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Practical Statistics
for Educators
Practical Statistics
for Educators
Sixth Edition

RUTH RAVID

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com

6 Tinworth Street, London SE11 5AL, United Kingdom

Copyright © 2020 by Ruth Ravid

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote passages in a review.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ravid, Ruth, author. | Rowman and Littlefield, Inc.
Title: Practical statistics for educators / Ruth Ravid.
Description: Sixth Edition. | Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. | Fifth
edition published in 2014. | Summary: “The book introduces educational
students and practitioners to the use of statistics in education”—
Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019042657 (print) | LCCN 2019042658 (ebook) | ISBN
9781475846812 (Cloth : acid-free paper) | ISBN 9781475846829 (Paperback
: acid-free paper) | ISBN 9781475846836 (ePUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Educational statistics—Study and teaching. | Educational
tests and measurements.
Classification: LCC LB2846 .R33 2020 (print) | LCC LB2846 (ebook) | DDC
370.2/1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042657
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019042658

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of

American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents

List of Statistical Symbols vii

Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
PART I: Introduction
1 An Overview of Educational Research 3
2 Basic Concepts in Statistics 17

PART II: Describing Distributions

3 Organizing and Graphing Data 45
4 Measures of Central Tendency 63
5 Measures of Variability 71
6 The Normal Curve and Standard Scores 81
PART III: Measuring Relationships
7 Correlation 95
8 Prediction and Regression 111

PART IV: Comparing Group Means

9 t Test 123
10 Analysis of Variance 137

PART V: Chi Square Test

11 Chi Square Test 161

v
vi C o n t e n ts

PART VI: Standardized Test Scores, Reliability, and Validity

12 Interpreting Standardized Test Scores 173
13 Reliability 181
14 Validity 193

PART VII: Putting It All Together

15 Choosing the Right Statistical Test 203
16 Using Statistical Tests to Analyze Survey Data 213

Study Guide for Practical Statistics for Educators 225

Glossary 275
Index 287
About the Author 297
List of Statistical Symbols

HA Alternative (research) hypothesis; also represented by H1 (chap. 2)

HO Null hypothesis (chap. 2)
p Probability; level of significance (chap. 2)
α Probability level set at the beginning of the study (chap. 2)
df Degrees of freedom (chap. 2)
ES Effect size (chap. 2)
r Pearson’s correlation coefficient (also an index of reliability) (chaps. 2, 7, 13)
r2 Effect size; coefficient of determination (chaps. 2, 7)
SEXˉ Standard error of the mean (chap. 2)
CI Confidence interval (chap. 2)
X Raw score (chap. 4)
N Number of people in a group (or in a population) (chap. 4)
n Number of people in a group (or in a sample) (chap. 4)
Σ Sum of (Greek letter sigma, uppercase) (chap. 4)
–
X Mean of sample (chap. 4)
µ Mean of population (Greek letter mu) (chap. 4)
S Standard deviation (SD) of sample (chap. 5)
S2 Variance of sample (chap. 5)
σ Standard deviation (SD) of population (Greek letter sigma,
lowercase) (chap. 5)
σ2 Variance of population (chap. 5)
z z score (chap. 6)
T T score (chap. 6)
Y' Predicted Y score (in regression) (chap. 8)
b Slope (or coefficient; in regression) (chap. 8)

vii
viii L ist o f S tatistical S y m b o ls

a Intercept (or constant; in regression) (chap. 8)

SE Standard error of estimate (in regression) (chap. 8)
R Multiple correlation coefficient (chap. 8)
R2 Coefficient of determination of multiple correlation (in regression) (chap. 8)
t t value (chap. 9)
F F ratio (chap. 10)
K Number of groups (in ANOVA) (chap. 10)
SS Sum of squares (in ANOVA) (chap. 10)
MS Mean squares (in ANOVA) (chap. 10)
χ2 Chi square value (chap. 11)
SEM Standard error of measurement (chap. 13)
Preface

Many introductory statistics textbooks are available, but only a few focus on the prac-
tical use of statistics in education. Today, more than ever, educators are required to
gather and analyze various forms of quantitative data for the purpose of assessment
and for data-driven decision making. Practical Statistics for Educators is a clear and
easy-to-follow text written specifically for education students in introductory statistics
and action research courses. It also is an invaluable resource and guidebook for edu-
cational practitioners who wish to study their own settings.
The focus of the book is on essential concepts in educational statistics, understand-
ing when to use various statistical tests, and how to interpret results. This book also
helps readers become more knowledgeable researchers by better understanding and
being more informed consumers of published research. This text introduces educa-
tional students and practitioners to the use of statistics in education, and it explains
basic concepts in statistics in clear language. All of the examples used to demonstrate
the use of statistics in research are taken from the field of education and illustrate
the various concepts, terms, statistical tests, and data interpretations discussed in the
book. Formulas and equations are used sparingly to explain certain points and to dem-
onstrate the computations of statistical tests. Therefore, readers are not required to do
any computations and simply can follow the computation steps presented.
The topics of testing, test score interpretation, reliability, and validity are included
in the book to help educators understand these essential topics. These topics often are
missing from basic statistics books but are critical to educators’ understanding of as-
sessment in K–12 schools.
This book contains chapter previews that provide a quick glance at the informa-
tion provided in each chapter. Succinct summaries highlighting each chapter’s main

ix
x P r e f ac e

points are presented at the end of each chapter for a quick review. A glossary of main
terms and concepts helps readers navigate the book and easily find the term they are
looking for, including the chapter in which the term is introduced. The detailed index
is another excellent tool for finding terms and for locating the place in the text where
they are discussed. Short exercises and activities at the end of each chapter allow for
the application of materials taught in that chapter.
The main changes to the sixth edition are:

■■ A study guide was added and is included at the end of this new edition. The exer-
cises in the guide allow readers to review, apply, and practice their newly acquired
knowledge and skills. (This new book section is a modified and edited version of
the study guide, that was available as a stand-alone publication for the fifth edition.)
■■ The first book chapter was shortened to make it more concise and easier to follow.
■■ Summary tables were added into the text in several chapters to provide a quick over-
view of the materials presented in the text.
■■ Several long equations were deleted to improve the text readability.
■■ The summaries at the end of each chapter were shortened to make them more
succinct.
■■ Exercises at the end of the chapters to check readers’ understanding were eliminated
in favor of the exercises in the Study Guide.
■■ Chapter 16 was deleted, and chapter 17 was renumbered as chapter 16.

In addition, minor edits were made throughout the text to increase the flow of the
text. Also, a number of tables and figures were updated to reflect more current dates.
Acknowledgments

My thanks and appreciation go to the editorial team at Rowman & Littlefield: my edi-
tor, Carlie Wall, managing editor, who guided the process of writing this new edition
with expertise and patience and always was available to brainstorm with me and share
ideas; and to Christine Fahey, associate production editor, for her clear instruction,
for ensuring that the editing process went smoothly, and for responding quickly to all
of my inquiries. As in the past, my special thanks go again to Donna Rafanello, who
carefully read each chapter of the book and study guide and offered excellent sugges-
tions for improving the text. Thanks also go to Steve Mckinley, my graphic designer,
who reproduced all of the graphics in the book.
As always, I want to thank my family for enriching my life with their constant
love, support, and encouragement. Thank you Cory, Ossie, Jackie, Lindsey, Ashley,
and Audrey!

xi
I

INTRODUCTION
 1

An Overview of
Educational Research

Chapter 1 presents an overview of various approaches to research in

education and some of the ways researchers use to gather information
effectively. Three different research approaches (basic, applied, and ac-
tion research) are described, including their advantages and limitations.
Within each approach, researchers can decide which type of research to
use—qualitative or quantitative. Differences between the two types are pre-
sented and explained. Researchers also can choose between experimental
and nonexperimental designs for their studies. Experimental research is
examined in greater detail, including explanations of threats to internal
and external validity and groups and individual designs. The discussion
of nonexperimental research includes explanations of causal comparative
and descriptive research.
By the end of this chapter, you will know the differences among all
of these terms and the advantages and disadvantages of using one ap-
proach over another. As a consumer and reader of research, you will
understand the approaches and designs researchers use. As a producer
of research, this chapter will enhance your ability to plan and carry out
your own investigation.

3
4 CHAPTER 1

For many people, the term research conjures up a picture of a lab, researchers work-
ing at computers and “crunching numbers,” or mice being injected with experimental
drugs. Clearly, this is not what we mean by this term. In this book, we define research
as a systematic inquiry that includes data collection and analysis. The goal of research
is to describe, explain, or predict present or future phenomena. In the context of edu-
cation, these phenomena are most likely to be behaviors associated with the teaching
and learning processes. There are several ways to classify research into categories, and
each way looks at research from a different perspective. Research may be classified as
(a) basic (pure), applied, or action research; (b) quantitative or qualitative research;
and (c) experimental or nonexperimental research.

