Research Skills for Teachers

From research question to research design

Beverley Moriarty

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000247169
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Research in Education

Understanding research principles and developing a small-scale research project is increasingly required of both pre-service and in-service teachers at early childhood, primary and secondary levels. In Research Skills for Teachers Beverley Moriarty provides an accessible guide to every aspect of education research appropriate to the needs of the beginner. The book helps readers identify their area of research interest and then focus their topic into something manageable yet original and sustainable. There are comprehensive, readable explanations of key concepts and technical terms, and realistic examples throughout show how ideas can be put into action. The text adopts an iterative approach, encouraging readers to revisit research questions, research design and methodology as they progress through the stages of planning and execution. The book provides clear guidance on core issues including:
*Understanding and completing a literature review
*Quantitative and qualitative approaches
* Developing interviews and surveys
* Analysing data
* Ethical issues and dilemmasFeaturing an accessible, step-by-step approach and rich with case studies and exercises, this is an essential tool for anyone embarking on a career in teaching.
'I found this text highly accessible, authoritative and well structured... The examples and boxes provided are effective ways to organize a complex and often opaque process for novice researchers, especially pre-service teachers... The frameworks, notebook activities and tables are intuitive and useful.' Dr Alexandra McCormick, Sydney School of Education and Social Work, University of Sydney

1
Getting started: From research problem to research question

This chapter will help you to:

• 
  identify a research idea, topic and problem that you would like to use as the basis for your small-scale research project in education
• 
  construct your first draft of a broad research question to guide your research and the learning that you undertake in later chapters.

Planning and conducting educational research is challenging, but it can also be truly fascinating and rewarding. It is easier to become absorbed in your research and to enjoy the challenges if you find your topic interesting, personally relevant and appealing.

Educational research Involves a planned and systematic investigation or exploration of a problem or issue. The findings can help to inform practice and further research.

In this chapter, the process of identifying a research topic that interests you begins by asking you to think about your current, future or preferred professional work context and what you do, anticipate doing or would like to do in that context. Brainstorming topics or ideas that puzzle or excite you, or that you would like to investigate or explore, then becomes the basis for identifying one or more problems and developing related broad research questions.

Iterative process Revisiting research questions several times (iterations) to help researchers take broader research questions and gradually narrow the focus to develop specific research questions that delineate more precisely what the research will entail.

In the next chapter, you will select one of the topics, problems and broad research questions that you drafted in this chapter and use them to develop one or more specific research questions. These specific research questions will then undergo a number of drafts, or an iterative process, and be further refined and become more focused as you plan your small-scale research project in subsequent chapters.

Small-scale research project This should be able to be planned, implemented and reported in writing by a single, busy, novice researcher in a short period of timeperhaps one semester or, for some students, two semesters.

You will therefore have the opportunity to revisit your chosen idea, and particularly your research question or questions, many times—especially in the next chapter. It is important to think of your initial ideas and questions as being in draft form only at this stage: they do not need to be perfect.

In fact, this chapter is more about brainstorming ideas and less about polishing your work. This approach is highly desirable. It takes time to develop a compilation of ideas from which you choose your direction for your study. For this reason, it is important not to rush the initial stage of deciding on your research idea, topic or problem, or to try to narrow your problem and refine your research question too soon. It is also very important to discuss your ideas for the direction of your study early with your lecturer or research supervisor to ensure that your topic is suitable for a novice researcher.

This chapter also provides examples of previous and current research. These are not suggestions for topics that you might pursue in your research. Several topics may not be suitable for your research, either because of the level of risk appropriate for novice researchers or because your context is different. In fact, you should focus on research that carries a low level of risk until you have the appropriate experience. Instead, the examples provided here simply illustrate a few different circumstances that have led researchers to identify initial ideas for their research to demonstrate how ideas can be developed into topics, problems, broad research questions and purpose statements. This general process is applicable to all research planning, including research conducted in schools and research that examines the connections between policy and practice in schools.

To begin thinking about high-risk and low-risk research, visit the National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines relating to research with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelinespublications/e52). Such research is generally regarded as being high-risk and unsuitable for novice researchers.

You are encouraged to take the time to engage with the activities in this chapter, to think about what really interests you and to start a notebook of ideas and thoughts that you continue to build on while working through the remainder of the book. All good researchers keep notebooks to record their ideas, so you will be in good company.

For your notebook

Wherever you see this book icon and the words 'For your notebook', you will be given points to consider. It is then time to pause and write down your thoughts about these points.

