to accomplish. o Usually appear as an itemized list o Should be specific enough to lead to researchable questions Example: **// The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teacher attitudes about war play and student behaviors in the preschool classroom. Specifically, this study aims to achieve two objectives: (a) to find out if students in war-play-facilitating classrooms display more hostile behaviors, and (b) if this impact differs among male and female students. //**

**// Research Questions //**
Research questions delineate the research objectives and problems. **//In research we always collect information (data) to answer our research questions.//** When the research questions are answered, our research objectives are obtained, and research purposes are reached.

**// Guidelines for Researchable Questions //**
· **// Significant //** (worthy of investigation) //** Ex: Is praise more effective than punishment in improving learning ** **?** (comments: according to the literature, the __research has been done,__ so it is __not worthy__ to investigate it) // · **// Specific //** (operational definition and specific evidence required) //(comments: the __question is hard to answer__ because there are too many ways to improve school accountability, so it __needs to be specified__)// · **// Feasible //** (pragmatic or philosophical constraints) //(Comments: different teaching methods may be effective to different student bodies, so it is __not a feasible question__)// · **// Ethical //** (harm, consent, deception, confidentiality) //(Comments: posting grades will have the __risk of harming__ students who are at the low end, this would __unethical research__)//
 * // Ex: //****// How can we improve school accountability //****// ? //**
 * // Ex: //****// What is the best way to teach grammar //****// ? //**
 * // Ex: //****// Does posting grades with names boost student achievement //****// ? //**

**// From Background to Questions //**
The following examples are for the background, problems, significance, purpose and objectives, and research questions for a study about school accountability. · **// Background //**** : ** No Child Left Behind Act and school accountability · **// Problems //**** : ** Influence of demographic (e.g., SES) and contextual (e.g., funding) variables on student performance and credibility of teacher-reported data · **// Significance //**** : ** Excellence and equity in education · **// Purpose and Objectives //**** : ** To make credible and fair comparisons among schools. More specifically; o (a) to examine the reliability and validity of teacher observation data; and o (b) to compare school accountability by adjusting for demographic and contextual variables. · **// Research Questions //**** : ** o (a) How does teacher observation data correlate with performance data? o (b) Do differences in school performance exist after controlling for demographic and contextual variables?

// **Statistical Hypothesis** //
· It identifies key terms (variables) of interest. · It predicts possible research outcomes (changing the research question from interrogative to affirmative). · It is subject to rejection or acceptance based on evidence. · It should maintain a neutral and objective tone in stating the hypothesis. · We use statistical testing on viability of hypothesis (i.e., how much confidence or the probability of making a false conclusion).
 * //Statistical hypothesis//** is an alternative way to state **//the research questions//**; however, it usually pertains to quantitative research only. In the hypothesis statement, we usually assume the existence of some research situations. Specifically, statistical hypothesis has the following **characteristics**:

**// Null hypothesis vs. alternative hypothesis //**
A null hypothesis is usually stating that differences do not exist, while an alternative hypothesis is stating that difference do exist. Usually, in research, we only need to one of them, but not both null hypothesis and alternative hypothesis. The following examples will help you to understand how to write a null hypothesis and an alternative hypothesis.
 * // Example 1. //**
 * Null hypothesis**: There is no difference between the students' scores in the Research Method course taught through online verses the face-to-face class.
 * Alternative hypothesis**: There is a difference in the scores in the Research Method course between the students taught through online verses the face-to-face class.
 * // Example 2. //**
 * Null hypothesis**: Students taught in the face-to-face class will not have higher scores than students taught in the online class.
 * Alternative hypothesis**: Students taught in the face-to-face class will have higher scores than students taught in the online class.

**// Directional vs. Non-directional hypothesis //**
A hypothesis also can be classified into directional vs. nondirectional hypothesis. As you can tell from the words themselves, a hypothesis could give some leading direction or not have any directions, such as the following examples.
 * Directional hypothesis ** : Students taught in the face-to-face class will have higher scores than students taught in the online class.
 * Non-directional hypothesis**: There will be no difference in the scores in the Research Method course between the students taught through online verses the face-to-face class.