BASIC (PURE), APPLIED, AND ACTION RESEARCH

Although not all textbook authors agree, most generally divide the field of research
into three categories: basic (pure) research, applied research, and action research.
Basic research is conducted mostly in labs under tightly controlled conditions, and
its main goal is to develop theories and generalizations. This type of research is not
aimed at solving immediate problems or at testing hypotheses. For example, scientists
who worked in labs using animals such as mice and pigeons developed the theory of
behaviorism. These early behaviorists did not have an immediate application for their
theory when it was first developed.
Applied research is aimed at testing theories and applying them to specific situ-
ations. Based on previously developed theories, hypotheses then are developed and
tested in studies classified as applied research. For example, based on the theory of
behaviorism, educators have hypothesized that students’ behaviors will be improved
when tokens are used. Next, studies were conducted where tokens, such as candies,
were used as an intervention to reward students whose behavior needed improve-
ment. After the introduction of the tokens, the students’ behavior was monitored and
assessed to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.
Action research is conducted by practitioner-researchers in their own settings to
solve a problem by studying it, proposing solutions, implementing the solutions, and
assessing the effectiveness of these solutions. The process of action research is cyclical;
the practitioner-researcher continues to identify a problem, propose a solution, imple-
ment the solution, and assess the outcomes. Both qualitative and quantitative data can
be gathered and analyzed in action-research studies.
For many years, action research has been defined by many as research that is con-
ducted for the purpose of solving a local problem, without any attempt or interest in
generalizing the findings beyond the immediate setting. Some did not view action re-
search as serious, rigorous research. This view has changed because educators engaged
in action research borrow tools from the field of applied research. For example, they
A n Ov e rvi e w o f Educati o n al R e s e arch 5

have recognized the importance of the literature review and the need to examine find-
ings from previous research. Further, educators in settings from preschool through
high school who are conducting research have made great strides in sharing their
findings with colleagues through a variety of means including paper presentations at
conferences and in journal articles, books, monographs, and blogs, as well as through
electronic media. The end result is that although the impetus for starting practitioner
research may still be a local problem, the studies themselves are much more rigorous,
using tools similar to those used in applied research.
In reading educational research literature, you may come across several terms that
might be used interchangeably with the term action research, such as the term prac-
titioner research. Additional terms that may be used are teacher research, classroom
research, and teacher-as-researcher. In this book, we prefer using the term practitioner
research, because not all research and inquiry studies are undertaken for the sole pur-
pose of bringing about an action. Educators also may study their practice in order to
reflect, describe, predict, and compare.
Practitioner research has been embraced by educators, mostly classroom teachers,
who are interested in studying their own practice without attempting to generalize
their findings to other settings. These practitioners tend to use tools and procedures
typical of qualitative-descriptive research, such as interviews, journals, surveys, obser-
vations, field notes, and multimedia. Tools used in quantitative-experimental research
are deemed by many educator-researchers as less appropriate for practitioner research
because they may require sampling, random assignment of participants to groups,
intervention, and manipulation of variables. However, keep in mind that practitioners
also can apply many experimental approaches and collect numerical data when study-
ing their own settings. Teachers can study individual students in their classes by using
experimental designs. In studies of groups or individuals, numerical data may be col-
lected before and after the experimental treatment in order to assess the effectiveness
of the intervention.

QUANTITATIVE VERSUS QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Most textbooks on educational research describe methods and approaches as either
quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative research is defined in these textbooks as
research that focuses on explaining cause-and-effect relationships, studies a small
number of variables, and uses numerical data. Researchers conducting quantitative
research usually maintain objectivity and detach themselves from the study envi-
ronment. This research approach usually starts with a hypothesis, and the study is
designed to test this hypothesis. Quantitative researchers believe that findings can
be generalized from one setting to other similar settings, and they are looking for
laws, patterns, and similarities. Qualitative research is defined in most textbooks as
6 CHAPTER 1

that which seeks to understand social or educational phenomena. Usually in such

investigations researchers focus on one or a few cases, which are studied in depth
using multiple data sources. These sources are subjective in nature (e.g., interviews,
observations, and field notes). Qualitative research is context-based, recognizing the
uniqueness of each individual and setting and acknowledging the important role of
the researcher, who may influence the research outcomes.
Quantitative research is not the same as experimental research, although a great
deal of quantitative research is experimental. And, although it is true that qualitative
research is descriptive, qualitative researchers also use numerical data, such as when
they count events or perform certain data reduction analyses. These quantitative and
qualitative paradigms are not a simple, clear way to classify research studies because
they are not two discrete sides of a coin. Rather, the paradigms are two endpoints on a
continuum, and studies can be located at different points along this continuum.
Practitioner-researchers tend to use the case study approach and usually are in-
volved personally in different phases of the study. Therefore, practitioner research
defies tightly controlled designs, objective data collection, random assignment of par-
ticipants, sample selection from a larger population, and other characteristics that are
typical of applied or basic research. Thus, many action research practitioners conduct
studies using qualitative, naturalistic paradigms. As teacher-researchers, though, we
should not limit ourselves to one paradigm. Our research question should guide us
in determining which paradigm(s) to use for our study’s design, implementation, and
data analysis.
In the past, researchers identified themselves as either “qualitative researchers” or
“quantitative researchers,” and the two paradigms were seen as completely different.
Today, while recognizing the differences between the two paradigms, more and more
researchers see the two as complementary and support using both in mixed-design
research studies.
In a typical quantitative study, data are collected to describe phenomena or to test
hypotheses. Statistical techniques then are used to analyze the data. This book, like most
other statistics textbooks, is geared toward the analysis of quantitative, numerical data.

EXPERIMENTAL VERSUS NONEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

The third way to classify research is to distinguish between experimental research
and nonexperimental research.1 In experimental research, researchers plan an in-
tervention and study its effect on groups or individuals. The intervention is called
the independent variable (or treatment), whereas the outcome measure is called the
dependent variable. The dependent variable is used to assess the effectiveness of the

1. HINT: Nonexperimental research may also be called descriptive research.

A n Ov e rvi e w o f Educati o n al R e s e arch 7

intervention. For example, the independent variable may be a teaching method, new
curriculum, or classroom management approach. Examples of dependent variables
are test scores, time on task, level of satisfaction, students’ motivation, or choice of
extracurricular activities.
Nonexperimental research may be divided into two types: causal comparative
(also called ex post facto) and descriptive. Causal comparative research, like ex-
perimental research, is designed to study cause-and-effect relationships. Unlike ex-
perimental research, though, in causal comparative studies the independent variable
is not manipulated for two main reasons: either it has occurred prior to the start of
the study, or it is a variable that cannot be manipulated. Descriptive research is aimed
at studying a phenomenon as it is occurring naturally, without any manipulation or
intervention. Researchers are attempting to describe and study phenomena and are
not investigating cause-and-effect relationships.
Next we present further explanations of experimental research, followed by a brief
discussion of nonexperimental research.

Experimental Research
Although most experimental studies involve the use of statistical tests to investi-
gate and compare groups, in certain fields, such as psychology and special education,
studies that focus on individuals are gaining popularity. A discussion of such studies
follows a presentation of experimental group designs.
In experimental studies conducted to compare groups, the experimental group
members receive the treatment, while members in the control group either receive
the traditional approach (e.g., teaching method) or do not receive any treatment. An
example might be a study conducted by a high-school physics teacher who wants to
test the effect of multimedia educational software on her students’ performance on
knowledge tests. The teacher teaches two similar-level physics classes and uses mul-
timedia educational software with one of the classes (experimental classroom) and
more traditional teaching approaches with the other (control classroom). Students in
both classes are pretested and posttested on their knowledge of physics at the begin-
ning and at the end of the semester, and gain scores are computed. The gain scores
of the students in the experimental classroom are compared to the gain scores of the
students in the control group to determine the effect of the use of multimedia educa-
tional software on students’ performance in physics classes.
In other cases, no treatment is applied to control group members who are being
compared to the experimental group. For example, let’s say that researchers want
to study the effect on preschoolers of watching a video showing young children
collaborating and sharing toys. The researchers may show the video to one class of
preschoolers but not to the other class. Next, all children would be observed as they
8 CHAPTER 1

