Fluent Essays

Read Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. Then go through the power point presentation.Brainstorming) arrange a brainstorming session to identify various problems around you. You should list atleast 3 problems and enumerate it in (a), (b), (c),.. format. A short description of the problem is good enough. The problem can be from any field of interest.1) Near the end of Chapter 2 the authors of your textbook include a relatively lengthy section on writing the research report. Why is it important that research results are carefully written up and made available to the scientific community?2) Why is it important that the researcher articulate, as clearly as possible, all assumptions that affect the research problem?3) Your textbook authors recommend explicitly defining any term that might be misunderstood by someone reading the research proposal.If the research proposal is being written chiefly for use and review by researchers, why is such a step necessary?4) Daphne has been a member of a research team studying interpersonal aggression among preschoolers for more than a year. In that time, her team has repeatedly employed a consistent set of techniques and procedures to study preschoolers as they interact in a number of settings. The procedures revolve around volunteer mothers bringing their children to the university child development lab for a “play session” that is the basis of the formal observations. Settings they have studied so far include: the university pre-school, affluent local day-care centers, and a pre-kindergarten program being offered in the neighborhood school district. All of these settings were fairly racially homogenous. Daphne has just learned that a friend of a friend can help her gain research access, in the near future, to preschoolers in an unusually racially diverse though impoverished preschool setting. Daphne decides she has no time to prepare a formal research proposal before embarking on the study. “Besides,” she thinks, “this study should go just like all the others we’ve done.” Question: Is Daphne leaving herself open to problems in this situation, or is she safe moving ahead with no formal proposal, given how familiar she is with the study techniques and procedures? chapter_2.pptx chapter_3.pptx Unformatted Attachment Preview Chapter Two Tools of Research Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 1 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Research Tool vs Research Methodology • Research Tool: A specific mechanism or strategy the researcher uses to collect, manipulate, or interpret data. • Research Methodology: The general approach the researcher takes in carrying out the research project. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 2 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Six General Tools of Research 1. The library and its resources 2. The computer and its software 3. Measurement techniques 4. Statistics 5. The human mind 6. Language Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 3 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Library and Its Resources As a Tool of Research •The library of the quiet past •The library of the stormy present Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 4 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. How to Access Information Quickly and Efficiently • Library Catalogs • Indexes and Abstracts • Reference Librarian • Library Shelves Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 5 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Principle Systems for Classification of Knowledge • Dewey decimal system: Classifies knowledge according to 10 basic areas of human knowledge, each divided decimally. The principle classification system in public libraries and probably the most generally accepted system worldwide. • Library of Congress system: Classifies knowledge by alphabetical categories. The principle classification system used in college and university libraries. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 6 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Computer and Its Software As a Tool of Research • World Wide Web (WWW) - Web pages URL (Uniform Resource Locator) Web browser Web link • Electronic Mail • News - list servers Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 7 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Guidelines: Getting Started on E-mail 1. Get an e-mail account on a computer system. 2. Find out how to access the system and obtain the needed software to do so. 3. Find the e-mail addresses of people you wish to contact. 4. Connect to the computer system that services your e-mail account and send a short message to a friend. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 8 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Measurement as a Tool of Research Measurement: limiting the data of any phenomenon—substantial or insubstantial— so that those data may be interpreted and, ultimately, compared to a particular qualitative or quantitative standard. * Substantial measurements = those things being measured that have physical substance. * Insubstantial measurements = exist only as concepts, ideas, opinions, feelings, or other intangible entities. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 9 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Four Scales of Measurement: • Nominal • Ordinal • Interval • Ratio Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 10 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Nominal Scale of Measurement • Measures data by assigning names to them • Things can be measured nominally in an infinite number of ways • Simplistic • Divides data into discrete categories • Statistical procedures = mode, percentage, chi-square test Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 11 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Ordinal Scale of Measurement • Think in terms of symbols (>; <) • Allows data to be rank-ordered • Statistical procedures = median, percentile rank, Spearman’s rank-order correlation Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 12 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Interval Scale of Measurement • Has equal units of measurement • Zero point established arbitrarily • Rating scales, such as surveys, assumed to fall on interval scales • Statistical procedures = means, standard deviations, Pearson product moment correlations Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 13 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Ratio Scale of Measurement • Characterized by equal measurement units (similar to an interval scale) • Has an absolute zero point (0 = total absence of the quality being measured) • Can express values in terms of multiples and fractional parts • Ratios are true ratios (ex. Yardstick) • Relatively rare outside the physical sciences Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 14 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Summary of the Four Scales of Measurement: • Nominal scale: One object is different from another. • Ordinal scale: One object is bigger or better or more of anything than another. • Interval scale: One object is so many units (degrees, inches) more than another. • Ratio scale: One object is so many times as big or bright or tall or heavy as another. