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Chapter 5 Interpreting & Summarizing Published Research

Introduction to Educational Research (5th ed.) Craig A. Mertler & C.M. Charles. Chapter 5 Interpreting & Summarizing Published Research. Reading Research Reports. Skim to quickly examine nature of study and conclusions Begin with abstracts, summaries Title and introductions

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Chapter 5 Interpreting & Summarizing Published Research

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  1. Introduction to Educational Research (5th ed.) Craig A. Mertler & C.M. Charles Chapter 5 Interpreting & Summarizing Published Research

  2. Reading Research Reports • Skim to quickly examine nature of study and conclusions • Begin with abstracts, summaries • Title and introductions • Scan Findings, Conclusions, and Discussion • Summarize the report; include the following: • Topic • Subjects • Basic methods • Results • Complete bibliographic citation

  3. Interpreting Statistical Information • Three types of research questions/findings: • Status—describes people, places, etc. as they currently exist • Comparison—examines differences between two or more groups • Covarying relationships—examination of relationships that will permit predictions

  4. Interpreting Statistical Information (cont’d.) • Status reports (descriptive, qualitative research): • Often make use of raw data • Utilize statistics that indicate: • Typicality (mean, median, mode) • Spread or diversity (range, standard deviation) • Conversion or transformation (z-scores, percentile ranks, grade equivalents, etc.)

  5. Interpreting Statistical Information (cont’d.) • Comparison reports (evaluation, causal-comparative, experimental research): • Utilize statistics including: • Chi-square (c2)—when data are counts or categories; used to determine if difference exists between two groups • t-Test—when measures are scores; used to determine whether difference exists between two groups based on means • Analysis of variance or ANOVA (F-ratio)—when measures are scores; used to determine whether differences exist between three or more groups based on variability of scores about the means

  6. Interpreting Statistical Information (cont’d.) • Correlational reports (correlational research): • Utilize statistics including: • Pearson correlation coefficient (r)—when measures are scores; used to determine degree of relationship between variables, ranging from -1.00 to +1.00 • Many other additional measures of correlation exist

  7. The Concept of (Statistical) Significance • Significant—whether or not a topic is worthy of investigation • Significance—a.k.a., “statistical significance;” interpreted as “it is very likely that the findings we observed in the sample also exist in the population” • Alpha level (a) determines the likelihood, or probability • Traditional values are .05 & .01

  8. Applying Technology… Web sites to aid in writing a literature review • Writing a Literature Review in the Health Sciences and Social Work (http://www.utoronto.ca/hswriting/lit-review.htm) • Purdue University Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu) • Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association (http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html)

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