interact and play with each other to determine if the children who watched the video
are more likely to exhibit cooperative play behavior compared with those who did
not watch the video.
Other researchers, posing the same research question about the effect of watching
a video showing young children cooperating and sharing toys, may choose another
experimental design and have these children serve as their own control. They may de-
sign a study where the behaviors of the same children would be observed and studied
twice: once before and once after they watch the video. Then, the researchers would
note any change in behavior in the children, all of whom were administered the treat-
ment (i.e., watching the video).
As mentioned before, researchers conducting experimental research study the ef-
fect of the independent variable on the dependent variable. Still, when researchers ob-
serve changes in the dependent variable, they have to confirm that these changes have
occurred as a result of the independent variable and are not due to other variables,
called extraneous variables. Extraneous variables are other plausible explanations
that could have brought about the observed changes in the outcome variable. For ex-
ample, suppose students in a class using a new reading method score higher on a read-
ing test than students using the current method. The researchers must confirm that
the higher scores are due to the method, rather than to other extraneous, confounding
variables, such as the teaching expertise of the experimental group teacher, amount of
time devoted to reading, or ability levels of the experimental group of students. Prior
to starting the study, the researchers must review and control all possible extraneous
variables that might affect the outcomes of the study. In our example, the researchers
may want to ensure that both groups—experimental and control—are similar to each
other before the new reading method is implemented. The researchers must verify that
both groups have capable teachers, have the same number of hours devoted daily or
weekly to reading instruction, and that the reading ability of students in both groups
is similar. When the extraneous variables are controlled, it is assumed that the groups
differ from each other on one variable only—the reading instruction method. If ex-
perimental group students score higher on a reading test at the end of the study, the
researchers can conclude that the new reading method is effective.
At times, extraneous variables develop during the study and are unforeseen. When
researchers observe unexpected outcomes at the end of their study, they may want to
probe further to determine whether some unplanned, extraneous variables are respon-
sible for those outcomes. Often, when the research findings do not support the hy-
potheses stated at the beginning of their study, the researchers examine the design of
the study to determine if any extraneous variables are responsible for the unexpected
findings. When reporting their results, researchers are likely to include a discussion
of possible extraneous variables to explain why their hypotheses were not confirmed.
A n Ov e rvi e w o f Educati o n al R e s e arch 9

A study is said to have high internal validity when the researchers control the
extraneous variables and the only obvious difference between the experimental and
control groups is the intervention (i.e., the independent variable). It makes sense,
then, that a well-designed experiment must have high internal validity to be of value.
Threats to internal validity include:

■■ history, or events that happen while the study takes place that may affect the depen-
dent variable;
■■ maturation, or physical, intellectual, or mental changes experienced by participants
while the study takes place;
■■ testing, or the potential effect that a pretest has on the performance of people on the
posttest;
■■ instrumentation, or the level of reliability and validity of the instrument being used
to assess the effectiveness of the intervention;
■■ statistical regression, or a phenomenon whereby people who obtain extreme scores
on the pretest tend to score closer to the mean of their group upon subsequent test-
ing, even when no intervention is involved; and
■■ differential selection, or a potential problem in studies that compare groups that have
preexisting differences prior to the start of the study.

External validity refers to the extent to which the results of the study can be gen-
eralized and applied to other settings, populations, and groups. Clearly, if research-
ers want to contribute to their field (e.g., education), their studies should have high
external validity. The problem is that when studies are tightly controlled in order to
have high internal validity, they tend to have low external validity. Thus, research-
ers have to strike a balance between the two. First and foremost, every study should
have internal validity. But when researchers control the study’s variables too much,
the study deviates from real life, decreasing the likelihood that the results can be
generalized and applied to other situations. Because experimental studies must have
external validity to be of value, a brief discussion of the major threats to external
validity is presented next.
Threats to external validity may limit the extent to which the results of the study
can be generalized and applied to populations that are not participating in a study.
It is easy to see why people might behave differently when they are being studied
and observed. For example, being pretested or simply tested several times during the
study may affect people’s performance and motivation. Another potential problem
may arise in studies where both experimental and control groups are comprised of
volunteers and, therefore, may not be representative of the general population. Other
potential problems that may pose a threat to external validity include:
10 CHAPTER 1

■■ People may react to the personality or behavior of those who observe or interview
them;
■■ People may try harder and perform better when they are being observed or when
they view the new intervention as positive even before the start of the study (Haw-
thorne Effect); and
■■ Members of the control group may perceive themselves to be in a competition with
the experimental group members and may perform above and beyond their usual
level performance (John Henry Effect).

Table 1.1 summarizes the threats to internal and external validity.

Table 1.1. A Summary of the Threats to Internal and External Validity
Threats to: Threat Description
Internal Validity History Events that happen while the study takes place that may
affect the dependent variable
Maturation Physical, intellectual, or mental changes experienced by
participants while the study takes place
Testing Effects that a pretest has on the posttest performance of
the study participants
Instrumentation The level of reliability and validity of the instrument
being used to assess the effectiveness of the
intervention
Statistical Regression A phenomenon whereby people who obtain extreme
scores on the pretest tend to score closer to the mean
of their group upon subsequent testing
Differential Selection Groups may differ from each other on some important
characteristics even before the start of the study
in studies where volunteers are used in the
experimental groups or in studies where preexisting
groups are used as comparison groups
External Validity Hawthorne Effect Participants’ performance in a study may be affected by
their perceptions that they are being observed rather
than by the study’s planned intervention
John Henry Effect Control group members may perceive themselves to be
in competition with experimental group members and
therefore perform above and beyond their usual level

Comparing Groups
In conducting experimental research, the effectiveness of the intervention (the
independent variable) is assessed via the dependent variable (the measured outcome
variable). In all experimental studies, a posttest is used as a measure of the outcome,
although not all studies include a pretest. Researchers try to compare groups that are
as similar as possible prior to the start of the study so that any differences observed on
the posttest can be attributed to the intervention. One of the best ways to create two
groups that are as similar as possible is by randomly assigning people to the groups.
Groups that are formed by using random assignment are considered similar to each
other, especially when the group size is not too small.2

2. HINT: A rule of thumb followed by most researchers recommends a group size of at least 30 for studies
where statistical tests are used to analyze numerical data.
A n Ov e rvi e w o f Educati o n al R e s e arch 11

When the groups being compared are small, even though they may have been
created through random assignment, they are likely to differ from each other. Also,
keep in mind that in real life researchers rarely are able to assign people to groups
randomly, and they often have to use existing, intact groups in their studies.
Another approach used by researchers to create two groups that are as similar as
possible is matching. In this approach, researchers first identify a variable that they
believe may affect, or be related to, people’s performance on the dependent variable
(e.g., the posttest). Pairs of people with similar scores on that variable are assigned
randomly to the groups being compared. For example, two people who have the
same verbal aptitude score on an IQ test may be assigned to the experimental or
control group in a study that involves a task where verbal ability is important. The
limitations of matching groups include the fact that the groups still may differ from
each other because we cannot match them based on more than one or two variables.
Also, it still is possible that we would end up with a smaller sample size because we
would need to exclude from our study those people for whom we cannot find an-
other person with a matching score.
Studies that involve a change in policy or a significant appropriation of money are
likely to place a heavy emphasis on scientifically based research and on the use of ex-
perimental and quasi-experimental designs. When possible, the use of multiple sites,
random assignments, or a careful matching of experimental and control groups is
highly recommended to minimize threats to internal validity.
Experimental group designs can be divided into three categories: preexperimental,
quasi-experimental, and true experimental designs. The three categories differ from
each other in their level of control and in the extent to which the extraneous variables
pose a threat to the study’s internal validity. In studies classified as preexperimental
and quasi-experimental, when groups are compared, researchers still may not be able
to confirm that differences between the groups on the posttest are a result of the in-
tervention. The reason is that these studies involve the comparison of intact groups,
which may not be similar to each other at the beginning of the study.
Studies using preexperimental designs do not have a tight control of extraneous
variables; thus, their internal validity cannot be assured. That is, researchers using
these designs cannot safely conclude that the outcomes of the studies are due to the
intervention. Studies using preexperimental designs either do not use control groups
or, when such groups are used, no pretest is administered. Thus, researchers cannot
confirm that changes observed on the posttest truly are due to the intervention.
Studies using quasi-experimental designs have better control than those in
preexperimental designs; nevertheless, there are still threats to internal validity,
and potential extraneous variables are not well controlled in such studies. In quasi-
experimental designs, the groups being compared are not assumed to be equivalent
12 CHAPTER 1

at the beginning of the study. Any differences observed at the end of the study may
not have been caused by the intervention but are due to preexisting differences. It
is probably a good idea to acknowledge these possible preexisting differences and
to try to take them into consideration while designing and conducting the study, as
well as when analyzing the data from the study. Studies using quasi-experimental
designs include time series and counterbalanced designs. In time-series designs,
groups are tested repeatedly before and after the intervention. In counterbalanced
designs, several interventions are tested simultaneously, and the number of groups
in the study equals the number of interventions. All of the groups in the study re-
ceive all interventions, but in a different order.
True experimental designs offer the best control of extraneous variables. In true
experimental designs, participants are assigned randomly to groups. In addition, if at
all possible, the study’s participants are drawn at random from the larger population
before being assigned randomly to their groups. Because the groups are considered
similar to each other when the study begins, researchers can be fairly confident that
any changes observed at the end of the study are due to the planned intervention.