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 15 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Validity and Reliability of Measurement • Validity = the extent to which a measurement instrument measures what it is intended to measure. • Reliability = the consistency with which a measurement instrument yields a certain result when the entity being measured hasn’t changed. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 16 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Statistics as a Tool of Research • Principle Functions of Statistics: 1. describe the data, and 2. draw inferences from the data • Descriptive Statistics summarize the general nature of the data obtained. • Inferential Statistics help the researcher make decisions about the data. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 17 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Human Mind as a Tool of Research • Critical Thinking • Deductive Logic • Inductive Reasoning • The Scientific Method • Theory Building Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 18 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Critical Thinking = evaluating arguments in terms of their accuracy and worth. May take a variety of forms: - verbal reasoning argument analysis decision making critical analysis of prior research Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 19 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Deductive Logic: begins with one or more premises—statements or assumptions that the researcher initially takes to be true; valuable for generating research hypotheses and testing theories. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 20 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Inductive Reasoning: begins with an observation of a specific event to draw conclusions about entire classes of objects or events (i.e., observe a sample and then draw conclusions about the population from which the sample has been taken). Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 21 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Scientific Method: the means whereby insight into the unknown is sought by 1. identifying a problem that defines the goal of one’s quest; 2. positing a hypothesis that, if confirmed, resolves the problem; 3. gathering data relevant to the hypothesis; and 4. analyzing and interpreting the data to see whether they support the hypothesis and resolve the research question. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 22 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Theory Building: is based on facts rather than naïve beliefs and subjective impressions about the world: - involves thinking actively and intentionally about the phenomena at hand, - yields hypotheses to be tested, - tends to be a slow process, - usually involves collaboration with others. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 23 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Language as a Tool of Research • Language enables effective thinking. • Words enhance thinking by: - reducing the world’s complexity, - allowing abstraction of the environment, - enhancing the power of thought, - facilitating generalization and inference drawing in new situations. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 24 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Communicating Effectively Through Writing •Say exactly what you mean. •Keep your primary objective in mind at all times. •Provide an overview of what you will be discussing. •Organize ideas into general and more specific categories by using headings and subheadings. •Use transitional phrases, sentences, or paragraphs to help readers follow your train of thought. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 25 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Communicating Effectively Through Writing, continued • • • • • Use concrete examples to make abstract ideas more understandable. Use appropriate punctuation. Use figures and tables for clarification. At the end of chapters and major sections, summarize what you’ve said. Anticipate having to write multiple drafts. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 26 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. CHAPTER THREE The Problem: The Heart of the Research Process Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 1 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. FINDING RESEARCH PROJECTS Research projects can be one of two types: 1. Basic research – intended to enhance basic knowledge about the physical, biological, psychological, or social world or to shed light on historical, cultural, or aesthetic phenomena. 2. Applied research – intended to address issues that have immediate relevance to current practices, procedures, and policies; intended to human decision making about practical problems; occasionally address questions in one’s immediate work environment (action research). Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 2 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Criteria for Identification of a Suitable Research Problem 1. The research problem should address an important question so that the answer will make a difference. 2. The research problem should advance the frontiers of knowledge by leading to new ways of thinking, suggesting possible applications, or paving the way for further research in the field. