Research Methods Chapter 1

Question 1

A summary of what is in an article; a brief description of the essential characteristics of the study

Answer 1

Abstract

Question 2

applied research focused on solving practitioners’ local problems

Answer 2

Action research

Question 3

research focused on answering practical questions to provide relatively immediate solutions

Answer 3

Applied research

Question 4

research aimed at generating fundamental knowledge and theoretical understanding about basic human and other natural processes

Answer 4

Basic research

Question 5

a top-down or theory-testing approach to research

Answer 5

Confirmatory method

Question 6

the property that statements and theories should be testable and refutable

Answer 6

Criterion of falsifiability

Question 7

the process of drawing a conclusion that is necessarily true if the premises are true

Answer 7

Deductive reasoning

Question 8

attempting to describe the characteristics of a phenomenon

Answer 8

Description

Question 9

a statement based on observation, experiment, or experience

Answer 9

Empirical statement

Question 10

the idea that knowledge comes from experience

Answer 10

Empiricism

Question 11

the theory of knowledge and its justification; the branch of philosophy dealing with knowledge and its justification

Answer 11

Epistemology

Question 12

determining the worth, merit, or quality of an evaluation object

Answer 12

Evaluation

Question 13

attempting to show how and why a phenomenon operates as it does

Answer 13

Explanation

Question 14

attempting to generate ideas about phenomena

Answer 14

Exploration

Question 15

a bottom-up or theory-generation approach to research

Answer 15

Exploratory method

Question 16

evaluation focused on improving the evaluation object

Answer 16

Formative evaluation

Question 17

a prediction or educated guess; the formal statement of the researcher’s prediction of the relationship that exists among the variables under investigation

Answer 17

Hypothesis

Question 18

the process of drawing a conclusion that is “probably” true

Answer 18

Inductive reasoning

Question 19

Five Areas of Research

Answer 19

Basic research, applied research, action research, evaluation research, and orientation research

Question 20

Why is it important that both basic and applied research be done?

Answer 20

Basic research helps provide a solid foundation of reliable knowledge on which future research can be built, and applied research helps answer “real world” or practical questions. Basic and applied research inform each other. Obviously, both of these are important.

Question 21

The collection and analysis of information on the world of education so as to understand it and explain it better.

Answer 21

Educational research

Question 22

First coined the phrase action research

Answer 22

Kurt Lewin

Question 23

AERA

Answer 23

American Educational Research Association

Question 24

What is the difference between formative and summative evaluation?

Answer 24

Formative evaluation is used for the purpose of improving an evaluation object. Summative evaluation is used for the purpose of making judgments about the overall effectiveness of an evaluation object and determining whether a program should be continued.

Question 25

Evaluation: Is there a need for this type of program?

Answer 25

Needs Assessment

Question 26

Evaluation: Is this program conceptualized in a way that it should work?

Answer 26

Theory Assessment

Question 27

Evaluation: Was this program implemented properly and according to the program plan?

Answer 27

Implementation assessment

Question 28

Evaluation: Did this program have an impact on its intended targets?

Answer 28

Impact assessment

Question 29

Evaluation: Is this program cost effective?

Answer 29

Efficiency assessment

Question 30

What are the different sources of knowledge? Which ones are especially important for educational researchers?

Answer 30

(a) Experience (i.e., empiricism) (b) Expert opinion (c) Reasoning (i.e., rationalism) Educational researchers use a mixture of both empiricism and rationalism. Empiricism involves collecting data and learning from the data, and rationalism involves reasoning and thinking about the concepts and the results and developing theories to organize one’s explanations.

Question 31

What is the key difference between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning?

Answer 31

Inductive reasoning is results in conclusions that are “probably” true. Deductive reasoning provides conclusions that are necessarily true IF the premises are true

Question 32

attempting to apply research to make certain outcomes occur

Answer 32

Influence

Question 33

research explicitly done for the purpose of advancing an ideological position or orientation

Answer 33

Orientational research

Question 34

attempting to predict or forecast a phenomenon

Answer 34

Prediction

Question 35

the philosophical idea that empirical research provides evidence, not proof

Answer 35

Principle of evidence

Question 36

stating what is likely to occur, not what will necessarily occur

Answer 36

Probabilistic

Question 37

the future might not resemble the past

Answer 37

Problem of induction

Question 38

individual-level factors or variables

Answer 38

Psychological factors

Question 39

Orientational research is typically called ______

Answer 39

Critical theory research

Question 40

a researcher who focuses on exploration, description, and understanding of subjective meanings and sometimes the generation and construction of theories using qualitative data

Answer 40

Qualitative researcher

Question 41

a researcher who focuses on testing theories and hypotheses using quantitative data to see if they are confirmed or not

Answer 41

Quantitative researcher

Question 42

the philosophical idea that reason is the primary source of knowledge

Answer 42

Rationalism

Question 43

research examining the same variables with different people

Answer 43

Replication

Question 44

a set of published research studies on a particular topic

Answer 44

Research literature

Question 45

preferring the most simple theory that works

Answer 45

Rule of parsimony

Question 46

an approach for the generation of knowledge

Answer 46

Science

Question 47

factors relating individuals to other individuals and to social groups

Answer 47

Social psychological factors

Question 48

group- and society-level factors

Answer 48

Sociological factors

Question 49

Five Major Objectives of Educational Research

Answer 49

``` Exploration. Description. Explanation. Prediction. Influence. ```

Question 50

evaluation focused on determining the overall effectiveness and usefulness of the evaluation object

Answer 50

Summative evaluation

Question 51

an explanation or explanatory system that discusses how a phenomenon operates and why it operates as it does

Answer 51

Theory