Comparing Individuals
Although most experimental studies involve groups, a growing number of studies
in education and psychology focus on individuals. These studies, where individuals
are used as their own control, are called single-case (or single-subject) designs. In
these studies, individuals’ behavior or performance is assessed during two or more
phases, alternating between phases with or without an intervention. The measure used
in single-case studies (i.e., the dependent variable) is collected several times during
each phase of the study to ensure its stability and consistency. Because the measure
is used to represent the target behavior, the number of times the target behavior is
recorded in each phase may differ from one study to another.
Note that single-case designs that use quantitative data are different from case stud-
ies that are used extensively in qualitative research. In the latter type, one or several
individuals or “cases” (such as a student, a classroom, or a school) are studied in depth,
usually over an extended period of time. Researchers employing a qualitative case-
study approach typically use a number of data collection methods (such as interviews
and observations) and collect data from multiple data sources. They study people in
their natural environment and try not to interfere or alter the daily routine. Data col-
lected from these nonexperimental studies usually are in narrative form. In contrast,
single-case studies, which use an experimental approach, collect mostly numerical
data and focus on the effect of a single independent variable (the intervention) on the
dependent variable (the outcome measure).
A n Ov e rvi e w o f Educati o n al R e s e arch 13

Nonexperimental Research
As mentioned before, nonexperimental research may be divided into two catego-
ries: causal comparative and descriptive. Causal comparative studies are designed to
investigate cause-and-effect relationships without manipulating the independent vari-
able. Descriptive studies simply describe phenomena.

Causal Comparative (Ex Post Facto) Research

In studies classified as causal comparative, researchers attempt to study cause-
and-effect relationships. That is, they study the effect of the independent variable
(the “cause”) on the dependent variable (the “effect”). Unlike in experimental re-
search, the independent variable is not being manipulated because it already has
occurred when the study is undertaken. At other times, it cannot or should not be
manipulated for ethical reasons.

Descriptive Research
Many studies are conducted to describe existing phenomena. Although researchers
may construct new instruments and procedures to gather data, no interventions are
planned, and no changes in the routine of people or phenomena are being studied.
The researchers simply collect data and interpret their findings. Thus, it is easy to see
why qualitative research is considered nonexperimental.
Correlation often is used in descriptive research. In most studies using correlation,
a group of individuals is administered two or more measures, and the scores of the in-
dividuals on these measures are compared (for a discussion of correlation, see chapter
8). For example, members of a school board may want to correlate scores on a norm-
referenced achievement test of all fifth-grade students in the district with their scores
on a state-mandated achievement test that they administer to fifth graders each spring.
If the correlation of the two tests is high, the school board members may propose that
the district stop administering the norm-referenced test in fifth grade because similar
information about the students’ performance can be obtained from their scores on the
state-mandated achievement test.
When researchers want to study how individuals change and develop over time,
they can conduct studies using cross-sectional or longitudinal designs. In cross-sec-
tional designs, similar samples of people from different age groups are studied at the
same time. It is assumed that the older groups accurately represent the younger groups
when they would reach their ages. Each person in the different samples is studied one
time only. The biggest advantage of this design is that it saves time because data can
be collected quickly. Longitudinal studies are used to measure change over time by
collecting data at two or more points for the same or similar groups of individuals.
14 CHAPTER 1

The greatest advantage of this design is that the same or similar individuals are being
followed; a major disadvantage is that the study lasts a long time.
The three types of longitudinal studies are:

1. panel studies, where the same people are studied at two or more points in time;
2. cohort studies, where similar people, selected from the same cohort, are studied at
two or more points in time; and
3. trend studies, where the same research questions are posed at two or more points
in time to similar individuals.

Table 1.2 summarizes the main experimental and nonexperimental research designs.
Table 1.2. A Summary of the Main Characteristics of Experimental and Nonexperimental
Research Designs
Designs Description
Experimental Comparing groups Preexperimental Extraneous variables are not
research designs controlled, and internal
designs validity cannot be assured;
either no control groups
are used or pretest is not
administered
Quasi-experimental There still may be threats to
designs (time internal validity, and potential
series and extraneous variables are not
counterbalanced well controlled
designs)
True experimental Best control of extraneous
designs variables; participants are
randomly assigned to groups
Comparing Single-case design Individual performance or
individuals behavior is assessed during
multiple phases of the
study with or without the
intervention
Nonexperimental Causal comparative The independent variable is not
research (ex post facto) being manipulated because
design research it already has occurred at
the beginning of the study
or it cannot or should not be
manipulated
Descriptive research Cross-sectional Similar samples of people from
designs different age groups are
studied at the same point in
time
Longitudinal studies Designed to measure changes
(panel, cohort, over time by collecting data
and trend) at two or more points over a
period of time for the same or
very similar group of people
A n Ov e rvi e w o f Educati o n al R e s e arch 15

SUMMARY
1. Research is a systematic inquiry that includes data collection and analysis;
its goal is to describe, explain, or predict present or future phenomena. In
the context of education, these phenomena are most likely to be behaviors
associated with the teaching and learning processes.
2. Basic research, whose main goal is to develop theories and generalizations,
is conducted mostly in labs, under tightly controlled conditions; applied re-
search is aimed at testing theories and applying them to specific situations;
and action research (also referred to as practitioner research) is conducted
by practitioner-researchers in their own settings to solve a problem by study-
ing it, proposing solutions, implementing the solutions, and assessing the
effectiveness of these solutions.
3. Quantitative research often is conducted to study cause-and-effect relation-
ships and to focus on studying a small number of variables and collecting
numerical data; qualitative research seeks to understand social or educa-
tional phenomena and focuses on one or a few cases studied in depth using
multiple data sources that generally are subjective in nature and yield mostly
narrative data.
4. In experimental research, researchers plan an intervention and study its ef-
fect on groups or individuals. The intervention also is called the independent
variable or treatment, and the studies are designed to test the effect of the in-
dependent variable on the outcome measure, called the dependent variable.
5. Nonexperimental research may be divided into causal comparative (also
called ex post facto) research and descriptive research.
6. Descriptive research is aimed at studying phenomena as they occur natu-
rally without any intervention or manipulation of variables; the data col-
lected may be narrative or numerical.
7. Extraneous variables are variables—other than the planned intervention—
that could have brought about changes measured by the dependent vari-
able. Extraneous variables may be unforeseen and develop during the study,
especially when the study lasts for a long period of time.
8. A study is said to have high internal validity when the extraneous variables
are controlled by the researchers and the only obvious difference between
the experimental and control groups is the planned intervention (i.e., the in-
dependent variable). Threats to internal validity include history, maturation,
testing, instrumentation, statistical regression, and differential selection.
9. External validity refers to the extent to which the results of the study can be
generalized and applied to other settings, populations, or groups.
10. Preexperimental designs do not have tight control of extraneous variables,
and their internal validity is low.
11. In quasi-experimental designs, the groups being compared are not assumed
to be equivalent prior to the start of the study. Studies in this category have
better control of extraneous variables compared with preexperimental de-
signs. Examples of quasi-experimental designs are time-series and counter-
balanced designs.
16 CHAPTER 1