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 3 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Situations to Avoid When Considering A Research Problem • Research projects should not be a ruse for achieving self-enlightenment. • A problem whose sole purpose is to compare two sets of data is not a suitable research problem. • Calculating a correlation coefficient between two sets of data to show a relationship between them is not acceptable as a problem for research. • Problems that result in a yes or no answer are not suitable problems for research. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 4 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Finding a Legitimate Research Problem 1. Look around you. 2. Read the literature. 3. Attend professional conferences. 4. Seek the advice of experts. 5. Choose a topic that intrigues and motivates you. 6. Choose a topic that others will find interesting and worthy of attention. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 5 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Guidelines: Stating the Research Problem 1. State the problem clearly and completely. 2. Think through the feasibility of the project that the problem implies. 3. Say precisely what you mean. - Absolute honesty and integrity are the rule! 4. State the problem in a way that reflects an open mind about its solution. 5. Edit your work. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 6 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Dividing the Research Problem Into Subproblems Subproblem: the subparts of the main problem that are an integral part of the main problem. vs. Pseudo-subproblems: procedural issues that involve decisions that must be made before Resolving the research problem and its subproblems. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 7 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Characteristics of Subproblems 1. Each subproblem should be a completely researchable unit. 2. Each subproblem must be clearly tied to the interpretation of the data. 3. The subproblems must add up to the totality of the problem. 4. Subproblems should be small in number. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 8 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Identifying Subproblems • Take a paper-and-pencil approach. • Use brainstorming software, such as: - Inspiration - BrainStorm - MindJet Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 9 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Further Delineation of the Problem • State the hypotheses and/or research questions. • Delimit the research. • Define the terms. • State the assumptions. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 10 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. State the Hypothesis and/or Research Questions • Hypotheses are essential to experimental research; research questions are more common in qualitative research. • Both hypotheses and research questions provide guidance for the kind of data that should be collected. • Both hypotheses and research questions suggest how data should be analyzed and interpreted. • Hypotheses and research questions may originate in the subproblems. • Hypotheses and research questions provide a position from which the researcher may initiate an exploration of the problem. • Hypotheses and research questions act as checkpoints against which to test the findings that the data reveal. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 11 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Delimit the Research • Delimitations of the research are statements about what the researcher is not going to do. • What the researcher will not do is to become involved in data extraneous to the research problem. • The researcher must distinguish between what is and is not relevant to the problem. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 12 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Define the Terms • The researcher must precisely define the terms in the problem and the subproblems. • Each term should be defined as it will be used in the researcher’s project. • In defining a term, the researcher makes the term mean whatever he or she wishes it to mean within the context of the problem and its subproblems. operational definition = the definition of a characteristic or variable in terms of how it will be measured in the research study. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 13 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. State the Assumptions • Assumptions are basic to the research problem. • All assumptions that have a material bearing on the problem should be openly and unreservedly set forth. • A statement of the assumptions is necessary for others to evaluate the conclusions of the study. • A statement of the assumptions reveals what the researcher may be taking for granted with respect to the problem. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 14 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Steps in Writing the First Sections Of a Proposal 1. State the subproblems. 2. Write the hypotheses/questions. 3. Write the delimitations. 4. Write the definitions of terms. 5. Write the assumptions. 6. Describe the importance of the study. 7. Type the proposal. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 15 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Checklist: Evaluating Your Proposed Research Project 1. Have you conducted a thorough literature search to justify the time and effort expended on your research project? 2. Have you looked at your research problem from all angles to minimize unwanted surprises? 3. What research procedures will you follow? 4. What research tools are available for you to use? 5. Can others read and understand your proposal? Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 16 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Guidelines: Fine-Tuning Your Research Problem 1. Conduct a thorough literature review. 2. Try to see the problem from all sides. 3. Think through the process. 4. Use all available tools and resources at your disposal. 5. Discuss your research problem with others. 6. Hold up your proposed project for others to examine and critique. 7. Remember that your project will take a great deal of time. Practical Research: Planning and Design, Ninth Edition Paul D. Leedy and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod 17 © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. ... Purchase answer to see full attachment