7302 - Principles of Research

7302 Principles of Educational Research – Dr. Aileen Curtin

About the syllabus…
Dr. Curtin teaches another class on Wednesday nights, that is a good time to schedule makeup work.

Begin looking at areas of educational interest. Start trying to decide which way to go for dissertation.
Quantitative before mid-term/qualitative after.

Schedule in time during the week / 6-10 hours per week for outside of class for readings. You must schedule time for it if you want to succeed.

Research limitations – google
The Understanding Research book is the primary book we will use.
Syllabus time over.


Qualitative/words
Quantitative/numbers
Combination of both types of research is really best.

Ask yourself the question…I wonder if…collect data to answer the question…present the answer to the question.

Why read research? It will guide you in how you will do your own research. Don’t want to repeat what has already been done, it adds to your professional knowledge, it can inform your position on policy debates, inform your practice.

Reading research articles, she wants us to be better consumers of the research.

Process of Research:
Ch. 1. Identify the research problem. Why is it a problem?
Ch. 2. Review of lit
Ch. 2. What is my purpose, what am I going to do?
Ch. 3. Analyze the data and report the results.
Ch. 4. Interpret the research and what does it mean for future researchers?
Get it out there. Who does it help if no one reads it?

When reading research…title should be really clear, there is always an abstract (should be), intro, methods (they may state if it is qual. or quan.), lit review (what data is out there on the topic), results, conclusion. Skim it first, read lit review first, go back and read intro.

Beware – do not assume all articles represent study research. See pg 12 from Clark.
Qual. is also known as naturalist. You may see quasi-scientific research in education, but not scientific. Qual. is wordy, no preconceived hypothesis, collect data, understand participants, give voice to the participants. Very descriptive narratives, you interpret what they say as the researcher. Do not reach a conclusion – make recommendations for future research.

Outline in general the difference between qual. and quan. research. – Midterm question.