12. In true experimental designs, participants are assigned at random to

groups; therefore, the groups are considered similar to each other at the
start of the study.
13. In single-case (or single-subject) designs, the behavior or performance of
people is assessed during two or more phases, alternating between phases
with and without intervention; the dependent variable is administered sev-
eral times during each phase of the study to ensure the stability and consis-
tency of the data. A single-case design can be modified to include more than
one individual and more than one intervention in the same study.
14. Qualitative research is considered nonexperimental, and many researchers
conducting nonexperimental research use qualitative approaches and collect
narrative data.
15. When researchers want to study how individuals change and develop over
time, they may use cross-sectional or longitudinal designs. In cross-sectional
studies, similar samples of people from different age groups are studied at
the same point in time; longitudinal studies (panel, cohort, and trend stud-
ies) are used to measure change over time by collecting data at two or more
points for the same or similar groups of individuals over a period of time.
Another random document with
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on the mainland, near Littleton Island. The figures proved to be
Eskimos; and through the agency of Eskimo Joe, who was on board
the Tigress, it was soon ascertained that Captain Buddington had
deserted the Polaris on the day after her separation from the floe;
that he and his companions had erected a house on the mainland,
and wintered therein; had fitted it up with sleeping-berths for fourteen
men, the full number, and furnished it with stove, table, chairs, and
other articles removed from the abandoned ship; that during the
winter the party had built and equipped a couple of sailing-boats; and
that “about the time when the ducks begin to hatch” they had
departed for the south.
 SAVED!
The Eskimo chief, or leader, added that Captain Buddington had
made him a present of the Polaris; but that the gift proved of no
effect, for in a violent gale she broke loose from the ice, drifted out
into the channel, and foundered.
Further search brought the crew of the Tigress to the winter-
camp of the Polaris crew. It was situated in lat. 78° 23’ N., and long.
73° 46’ W. Some manuscripts were found there, with the log-book,
the medical stores, and remains of instruments; and these, with
whatever else that seemed of intrinsic value, having been removed
on board the Tigress, the expedition bore away to the southward,
and on the 16th of October reached St. John’s, Newfoundland,
where they received the welcome intelligence of the rescue of the
Polaris party under the circumstances we shall now relate.
We return to the eventful night of the 15th of October 1872.
During the tremendous gale that then raged along the Arctic coast,
the bow-hawser of the Polaris snapped like a “pack-thread,” the
anchors slipped, and the ship drifted away into the darkness. The
wind forced her in a north-easterly direction; and next morning those
on board found her “a little north of Littleton Island, in Smith Sound,
having been exactly abreast of Sutherland Island during a portion of
the night.”
As she was leaking rapidly the pumps were set to work; and the
fires with much difficulty being lighted, the ship was got to obey her
helm. It was then found that the following officers and men remained
on board:—Captain Buddington; Mr. Chester, chief mate; William
Merton, second mate; Emil Schuman, chief engineer; Odell,
assistant-engineer; Campbell and Booth, firemen; Coffin, carpenter;
Sieman, Hobby, Hays, and Manch, seamen; Dr. Emil Bessel,
meteorologist; and Mr. Bryan, astronomer and chaplain.
A look-out was kept, it is said, for the nineteen who were missing,
but no signs of them being discovered, Captain Buddington came to
the comfortable conclusion that they had saved themselves in the
boats. Doubting the feasibility of carrying the Polaris to the
southward, he determined to abandon her, and winter on shore. With
this view she was run in as near land as possible, and finally
grounded in Kane’s Life-boat Cove, lat. 78° 23’ 30″ N., and long. 73°
21’ W. Here, on the 17th of October, Captain Buddington prepared to
establish a winter-camp; and the next few days were occupied in
removing from the stranded vessel all the food and fuel, and such
articles as could conduce to the comfort and sustenance of the party
through the ensuing winter.
With spars, bulk-heads, and canvas brought from the Polaris a
commodious house was erected, measuring twenty-two feet in
length, and fourteen feet in width. It was thoroughly water-tight;
warmed inside by a stove; and banked outside with masses of
compact snow. In the interior the sides were lined with fourteen
sleeping-berths. A table and chairs and lamps added to the general
comfort; so that our explorers were prepared to brave a Polar winter
under more favourable conditions than those experienced by most
Arctic navigators.
In the course of a few days a party of native Eskimos, with five
sledges, made their appearance, and their friendly labours were
found of no little value. They considered themselves amply repaid by
a few presents of knives, needles, and the like, and after a short stay
returned to their settlement at Etah. However, others soon took their
place; and eventually two or three families built their igloes in the
neighbourhood of the American camp. The Eskimo women made
themselves very useful by making and repairing clothing, and
rendering other feminine courtesies; while the men, when game
became plentiful, supplied the little settlement with a welcome
abundance of fresh meat. Nor was this the only advantage derived
from the presence of the Eskimos; on the contrary, it had an
excellent effect on the morale of the men, who did not feel that utter
isolation, that sense of being cut off from human companionship, and
separated from the rest of the world, which is one of the severest
trials of wintering in the Arctic regions. The heavy pressure of the
long, dark Polar night was wonderfully lightened by the kindly
attentions and mirthful society of the Eskimos.
It is probable that some of the Polaris crew never spent a happier
winter. There was no want of food, no suffering from cold; their
quarters were warm, cheerful, and well-lighted. Time did not hang
heavily on their hands; for when the house-work was done, when the
fires were replenished, the lamps trimmed, and the day’s provisions
cooked, they amused themselves with reading or writing, or played
at chess, draughts, and cards. It is true they had no communication
with the world without, and no intelligence could reach them from
friends or kinsmen; but, surgit amari aliquid—in the cup of human
happiness a bitter drop is always found!
 When the worst of the winter was past, they began, under the
direction of the carpenter, to construct a couple of boats, with the
view of returning homeward as soon as the ice broke up. Each was
twenty-five feet long, square fore and aft, and five feet beam;
capable, that is, of carrying seven men, with provisions for about two
months, in which time they might reasonably calculate on reaching
the civilized settlements. It was the end of May before the condition
of the ice enabled them to set out. Then they broke up their camp,
rewarded their Eskimo friends, carried on board stores and
provisions; and, finally, early on the morning of the 1st of June they
bade farewell to their winter-home, and sailed out into the waters of
Smith Sound.
Their voyage was unmarked by any disastrous incident, and
presents a strange contrast to the dangerous experiences of Tyson
and his companions. Wherever they landed, they obtained an
abundant supply of aquatic birds, seal, and other game. They were
all in good health, well-fed, well-clothed. Their boats were sound and
strong. The winter had long passed away, and the glorious summer
sun poured its full radiance on the calm surface of the Arctic sea.
Sailing pleasantly along, they touched at Hakluyt Island, and
subsequently landed on the west shore of Northumberland Island.
The pack-ice detained them there until the 10th. They then entered a
water-way toward Cape Parry, but were subsequently forced back by
the ice to the place whence they had started. On the 12th the
channel was clearer. They set sail again; crossed the southern part
of Murchison Sound; doubled Cape Parry; and halted for rest and
refreshment on Blackwood Point, near Fitz Clarence Rock. Thence
they made, in due succession, for Wolstenholme Island, and Cape
York,—names which recall the adventures of the earlier explorers.
Their course now assumed a more difficult character, as they had
come face to face with the ice of Melville Bay,—that great expanse of
Arctic waters which is surrounded by glacier-loaded shores, and has
always been a favourite “whaling-ground.” Here they encountered
some difficulty with the “pack;” the “leads,” or water-ways, curiously
intersecting one another, and striking far into the ice, and so closing
up that it was often necessary to haul their boats across a kind of
promontory, or tongue, from one lead to another. Their troubles,
however, were of brief duration. On the twentieth day after leaving
Life-boat Cove, they sighted a steamer, beset in the ice, at a
distance of thirty or thirty-five miles from Cape York. She could not
come to them, it was true, but they could go to her; and this they
prepared to do. They had not traversed half the distance, however,
before they met a body of eighteen men from the ship; for they too
had been seen, and recognized as white men, and relief immediately
despatched. The friendly vessel proved to be the Ravenscraig of
Dundee, Captain Allen, lying in lat. 75° 38’ N., and long. 65° 35’ W.
It was now found, according to the narrative of the expedition,
that the relief did not come much too soon, for the boats had been
considerably injured by contact with the rough hummocky ice. And
the fatigue of hauling them over such a surface may be inferred from
the fact that it took the Polaris crew, with their eighteen relief-men
from the Ravenscraig, six hours to reach the latter vessel. The
difficulty was increased by a deep slushy snow, which lay thick upon
the ice, and which was not only heavy and disagreeable to the
wayfarer, but exceedingly dangerous, as more than one found by
sinking into the pitfalls it treacherously concealed.
But they reached the Ravenscraig at midnight, and received a
hearty welcome from Captain Allen, who was able also to
communicate the grateful intelligence that their comrades, the little
company sent adrift on the ice-raft, were all in safety.
It has been well said that the Polaris expedition proved curiously
prolific of startling and exciting incidents. From the time when
Captain Bartlett of the Tigress rescued the “exhausted waifs” of the
ice-floe, until the last scene in this romantic drama was enacted, the
public mind had been kept in a condition of continual expectancy by
the progress of events connected with the story of these Arctic
explorers. The lamentable death of Captain Hall,—the long voyage
on the ice-floe through the gloom of the Polar night,—the return of
the nineteen castaways after so many hairbreadth escapes and
wonderful adventures,—the departure of the Tigress,—the discovery
of Buddington’s winter-camp,—and now the rescue of him and his
crew by the Dundee whaler, formed a series of surprising and
exciting events, which, if not of epical interest, would certainly seem
to furnish matter for a poet’s song. Even the early annals of Arctic
exploration, with their narratives of the achievements and sufferings
of Hudson, Davis, Barentz, present no incidents of a more
remarkable character. As men dwelt upon them, they came to
acknowledge that the “age of romance” was not ended yet.
On the 18th of September 1873, the Arctic whaling-steamer
arrived at Dundee with eleven of the Polaris survivors, who had been
transferred to her from the Ravenscraig, as the latter was not
homeward bound. Three others reached America in the Intrepid; and
thus the expedition of the Polaris terminated without any loss of life,
if we except the unfortunate death of her enthusiastic commander,
Captain Hall.
It added nothing, it is true, to our geographical knowledge of the
Arctic World; and yet it was not without some useful results. The
Polaris, at all events, approached nearer to the North Pole than any
one of her predecessors; and men of science were thenceforth
justified in asserting that the hope of complete success was no
longer chimerical. The distance to the pole from the point reached by
the Polaris was comparatively so trivial, as to afford good reason for
believing that it would not long baffle human resolution and
enterprise. Then, again, it was established as a fact beyond doubt
that Europeans could securely winter in a latitude of 81° 38’; that a
ship well built and well equipped might push northward as far as 82°
16’; and that no insuperable obstacles to its further advance could
then be detected. It was also shown that the temperature, even in
lat. 82°, was not of a nature to overcome the energy and enthusiasm
of men accustomed to life and adventure in the Arctic World. These
data, so conclusively established by experience, constituted a
source of great encouragement to future navigators, and permit the
conclusion that the Polaris expedition, with all its disasters and
mismanagement, helped forward the great work of discovering the
North Pole.
“We now know,” says Mr. Markham, “that the American vessel
commanded by Captain Hall passed up the strait, in one working
season, for a direct distance of two hundred and fifty miles, without a
check of any kind, reaching lat. 82° 16’ N.; and that at her furthest
point the sea was still navigable, with a water-sky to the northward.”
The Polaris, however, was nothing better than a river-steamer of
small power, ill adapted for encountering the perils of Arctic
navigation,—with a crew, all told, of thirty men, women, and children,
including eight Eskimos. If she could accomplish such a voyage
without difficulty, and could attain so high a latitude, it was
reasonable to anticipate that a properly equipped English expedition,
under equally favourable circumstances, would do, not only as
much, but much more, and carry the British flag into the waters of
the circumpolar sea, if such existed. With this view, the Admiralty
fitted out the Alert and the Discovery, under Captains Nares and
Stephenson. Every precaution that science could suggest was
adopted to ensure the completeness of their equipment; and the two
ships, accompanied as far as Disco by H.M.S. Valorous as a tender,
left England on the 29th May 1875.

