What is Research?

A structured way of solving problems.

What are the Types of Research?

five types of research: analytical, descriptive, experimental, qualitative, and mixed methods.

What is Analytical Research?

involves in-depth study and the evaluation of available information in an attempt to explain complex phenomena. The types of analytical research are historical, philosophical, reviews, and research synthesis.

What is Historical Research?

deals with events that have already occurred. Historical research focuses on events, organizations, institutions, and people.

What is another purpose of Historical Research?

In other investigations, the researcher attempts to discover facts that will provide more meaning and understanding of past events to explain the present state of affairs. In some studies, the researcher is interested mostly in preserving the record of events and accomplishments. trying to predict the future

What characterizes Philosophical Research?

Critical inquiry

What is the process of Philosophical Research?

researcher establishes hypotheses, examines and analyzes facts, and synthesizes the evidence into a workable theoretical model.

What are the Problem Areas of the Philosophical Method?

Problems dealing with objectives, curricula, course content, requirements, and methodology (to name a few)

What is the Philosophical Approach?

The philosophical approach uses scientific facts as the basis for formulating and testing research hypotheses.

What happens to beliefs in Philosophical Research?

beliefs must be subjected to rigorous criticism in light of the fundamental assumptions.

What preparation is necessary for Philosophical Research?

Academic preparation in philosophy and a solid background in the fields from which the facts are derived are necessary.

What is a Review?

a critical evaluation of recent research on a particular topic.

What are the Review Author Requirements?

The author must be extremely knowledgeable about the available literature as well as the research topic and procedures.

What is the Review Process?

involves an analysis, evaluation, and integration of the published literature, often leading to important conclusions concerning the research findings up to that time.

What is the definition of a Review?

A critical evaluation of research on a particular topic.

What do a number of journals do regarding Reviews?

A number of journals publish reviews periodically, and some occasionally devote entire issues to reviews.

Why are reviews difficult to write?

Reviews of literature are difficult to write because they require the synthesis of a large number of studies to determine common underlying findings, agreements, or disagreements.

What is Research Synthesis?

trying to make sense of data collected on a large number of participants by simply looking at the data.

What is a Meta-analysis?

quantitative means of analyzing the findings from numerous studies

What is Descriptive Research concerned with?

status

What is Descriptive Research?

A type of research that attempts to describe the status of the study’s focus. Common techniques are questionnaires, interviews, normative surveys, case studies, job analyses, observational research, developmental studies, and correlational studies.

why use a Questionnaire?

When you need to obtain responses from people, often from a wide geographical area.

What information does a Questionnaire usually strive to secure?

secure information about present practices, conditions, and demographic data.

What does a Questionnaire occasionally ask for?

opinions or knowledge.

What is an advantage of an Interview regarding clarification?

The researcher can rephrase questions and ask additional ones to clarify responses and secure results that are more valid.

What is required to become a skilled interviewer?

training and experience.

What are the cost and coverage advantages of Telephone Interviewing?

It costs half as much as face-to-face interviews and can cover a wide geographical area, which is generally a limitation in personal interviews.

What is the definition of a Normative Survey?

The normative survey generally seeks to gather performance or knowledge data on a large sample from a population and to present the results in the form of comparative standards, or norms.

What is a Case Study?

The case study is used to provide detailed information about an individual (or institution, community, and so on). (also a technique used in qualitative research.)

What is the purpose of a Case Study?

It aims to determine unique characteristics about the subject or condition.

What is the purpose of a Job Analysis?

to describe the nature of a particular job, including the duties, responsibilities, and preparation required for success.

What is Observational Research?

Observational research is a descriptive technique in which behaviors are observed in the participants’ natural setting, such as the classroom or play environment.

How is Observational Research analyzed?

The observations are frequently coded, and then their frequency and duration are analyzed.

What are Developmental Studies?

In developmental research, the investigator is usually concerned with the interaction of learning or performance with maturation.

What is the Longitudinal Method?

Developmental research can be undertaken by what is called the longitudinal method, whereby the same participants are studied over a period of years.

What is the Cross-sectional Approach?

selecting samples of participants from different age groups to assess the effects of maturation

What is the purpose of Correlational Studies?

to examine the relationship between performance variables, such as heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion; the relationship between traits, such as anxiety and pain tolerance; or the correlation between attitudes and behavior, as in the attitude toward fitness and the amount of participation in fitness activities.

What is Correlation used for besides examining relationships?

Sometimes correlation is employed to predict performance.

Con of Correlational Research?

Correlational research is descriptive in that a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be presumed.

What can be established through Correlational Research?

an association is (or is not) present between two or more traits or performances.

What is Epidemiological Research?

Another form of descriptive research that has become a viable approach to studying problems dealing with health, fitness, and safety is the epidemiological research method. pertains to the frequencies and distributions of health and disease conditions among populations.

What is the basic concept in Epidemiological Studies?

Rate of occurrence

What can be established through incidence and prevalence data in Epidemiological Research?

Although cause and effect cannot be established by incidence and prevalence data, a strong inference of causation can often be made through association.

What is the major advantage of Experimental Research?

the researcher can manipulate treatments to cause things to happen (i.e., establish a cause-and-effect situation).

How does Experimental Research contrast with other types of research?

already existing phenomena or data from the past are observed and analyzed.

What is Experimental Research?

A type of research that involves the manipulation of treatments in an attempt to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

What does the researcher attempt to control in Experimental Research?

the researcher attempts to control all factors except the experimental (or treatment) variable.

What happens if extraneous factors can be controlled?

the researcher can presume that the changes in the dependent variable are due to the independent variable.

What are the other names given to Qualitative Research?

(ethnographic, naturalistic, interpretive, grounded, phenomenological, subjective, and participant observational).

What is the definition of Qualitative Research?

It is a systematic method of inquiry, and follows the scientific method of problem solving to a considerable degree, although it deviates in certain dimensions.

When does Qualitative Research establish hypotheses?

rarely establishes hypotheses at the beginning of the study, but instead uses more general questions to guide the study.

What is the process used by Qualitative Research to develop hypotheses and theory?

an inductive process in developing hypotheses and theory as the data unfold.

Who is the primary instrument in Qualitative Research?

The researcher

What characterizes Qualitative Research regarding researcher presence?

intensive firsthand presence.

What are the tools of data collection in Qualitative Research?

observation, interviews, and researcher-designed instruments

What is Mixed Methods of Research?

both quantitative and qualitative approaches are included (or mixed) within a research effort. suggests that both qualitative and quantitative techniques are useful when studying realworld phenomena. notion is that the approach that works best to capture behavioral data is what should be used.