Lecture 2: Overview of Research Flashcards
why is understanding how knowledge in a field is generated important?
it gives us the skills to critique an existing body of literature
why is understanding the process of research important?
provides the background needed to answer questions that no one knowns the answer to yet
why do we engage in research?
to advance the state of the art, and/or expanding the knowledge in the field
- advance practice of kinesiology
how do facts become known as truths?
- sometimes experiences
- information gathered from outside sources (ex. professors)
are new discoveries made all the time?
yes
kinesiology refers to the study of?
movement
is kinesiology a research intensive discipline?
yes
what is “science”?
discovery of knowledge
what is “research”?
a specific method used to discover knowledge
- aka scientific method
what are the three general approaches to research as stated by Creswell in 2014?
- quantitative
- qualitative
- mixed methods (engage the other two)
what are the two meanings of “research”?
- verb: to follow a logical process that uses concepts, principles, and techniques to produce knowledge
- noun: a collection of information representing what we know about a particular topic
any questions we ask in a research method needs to be ________.
falsifiable: able to be proven false
where can research be found?
- academic and scholarly journals
- research monographs
- textbooks
- journals / newspapers / magazines
- corporate research reports
- legislative actions and policy actions
- databases
what is peer review?
- submit manuscript to journal interested in, journal would send copies of paper out to 2-4 researchers in the field in other places around the world, they will critique.
what is critique?
suggestions or recommendations for improving
why do researchers conduct research?
- expand the body of knowledge
- establish professional credentials
- inform legal and policy decisions
- address social problems
- develop new products, services or solutions
- advance social and political agendas
- improve professional practice
when is research important?
- to respond to critical social problems
- allocate limited resources wisely
- base policy decisions on evidence rather than ideology
what is the foundation upon which we expand the body of knowledge?
research
what are the characteristics of research?
- generated by a specific question, hypothesis or problem
- follows a specific plan or procedure - the research process
- it is empirical - it reaches conclusions based on evidence
- it requires a reasoned argument to support conclusions
- it is continual- it is based on previous knowledge and may develop further research questions
why do research?
- investigate existing situation or problem
- to provide solutions to a problem
- to explore and analyze more general issues
- to construct or create a new procedure or system
- to explain a new phenomenon
- to generate new knowledge
what is used for quantitative research?
- researchers attempt to be as objective as possible
- typically use large sample sizes
- focus heavily on measurement of variables
- use statistics for data analysis
what is used for qualitative research?
- data are typically generated in the participants natural settings
- themes are generated from the data
- the researcher is an integral part of the research process
- sample sizes tend to be much smaller than in quantitative research
Sources of data in qualitative research include what?
Open-ended interviews, direct observations, written documents and art-based methods
Which research method is well-suited to understanding peoples meanings of experience?
Qualitative Research
Which research method is suited to questions related to the testing of theory, status on variables, differences among groups, and relationships among variables?
Quantitative Research
In quantitative research, why is validity fundamental?
So that any conclusions that are made are accurate and can be applied to populations beyond the study sample