The British Expedition, consisting of the Alert and the Discovery,

did not succeed in all it was intended to accomplish; and yet it can
hardly be spoken of as a failure. It did not reach that conventional
point of geographers, the North Pole, but it penetrated within four
hundred miles of it; and it ascertained the exact nature of the
obstacles which render access impossible, except under conditions
not at present in existence. We agree with a thoughtful writer in the
Spectator that this was a most important service rendered both to
Science and the State. We now know that by the Smith Sound route
a ship may attain to within 450 miles of the Pole; and that,
afterwards, a journey about as long as from London to Edinburgh
must be undertaken, in a rigorous climate, with the thermometer 50°
below zero, over ice packed up into hillocks and hummocks which
render sledge-travelling almost impracticable, or practicable only by
hewing out a path with the pickaxe at the rate of a mile and a half a
day. And further: the work would have to be begun and completed in
four months, or, from lack of light and warmth, it could not be done at
all. These are serious difficulties, and whether it is worth while for
men to encounter them, where the gain would be problematical, we
need not here inquire. Before any attempt can be made, some
provision must be discovered for protecting those who make it
against the excessive cold, and for a surer and swifter mode of
conveyance than the sledge affords. The journalist to whom we have
referred speculates that science may furnish future expeditions with
undreamt-of resources,—with portable light and heat, for instance,
from the newly-discovered mines at Disco; preventives against
scurvy; electric lights; supplies of dynamite for blowing up the ice;
and a traction-engine to traverse the road thus constructed; but, in
the meantime, these appliances are not at our command. We must
be content with the measure of success achieved by Captain Nares
and his gallant followers.
And these well deserve the gratitude of all who think the fame
and honour of a nation are precious possessions. They have shown
clearly that the “race” has not degenerated; that Englishmen can do
and suffer now as they did and suffered in the old time. They
displayed a courage and a fortitude of truly heroic proportions. And
the experiences of Arctic voyaging are always of a nature to require
the highest courage and the sternest fortitude. The long Arctic night
is in itself as severe a test of true manhood as can well be devised.
The miner works under conditions for less laborious than those to
which the Arctic explorer submits, for he enjoys an alternation of light
and darkness; his underground toil lasts but for a few hours at a
time. Yet we know that it tries a man’s manly qualities sorely! What,
then, must it be to keep brave and cheerful and true throughout a
prolonged night of one hundred and forty-two days—that apparently
endless darkness, almost the darkness of a sunless world?
We know, too, that continuous work, without relaxation, for month
after month, will break down the nerves and shatter the intellect of
the strongest. Yet we read that the men of the Alert toiled like slaves,
on one occasion, for seventy-two days, in cold so extreme that the
reader can form no conception of its severity, and with the dread
constantly hanging over them of that terrible and most depressing
disease, scurvy. Owing to their inability to procure any fresh game,
as most former expeditions had done, each of the extended sledge-
parties, when at their farthest distance from any help, was attacked
by it. The return-journeys were, therefore, a prolonged homeward
struggle of men who grew weaker at every step, the available force
to draw the sledge continually decreasing, and the weight to be
dragged as steadily increasing, as, one after another, the men
stricken down had to be carried by their enfeebled comrades.
It has been well said that in such exploits as these there is a
sustained heroism which we cannot fully appreciate, because we
cannot fully realize the terrible character of the sacrifices involved.
But it is comparatively easy for us to understand, and therefore to
admire, the courage of Lieutenant Parr, when he started alone on a
journey of thirty-five miles, with no other guide for his adventurous
steps than the fresh track of a wandering wolf over the ice and snow,
in order to carry help and comfort to his failing comrades. It is easy
to understand, and therefore to admire, the devotion of Mr. Egerton
and Lieutenant Rawson, when, at the imminent risk of their own
lives, they nursed Petersen, the interpreter, while travelling from the
Alert to the Discovery, with the temperature 40° below zero.
Petersen, who had accompanied them with the dog-sledge, fell ill;
and with a noble unselfishness they succeeded in retaining heat in
the poor fellow’s body by alternately lying one at a time alongside of
him, while the other by exercise was recovering his own vital
warmth. We can also acknowledge and admire the constancy of
Captain Nares, who, in that horrible climate, lived thirty-six days in
the “crow’s-nest,” while his ship laboured among the grinding,
shivering, crushing ice, until exhaustion overcame him. And we can
acknowledge and admire the bravery and faithfulness of the men of
the sledge-parties who, for days and weeks, drew the sledges and
their comrades, with gloom above and around them, ice and snow
everywhere bounding the prospect, and in a temperature which
seemed to freeze the blood and benumb the heart.
What a tale, says a writer in the Times, what a tale of unrequited
suffering it is! Surely not “unrequited;” for those who suffered,
suffered at the call of duty, and have been rewarded by the approval
of their countrymen, and by the consciousness of having done
something great, of not having lived in vain. “How lightly do all talk of
glory; how little do they know what it means! The little army had to
cut its way through the ice-barriers, dragging heavily-laden sledges,
and going to and fro, the whole force being often required for each
sledge, content to make a mile and a quarter a day, in pursuit of an
object still four hundred miles off, through increasing difficulties, and
with barely five months, or one hundred and fifty days, wherein to go
and return. The labour is a dreadful reality; the scheme itself a
nightmare, the phantasy of a disordered brain. Even the smaller and
subsidiary expedition for planting a depôt last autumn cost three
amputations. The cold was beyond all former experience for intensity
and length, and the physical effect of a long winter spent in the ships
under such conditions is particularized as one reason why the men
were less able to endure cold, labour, and the want of proper food.
Every one of the expeditions, whatever the direction, came back in
the saddest plight,—some dragging the rest, and in one case only
reaching the ship through the heroism of an officer pushing on many
miles alone to announce his returning comrades, and to procure the
aid by which alone they were saved from destruction. These are
episodes, but they are the matter which redeems the story and
makes its truest value. They tell us what Englishmen will do on
occasions beyond our feeble home apprehensions, when once they
have accepted a call, and are in duty bound.”

