The Nature of Research

Presentation 1

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

Ways of Knowing

Three Broad Categories:

Experience
Non-Scientific

Reasoning

Research Scientific

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

Experience

• Personal

• Older person

• Colleague

• An authority (experts; traditional)

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

 Common Errors in Non-scientific Inquiry
• Inaccurate observation - making mistakes about what is observed and what is
reported

• Overgeneralization – taking a few events as evidence of the general pattern

• Selective observation – using too narrow a focus on specific individuals or

events

• Illogical reason – no relation established between evidence and conclusion

 Premature closure – thinking you have all the answers, you stop asking
questions or making observations

 Halo effect – giving people who have stronger reputations the benefit over those
with a weaker reputation

 Personal experience – making conclusions based on our experience

 Ecological fallacy- erroneously drawing conclusions about an individual based

on observations of a group

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

 Research
What is Research

Wiersma (1995):

•Research is empirical (Based on evidence)

•Research should be systematic
•Research should be valid
•Research should be reliable
•Research can take a variety of forms.
[Wiersma, W. (1995). Research methods in education: An introduction (6th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Simon
and Schuster]

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

Research is empirical (Based on evidence)
•Empiricism is the concept that all knowledge in
derived from sense experience.
•The result of this experience must take some kind of
informational form so that knowledge can be
generated. Information can take many forms: e.g. test
scores, field notes, responses to questionnaires
•The researcher examines the data: organizing them;
generating hypotheses, testing hypotheses etc.

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

Research should be systematic
Research is a process, and to be useful it ought to be systematic.
Associated with the SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
•Identify a problem
•Review the literature.
•Collect data
•Analyzing data
•Draw conclusions.
“Educational research is systematic and within a broad framework
follows the steps of the scientific method. However, across different
types of studies there is extensive flexibility in how the steps are
implemented” (Wiersma , 1995, p. 4)

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

Research should be valid
It should be based on fact or evidence, i.e. “capable of being
justified”.
Two concepts of validity are involved:
Internal validity – the extent to which results can be
interpreted accurately and with
confidence.
External validity – the extent to which the research
results are generalizable to other
populations and / or conditions.
VALIDITY of research deals with the accuracy with which results can
be interpreted (INTERNAL) and the generalizability of the
Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)
results (EXTERNAL). Both are a matter of degree.
Research should be reliable
Reliability is concerned with the consistency of results
and the replicability of the research.
Internal reliability – how reliable are the
data collected? Are the results
consistent? (Observer agreement)
External reliability – can independent
researchers replicate the study? If so,
will the results be consistent?

NOTE: RELIABILITY is a necessary condition for VALIDITY.

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

Research can take a variety of forms.

There are different classification systems.

For example, research can be classified

according to:

•Purpose

•Methodology

•Philosophy

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

PURPOSE:
Basic research – goal is to add to the body of knowledge
in the discipline; conducted mainly for theory
development and refinement.
Applied research – goal is to investigate practical
application of theory; test usefulness of theory.
Action research – goal is to find sustainable solutions to
problems. Usually applies concepts such as
collaboration and commitment to bring about
change for the better.
Evaluation research –goal is to assess the merit and
worth of a particular practice in a given context.

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

Methodology :
Quantitative research relies on numerical data to describe
phenomena.
•Data usually collected by measuring scales, very structured
questionnaires, checklists, and is quantified.
•Results are generally used to explain, predict, or control
phenomena.
•Analysis is usually statistical.
•Quantitative research tends to involve few variable and large
samples.
•Associated with deductive reasoning.
Qualitative research relies primarily on narrative data to
describe phenomena.
•Open interviews, document examination, participant
observation (field notes)
•Results used to describe.
•Tends to be inductive
•May generate theory, or may be atheoretical
Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)
Philosophy:
Positivist approach is based on the notion that social
reality is objective in nature.
• Knowledge is objective and exist independent of
the knower.
• There is absolute TRUTH ‘out there’ and it is just a
matter of accessing it.
Anti-positivist approach is based on the notion that social
reality is context specific.
• Knowledge is subjective and shaped by the
knower.
• There is no objective TRUTH, only truth as it
relates to the knower.

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

The philosophical stance that you adopt to guide

your research is referred to as your PARADIGM.

A paradigm is a set of propositions that explain

how the world is perceived. It provides guidance
about what is important, what is legitimate and
what is reasonable.
Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)
In considering philosophical perspectives, you must
examine basic belief:
ONTOLOGICAL ISSUES: The nature of reality
(objective vs. subjective)

EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES: The nature of

knowledge (truth) and how we come to ‘know’.

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES: what are legitimate

ways of investigating reality

Each philosophical paradigm has its own views on these issues .

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)
 The Influence of Philosophy on Research

Ontology

Epistemology

Methodology

Design

Instrument(s)

= influences
Data Analysis
Adapted From: Sarantakos, 2005, p. 29

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)

The End

Leacock, Warrican and Rose (2009)