Of course, thoughts can be more random than this, so it is good practice to keep your notebook to hand in order to record any additional thoughts whenever they occur to you and before they are lost. You can then return to them later without deviating from your current thoughts. For ease of cross-referencing later between your notes and the book, the 'For your notebook'icons are numbered according to the chapter and their sequence within the chapter.

Getting Started: Thinking About Your Current, Future or Preferred Work Context

Here is your first opportunity to pause, to think and to write in your notebook. This task is important because it will help you to begin the process of identifying ideas for your small-scale research project that you find both relevant and interesting. You will return later to the ideas that you record here as you work out which ideas are appropriate for you and as you plan your small-scale research project.

For your notebook

Exercise 1.1 Current, future or preferred work context

Write a paragraph to describe your current, future (anticipated) or preferred professional work context in the field of education.

Write a second paragraph that describes the work that you do, will do or would like to do in that context and why that work interests you, challenges you, puzzles you or just makes you curious. Brainstorm and note ideas that you might like to investigate or explore in that context. Brainstorming means that, rather than pondering too long over any idea, you try to list as many ideas as you can so that you do not get fixated on just one or a few ideas.

Label your response 'Exercise 1.1 Current, future or preferred work context' for ease of cross-referencing later.

How the Process is Relevant to You

In some disciplines, students are given a topic or a question to guide their research. In education, we often decide on our own particular direction, our own topic, problem or issue, and our own research question—albeit that in some situations, such as when you are studying a semester-long course or subject, you are given broad parameters within which your research needs to fit. Even then, you often still need to identify the small part of the puzzle that you wish to be your focus. You may be required to work individually or to undertake research in a small group. You should take into account any parameters required by your studies as you develop your ideas and discuss them with your lecturer or research supervisor.

For example, you may be in your final year of your teacher education degree—perhaps studying early childhood or physical education—and you are required to plan and implement a very small research project of interest to you within that broad area. This means that you may need to narrow the focus and develop your own research questions within the boundaries set by your lecturer. Other students may be undertaking a research methods subject in which they can choose their own area of interest.

In subjects or courses where you are not required to plan and conduct research, the lecturer usually sets the assignments and gives you predetermined questions or directions. It feels quite different when you are in the position of developing (and refining) your own research question. Some students feel really comfortable and excited about the prospect of doing a project that is of particular interest to them, while others find it a little strange or even daunting for a while. Both reactions are common, and I have worked with many students in both situations. This book is written to take you gently through the process of developing your ideas, knowing that there will be times when you have your doubts and other times when you feel more confident.

Quantitative research Concerned with data in the form of numbers, such as scores on tests of achievement or when participants in the research rate their responses to a number of questions on a scale.

Qualitative research Invites participants to provide responses that involve written and/or spoken words in order to understand a phenomenon or problem from the perspectives of the people involved.

Briefly, your reason for engaging in the processes dealt with in this book could be one of the following:

• You may be required to plan, implement and report on a quantitative or qualitative research project within a specified period.
• You may need to learn about the research process and do some planning, but not to conduct a study this semester (although for some students the study may be conducted in a later semester).
• You may be required to plan and conduct a small study in which you trial with a small number of research participants an instrument such as a questionnaire or interview questions that you develop (an interview schedule or interview guide) and to report on your trial.
• Participants in quantitative research are sometimes called 'subjects', but many researchers prefer to call them 'participants'. Depending on their orientation, researchers may see subjects as the people on whom their research is conducted or participants as the people with and for whom their research is conducted.
• Other students may need to plan small, low-risk projects to implement while on their practical placements in schools, classrooms, school libraries or other educational contexts.
• Some students may be undertaking a minor thesis/capstone subject, an Honours year, a graduate certificate in educational research or research subjects or courses for a Master's degree.

Research participants The people from whom evidence or data are gathered. Participants in quantitative research (in which data are in the form of numbers) are sometimes called subjects.

Interview schedule or interview guide A set of questions developed and used to conduct interviews with people who participate in the research. The questions are designed in such a way that the responses will inform or answer your research questions.

The process is the same in each, case; the difference is how far through the book you need to work.

It is important for all novice researchers to consult closely with their lecturers or research supervisors from the beginning to ensure that their projects are low-risk, avoid the involvement of participants who could be considered to be vulnerable, and are mindful of potential power relat...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• About the Author
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• For your notebook: List of exercises
• List of tables
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Getting started: From research problem to research question
• 2 More about research questions
• 3 Ethics
• 4 Understanding and completing a literature review
• 5 Understanding research designs
• 6 Research methods
• 7 Understanding paradigms
• 8 Data analysis
• 9 Thinking about findings and implications for practice and future research
• 10 Conducting and reporting research
• Glossary
• References
• Index