At the time we write no elaborate record of the expedition has

been published, and the materials of the following sketch are
collected therefore from various narratives which have appeared in
the daily journals. We shall begin by endeavouring to place before
the reader, with the assistance of Mr. Clements R. Markham, a rapid
summary of what the expedition accomplished. And then we shall
describe its more interesting incidents.
 The object of Captain Nares and his followers was to discover
and explore as considerable a portion of the unknown area in the
Polar Regions as was possible with reference to the means at their
disposal, and to the positions the vessels succeeded in reaching as
starting-points. The theories about open Polar basins and navigable
waters which once obtained have long been discarded by practical
Arctic geographers. A coast-line, however, is needful as a means of
progress to “the threshold of work;” and it is needful, too, in order to
secure the desired results of Arctic discovery in the various
departments of scientific inquiry.
The expedition, then, in the first place, had to force its way
through the ice-encumbered channel which connects Baffin Bay with
the Polar Ocean; a channel which successively bears the names of
Smith Sound, Kane Basin, Kennedy Channel, Hall Basin, and
Robeson Strait. Smith Sound opens out of Baffin Bay between
Capes Alexander and Isabella. The Alert and the Discovery passed
these famous headlands and entered the Sound on July 29, 1875;
and from that date until September 1, when the Alert crossed the
Threshold of the Unknown Region, they fought one continuous battle
with the ice. The Polaris, it is true, had made a rapid passage on the
occasion of its memorable voyage; but the circumstances were
exceptional. Generally the Sound is blocked up by heavy floes, with
winding waters caused by the action of wind and tide. With great
difficulty our two ships forced the barrier; but their success was due
in no small measure to the skill and vigilance of Captain Nares, who
allowed himself no rest until they were out of danger. At length, after
many hairbreadth escapes, and many laborious nights and days,
and much energy and devotion on the part of the officers, and equal
courage and industry on the part of the men, the expedition reached
the north shore of Lady Franklin Inlet, and found a safe, commodious
harbour in lat. 81° 44’ N. Here the Discovery took up her winter
quarters, as had previously been arranged; and the Alert, after a
brief interval of repose, continued her northward progress.
This she was enabled to do through the opportune opening up of
a water-lane between the shore and the ice. Bravely she dashed
ahead, rounded Cape Union, so named by the men of the Polaris
expedition, and entered the open Polar Ocean. Then, in lat. 82° 20’
N., the white ensign was hoisted on board a British man-of-war in a
latitude further north than the ship of any nation had reached before.
Soon afterwards the solid masses of the Polar pack-ice began to
close around the adventurous vessel; and on the 3rd of September
1875, the Alert was fast fixed in her winter quarters, on the ice-bound
shore of the inhospitable Polar Sea in lat. 82° 27’ N.
This, says Mr. Markham,[11] was the first grand success; and it
assured the eventual completion of the work. For, owing to the
admirable seamanship of Captain Nares, and to the zeal and
devotion of the officers and crew, the Alert had been carried across
the Threshold, and was within the Unknown Region. A point of
departure was thus obtained, which rendered certain the
achievement of complete success; inasmuch as in whatever
direction the sledge-parties travelled, valuable discoveries could not
fail to be the result.
The autumnal excursions, during which depôts of provisions were
established for use in the work of the coming spring, were not
performed without a very considerable amount of suffering.
Lieutenant May and two seamen were so severely frost-bitten, that,
to save their lives, amputation was found necessary.
As will be seen from the latitude given, the ships wintered further
north than any ships had ever previously wintered. The cold
exceeded anything previously registered, and darkness extended
over a dreary period. The winter, however, was not spent idly:
observatories were erected, and a mass of valuable scientific data
industriously accumulated.
“But the crowning glories of this ever-memorable campaign
were,” as Mr. Markham exclaims, “achieved during the spring.” Three
main sledge-expeditions were organized: one, under Commander
Markham and Lieutenant Parr, instructed to keep due north, as far as
possible, into the newly-discovered Polar Ocean; another, under
Lieutenant Aldrich, to explore the American coast, westward; and the
third, under Lieutenant Beaumont of the Discovery, to survey the
north coast of Greenland, facing eastward. Each party consisted of
two sledges; and the six, with their gallant crews, set out on the 3rd
of April 1876, determined to vindicate and maintain the reputation of
British seamen. They separated at Cape Joseph Henry; and before
they again met, this was what they achieved:—
Commander Markham and Lieutenant Parr pushed northward as
far as lat. 83° 20’ 26″ N.; being the most northerly point which any
explorers have attained. They may therefore be fairly and justly
regarded as “the Champions” of Arctic Discovery, until some
successors, more fortunate than they, shall surpass their glorious
feat.
Lieutenant Aldrich struck westward; rounded Cape Colombia in
lat. 83° 7’ N.; and explored 220 miles of the American coast-line,
previously not laid down on any map.
Lieutenant Beaumont crossed Robeson Strait, and surveyed the
northern coast of Greenland for about seventy miles.
“In order,” it is said, “that these three main parties might do their
work successfully, every soul in the two ships was actively
employed. The depôt and relieving parties did most arduous work,
and the officers vied with each other in promoting the objects of the
expedition, while the most perfect harmony and unanimity prevailed.
Captain Feilden and Mr. Hart were especially active in making
natural history collections; and Lieutenants Giffard, Archer, Rawson,
Egerton, and Conybeare did admirable work in exploring and
keeping open communications.” When the sledge-parties returned to
the ships, Captain Nares found that they had suffered terribly; but he
also found that their success had been complete. They had solved a
geographical problem; no open sea surrounded the Pole, as so
many sanguine spirits had anticipated. The way northward was over
a waste of ice—of ice broken up into hummocks and ponderous
masses. And with the appliances they possessed further progress
was impossible; the expedition had reached its ne plus ultra.
The work was done, and Captain Nares perceived that nothing
more could be gained, while valuable lives might be lost by
remaining longer in the Polar Ocean. He decided upon returning to
England, with the following rich results to show as the reward of an
heroic enterprise:—
First, the expedition had discovered a great Polar Ocean, a
knowledge of which cannot fail to prove of exceeding value to the
hydrographer. Next, the shores of this ocean had been explored
along fifty degrees of longitude, and important collections formed of
specimens of the Arctic fauna, flora, and geology. The channel
connecting the Polar Ocean with Smith Sound had also been
carefully surveyed, and an accurate delineation effected of either
shore. Geological discoveries of high value had also been made; as,
for example, that of the former existence of an evergreen forest in
lat. 82° 44’ N.,—a fact significant of vast climatic changes. And,
lastly, interesting observations in meteorology, magnetism, tidal and
electric phenomena, and spectrum analysis had been carefully
recorded. The expedition of 1875–76 must, therefore, in view of
these results, be classed among the most successful which ever
adventured into Arctic waters; though it failed, like its predecessors,
to gain the North Pole.