**// Variables //**
A variable refers to a key term central to the research purpose that varies across subjects. Variables usually appear in the research questions or hypothesis. Such as in the following research question, How does teacher observation data correlate with student performance data? There are two variables, one is **teacher observation**, and the other is **student performance**. In your data analysis, you will try to find the relationship between the two variables so that you can answer your research questions.

** //Types of Variables// **
· Quantitative (e.g., test scores) vs. qualitative (e.g., gender) · Continuous vs. categorical (e.g., annual income vs. Social Economic Status) · Independent vs. dependent (e.g., birth order vs. personality) · Manipulated (cause) vs. outcome (effect) (e.g., teaching method vs. student achievement) · Extraneous vs. controlled (e.g., anxiety vs. gender) (For more information about variables please read Chapter Three in the Textbook. The Textbook was well written with numerous interesting examples. You are sure to get useful information from the textbook if you read it. )

When we conduct research with human subjects, we have to consider the risk of harm to the research participants. This concern usually refers to research ethics. The risk of harm usually include physical and mental, minor and major, short-term and long-term, immediate and delayed, temporary or lasting. To avoid the risk of harming a person or child, we usually need to obtain consent from the participants in order to keep our research subjects informed, voluntary, undeceived, and provide a clear option for withdrawal from the study. Minors 7-17 of age need both a parental consent form and an accent form. We also need to keep identities of the participants c//onfidential// by using anonymity, a secured access system for data storage, by removing personal identifiers when results of the study are made public, and to inform participants of any possible exceptions. We also need to avoid deception which means not unnecessarily withholding information from participants or not notifying participants when they are involved in a research study.

**// Research Misconduct //**
Congress created the Commission on Research Integrity in 1993 in response to continuing controversy concerning the apparent inability of the scientific community and the Federal Government to deal adequately with misconduct in scientific research. The Office of Research Integrity defines misconduct as the fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results. (a) __Fabrication__ is making up data or results and recording or reporting them. (b) __Falsification__ is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research (c) __Plagiarism__ is the appropriation of another person's ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit. (d) Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion. There are other ethical considerations when conducting research that may apply to individual studies such as disclosing possible conflicts of interest (where the researcher may obtain a financial benefit related to the outcome of the study), proper care and use of laboratory animals, and if applicable the appropriate use of research grant funds. Researchers must be familiar and follow all the written policies/procedures and federal regulations available at each research institution.

**// Resources for Research Ethics //**
· ** APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct ( ** **[|www.apa.org/ethics/code.html]** ** ) ** · ** UCF Institutional Review Board ( ****[]**** ) ** Other Research Ethics related resources: · ** Office of Research Integrity ( ****[]**** ) ** · ** Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) which is to employ self-regulation to ensure the ethical and sensitive care and use of animals in research, teaching and testing ** **[]**
 * //To do any kind of research involving human subjects//**, you must follow the Ethical Principles and get the approval of the **UCF Institutional Review Board** as a faculty member or graduate student at UCF. For more information, please check the following links.

Go to the textbook website to do the multiple choice activities as a self assessment activity. The link is as follows: **[]**

See Module 2 - 2.7 - Activities for a detailed description of this posting assignment. This will be the research question(s) for your research proposal paper. Each weekly posting will eventually be incorporated into your final research proposal at the end of the course. Some of you may be confused about the difference between a research paper and a research proposal. A research proposal differs from a research paper which is written "about" a topic. In this course you will develop a research proposal that proposes how you or your group intend to conduct an experiment or a specific qualitative study to answer your research question(s). Therefore, when you write your question try to imagine how you might implement a research study of your own to answer the question. Questions to ask when formulating your research question(s): 1. What population of students or teachers will you be gathering your data ( age, content area, etc.)? (Chap 6-Sampling) 2. What types of instruments will you be using to gather your data or will you have access to student, teacher, or parent data that has already been collected and is available for your use (instruments could include content assessment tests, attitude or motivation types of assessment, questionnaires, interviews, observations, etc.)? (Chapters 7 -8)
 * Remember ** you are going to write a Research Proposal and ** will not be implementing the actual research study ** . This gives you the leeway to "dream up" a good research design without the limitations of having to spend the time and effort coordinating the study, obtaining IRB and school district approvals, gathering consents from parents and children, paying for data gathering instruments and software, or conducting the data analysis.