Welcome To EDP 656: Methodology of Ed Research

1. Welcome To EDP 656:Methodology of Ed Research Dr. Kelly Bradley

2. On your card • Name • Major, Advisor and/or current position • Why are you here? • Contact Information • Fun fact 

3. Bill is 4 John is 1 Jamie is 6

4. Hello I am… • Name? • Major, Advisor? • Why are you here? • Fun fact?

5. Syllabi Goals for the course My expectations Questions? Course Content What is research? Research methods are used for… Why study educational research? Questions of the Day

6. Why study educational research? Because it is required • To become research literate • Our society is driven by research • Improve critical thinking skills • To learn how to critique published research • To learn how to conduct research of your own

7. Research methods are used for… Research methods are most often used for 2 major purposes: • To establish facts • Incidence of violence on high school campuses • Number of American adults over 18 engaging in physical exercise • To test (and establish) ‘causal’ explanations for established facts • Students who engage in explosive violence on high school campuses have been bullied at that school. b. Men more often engage in physical exercise than women.

8. What is research? The word ‘research’ is derived from the Latin word meaning “to know”

9. Research is about answering questions, such as: • What do I want to know? • How do I want to gain knowledge? • Why do I want to know it?

10. Research can be seen as: • A group of assumptions; a strategy for knowledge; a belief system about evidence • An established body of evidence • A collection of methods, tools, and techniques • A purposeful or functional activity • A process carried on by people

11. Components of research as a belief system • Nature is orderly and regular • We can know nature 3. Knowledge is better than ignorance 4. All natural phenomena have natural causes • Nothing is self evident, but must be verified or falsified 6. Knowledge is derived from observation of nature

12. An established body of knowledge, research is theaccumulation of evidence by researchers over time. It provides a background against which claims forknowledge can be evaluated, and provides a way forresearchers to communicate and compare their findings.

13. Research as a collection of methods, tools, andtechniques forms the basis for most research textsand courses in research; its methods are what set it apart from other ways of acquiring knowledge.

14. As a purposeful or functional activity, researchmust justify the resources it consumes to accomplish its purposes.

15. When research is seen as a process carried on by people, questions can be asked: • Where do research topics come from? • Where is research done? • Who does research? • Who uses research? • How is it shared? • How is it funded?

16. Five objectives: • Exploration • Generate ideas about something • Description • Describe the characteristics of something • Explanation • Show how and why a phenomenon operates as it does • causality and explanation usually go hand in hand • Prediction • Making accurate predications • Influence • Application of research results to impact the world

17. Research might be classified into the following categories: • Exploratory research • Descriptive research • Explanatory research • Predictive research

18. Good Luck… Enjoy the exploration!