The Alert and the Discovery left the shores of England in May
1875. After a voyage of five weeks’ duration they arrived at Lievely,
the port of Disco Island, on the west coast of Greenland. This small
settlement numbers about ninety-six inhabitants, Danes and
Eskimos,—generally speaking, a mixed race. The Danish Inspector
of North Greenland resides here, and he received the expedition with
a salute from three brass cannon planted in front of his house. There
is a well-conducted school, attended by about sixteen children; and a
small church, where the schoolmaster reads the Lutheran service on
Sundays,—the priest coming over from Upernavik occasionally, to
perform marriages, christenings, and other religious services.
The Alert having taken on board thirty Eskimo dogs and a driver,
the expedition left Disco at one o’clock on July 16th, and next
morning reached Kiltenbunto, about thirty miles further north.
 Kiltenbunto is a little island in the Strait of Weigattet, between
Disco and the mainland. Here the Discovery took on board thirty
dogs; and shooting-parties from both ships made a descent on a
“loomery,” or “bird-bazaar,” frequented by guillemots, kittiwakes, and
other ocean-birds. Two or three days later the expedition arrived at a
settlement named Proven, where it was joined by the Eskimo dog-
driver, Hans Christian, the attendant of Kane, Hayes, and Hall, in
their several expeditions. At Proven the adventurers received and
answered their last letters from “home.”
Striking northward through Baffin Bay, they reached Cape York
on the 25th of July, and met with a company of the misnamed Arctic
Highlanders, who traversed the ice-floes in their dog-sledges, and
soon fraternized with the seamen. A narwhal having been
harpooned, a quantity of the skin and blubber was given to these
Eskimos. Mr. Hodson, the chaplain of the Discovery, describes them
as exceedingly greedy and barbarous, eating whatever fell in their
way, but living chiefly upon seals. They were not so far advanced in
civilization as to be able to construct kayacks, and apparently they
had never before seen Europeans. They wore trousers of bear-skin,
and an upper garment of seal-skin.
Proceeding northward by Dr. Kane’s Crimson Cliffs, they soon
reached that brave explorer’s celebrated winter quarters, Port
Foulke, and took advantage of a day’s delay to visit the Brother John
Glacier. They found Dr. Kane’s journal, but no relics; shot a reindeer,
and a large number of birds.
Between Melville Bay and the entrance to Smith Sound no ice
was met with; but on the 30th of July the “pack” was sighted, off
Cape Sabine, in lat. 78° 41´ N. Here, at Port Payer, the ships were
fast held by the ice for several days. An attempt to proceed further
northward was made to the west of the islands in Hayes Sound; but
the water-way not leading in the right direction, the ships returned.
On the 6th of August they made a fresh start, and thenceforward
maintained an uninterrupted struggle with the ice. The Alert led the
way, with Captain Nares in her “crow’s-nest,” anxiously looking out
for practicable channels. At Cape Frazer the huge solid mass again
delayed them. Then they succeeded in crossing Kennedy Channel to
the east side, and taking shelter in Petermann Fiord—so named
after the great German geographer. After a few days they again
pushed northward; and on the 25th of August, after many narrow
escapes from being crushed in the ice, a well-sheltered harbour
received them, on the west side of Hall Basin, north of Lady Franklin
Sound, in lat. 81° 44´ N. This was at once selected as the winter
quarters of the Discovery. Her sister-ship, continuing her course,
rounded the north-east point of Grant Land; but instead of falling in
with a continuous coast-line, stretching one hundred miles further
towards the north, as all had anticipated, found herself on the border
of what was evidently a very extensive sea, with impenetrable ice on
every side. As no harbour could be found, the ship was secured as
far north as possible, inside a kind of embankment of grounded ice
close to the land. There she passed the winter; and during the
eleven months of her detention no navigable water-way, through
which she could move further to the north, presented itself.
Far from meeting with the “great Polar Sea” dreamed of by Kane
and Hayes, our adventurers discovered that the ice-barrier before
them was unusually thick and solid. It looked as if composed of
floating icebergs which had gradually been jammed and welded
together. Henceforth it will be known on our maps as the
Palæocrystic Sea, or Sea of Ancient Ice; and a stranded mass of ice
disrupted from an ice-floe is to be termed a floeberg.
Ordinary ice does not exceed ten feet in thickness; but in the
Polar Sea, generation after generation, layer has been
superimposed on layer, until the whole mass measures from eighty
feet to one hundred and twenty feet; it floats with its surface nowhere
less than fifteen feet above the water-line. It was this wonderful
thickness which prevented the Alert from driving ashore. Owing to its
great depth of flotation, sixty feet to one hundred feet, the mass
grounded on coming into shallow water, and formed a breakwater
within which the ship was comparatively secure. “When two pieces
of ordinary ice are driven one against the other, and the edges
broken up, the crushed pieces are raised by the pressure into a high,
long, wall-like hedge of ice. When two of the ancient floes of the
Polar Sea meet, the intermediate lighter broken-up ice which may
happen to be floating about between them alone suffers; it is
pressed up between the two closing masses to a great height,
producing a chaotic wilderness of angular blocks of all shapes and
sizes, varying in height up to fifty feet above water, and frequently
covering an area upwards of a mile in diameter.”

We must now return to the Discovery. As soon as she had taken

up her winter quarters, her crew began to unload her, landing the
boats, stores, and spare spars, and otherwise preparing for the
winter. The first day ashore they shot a herd of eleven musk-oxen. A
few days afterwards the sea was frozen all round the ship, so that
they could freely move to and fro about the ice. A week later they
saw a large number of musk-oxen, and shot about forty—thus laying
in a considerable supply of provisions.
Their winter port, which was surrounded by snow-clad hills, about
two thousand feet high, they christened Discovery Harbour.
As soon as the sea was completely frozen over, the sledging-
parties were organized and duly despatched; but as the autumn was
rapidly passing, very little could be done in this direction. The usual
preparations on the part of Arctic explorers were then made for
“hybernating.” Houses were built; also a magnetic observatory and a
theatre of ice—recalling the glittering edifice constructed by
Catherine II. of Russia on the Neva, and celebrated by Cowper in the
well-known lines,—
“No forest fell
When thou wouldst build, no quarry sent its stores
To enrich thy walls; but thou didst hew the floods,
And make thy marble of the glassy wave.”

A smithy was erected on the 11th of November, being the first the
Arctic ice had ever borne. Its roof was made of coal-bags, cemented
with ice. The ship’s stoker reigned supreme in it as blacksmith; and
when we consider the accessories,—the ice, the snow, the darkness,
—we must admit that his blazing forge must have made a curious
picture. The chaplain tells us, humorously, that the smith adorned the
interior wall with a good many holes, as each time that his iron
wanted cooling he simply thrust it into the ice!
As for the theatre, which, as we know, has always been a
favourite source of amusement with Arctic explorers when winter-
bound, it was sixty feet long and twenty-seven feet broad; and, in
honour of the Princess of Wales, was named “The Alexandra.” Her
birthday was selected as the day of opening—December 1st; and
the opening piece was a popular farce—“My Turn Next.” As sailors
are generally adepts at dramatic personations, we may conceive that
the piece “went well,” and that the different actors received the
applause they merited. It is recorded that foremost among them was
the engineer, Mr. Miller, who appears to have been, emphatically, the
Polar Star. Several of the men sung songs; and recitations, old and
new, were occasionally introduced; the result of the whole being to
divert the minds and keep up the spirits of the ship’s company during
the long, long Arctic night.
The Fifth of November and its time-honoured associations were
not forgotten. A huge bonfire blazed on the ice; a “Guy Fawkes” was
manufactured and dressed in the most approved fashion; and the
silence of the frozen solitudes was broken by the sounds of a grand
display of fireworks and the cheering of the spectators.
A fine level promenade had been constructed on the ice, about a
mile in length, by sweeping away the snow; and this served as a
daily exercise ground. A skating-rink was also constructed. A free
hole in the ice, for the sake of better ventilation, was carefully kept
up. Whenever it closed, through a process of gradual congelation,
the ice-saws were set in motion to open it up again, or it was blasted
with gunpowder. The dogs lived on the ice-floe all the winter. It must
not be thought that the cold was uniform day after day. Probably it is
not the low temperature so much as the variable temperature that
makes an Arctic winter so very trying to the European. In a few hours
the change would be no less than 60°. The cold reached its height—
or depth—in winter, when the thermometer marked 70½° below zero;
the greatest cold ever experienced by any Polar expedition. It is
difficult for the human frame to bear up against this excess of rigour,
even with the help of good fires, good food, and good clothing. Not
only the physical but the mental faculties are debilitated and
depressed.
Our ice-bound seamen, however, managed to keep Christmas
merrily. Early on the day so dear to Christian memories “the waits”
went their usual rounds,—a sergeant of marines, the chief
boatswain’s mates, and three other volunteers,—singing Christmas
carols, and making “a special stay outside the captain’s cabin.” In the
forenoon prayers were said on the lower deck; after which the
captain and officers visited the men’s mess, tasting the Christmas
pudding, and examining the tasteful decorations which had been
improvised. Then the gifts which, in anticipation of the day, had been
sent out by kindly English hearts, were distributed by the captain,—
to each gift the name of the recipient having been previously
attached. This was an affecting scene; and hearty, though not
without a touch of pathos in them, were the cheers given as the
distribution took place; a distribution recalling so many “old familiar
faces,” and all the sweet associations and gentle thoughts of home!
Cheers were also raised for the captain and men of the far-away
Alert. Next, a choir was formed, and echo resounded with the strains
of “O the Roast Beef of Old England!” of which, no doubt, many of
the singers entertained a very affectionate remembrance. The men
dined at twelve and the officers at five, and the day seems in every
respect to have been most successful as a festival.
A few particulars of the “situation” may here be given in the
chaplain’s own words:—“We had brought fish, beef, and mutton from
England,” he says, “all of which we hung up on one of the masts,
and it was soon as hard as a brick, and perfectly preserved. We had
also brought some sheep from England with us, and they were killed
from time to time. When we arrived in Discovery Bay, as we called it,
six of them were alive; but on being landed they were worried by the
dogs, and had to be slaughtered. During the winter the men had to
fetch ice from a berg about half a mile distant from the ship, in order
to melt it for fresh water.”