The History of Educational Research
The Search for Truth
Man has long been concerned to come to grips with his environment, and to understand the nature of the phenomena it presents to his senses. The means by which he sets out to reach these ends may be classified into three broad categories: personal experience, reasoning and research.
1/ Experience: Does itself subsume a number of sources of information that may be called upon in a problem-solving situation. The first source of experience is the one know to all people, a person may thus draw upon his own individually accumulated knowledge and skills derived from different encounters and acquaintances with facts and events of his environment. For example, a child repairs a puncture in a bicycle inner tube speedily and efficiently because he has done it several times previously; an adult anticipates the problems and difficulties of buying a house because he has gone through the procedures before. Beyond the corpus of this personal knowledge, a person may seek the use of a wider or different experience of others. Often, this is related to people in one's immediate circle; a child turns to his parents or teachers, an adult consults a friend or a colleague. If this fails, a person may search out answers beyond his immediate circle to other sources which we may designate as "authoritative". This may include recognized experts in particular fields. For example, a leader or a figurehead as in a religious community.
So, in our endeavors to come to terms with day-to-day problems, we are heavily dependent upon experience and authority; which should not be underestimated in any sphere of research because they provide us with a richly fertile source of questions and hypotheses about the world through it must be remembered that personal experience is a form of "common-sense knowledge" and thus has its own limitations. For instance, the layman's knowledge or consideration to knowledge is based on a loose and uncritical manner while the scientist's view is based on a more careful and systematic study. Whatever, the hypotheses he formulates, he has to test them empirically. The layman generally makes no attempt to control any extraneous source of influence when trying to explain an occurrence. The scientist, on the other hand, is conscious about the causes for a given occurrence and resorts to different procedures to isolate and test the effect of one or more of the alleged causes. Finally, there is a difference of attitude to relationships among phenomena. The layman's concern with these relationships is loose, unsystematic and uncontrolled. The chance of occurrence of two events in close proximity is sufficient for him to predicate a causal link between them. The scientist however displays a much more professional concern with relationships; and it is only as a result of rigorous experimentation that he will postulate a relationship between two phenomena.
2/ Reasoning: The second category by means of which man attempts to comprehend the world around him is "reasoning". It consists of three types: deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning and the inductive-deductive approach. Deductive reasoning is based on the syllogism which consists of a major premise based on a priori or self-evident proposition, a minor premise providing a particular instance, and a conclusion, thus:
All planets orbit the sun:
The earth is a planet;
Therefore the earth orbits the sun.
The underlying assumption of this syllogism is that through a sequence of formal steps of logic, from the general to the particular, a valid conclusion can be deduced from a valid premise. However, it can be applied only to a certain kinds of statements and that is why its effectiveness diminished by the Renaissance especially that it no longer related to observation and experimentation. The history of reasoning has undergone a great change in the 1600s when Francis Bacon stressed the observational basis of science. According to him, deductive reasoning has premises that bias conclusion and that it cannot be true to all situations. Therefore he proposed an inductive reasoning by means of which the study of a number of individual cases would lead to a hypothesis and eventually to a generalization. Logic and authority were no more regarded as means of proof but sources of questions and hypotheses about the world. Bacon's inductive method was later followed by a combination of inductive-deductive approach which combines Aristotelian deduction with Baconian induction. According to Mouly, this dual approach "is the essence of the modern scientific method and folklore mysticism, dogma and tradition, casual observation and finally to systematic observation". Although deduction and induction have their own weaknesses, their contributions to the development of science are enormous and fall into three categories:
A- The suggestions of hypotheses
B- The logical development of these hypotheses
C- The classification and interpretation of scientific findings
3/ Research: This third means by which a scientist sets out to discover truth is "research". This has been defined by Kerlinger as "the systematic, controlled, empirical and critical investigation of hypothetical propositions about the presumed relations among natural phenomena". Research differs from the previously stated means of getting truth "experience and reasoning" in various ways. First, whereas experience deals with events occurring in a haphazard manner, research is systematic and controlled basing its operations on the inductive-deductive model outlined above. Second, research is empirical. The scientist turns to experimentation to validation. Kerlinger stated "...Subjective belief... must be checked against objective reality. The scientist must always subject his notions to the court of empirical inquiry and set". Third, research is self-correcting. Not only does the scientific method protest the scientists from errors as far as it is humanly possible, yet his procedures and results are open to public scrutiny by fellow professionals. For Mouly "This self-corrective function is the most important single aspect of science, guaranteeing the incorrect results will in time be... revised". In sum, research is a combination of both experience and reasoning and is regarded as the most successful approach to the discovery of truth either in natural or human sciences.

The Nature of science
Since a number of research methods draw heavily on the scientific method either implicitly or explicitly, we will examine here some of the characteristics of science a little more closely.
Determination: This means simply that events have causes, and that they are determined by other circumstances. Science proceeds on the belief that these causal links can uncovered and understood. Moreover, the events in the natural world are not determined only by other circumstances but there is regularity about the way they are determined: the universe does not behave capriciously. It is the ultimate aim of the scientist to formulate laws to account for the happenings in the world around him.
Empiricism: Empirical here means that which is verifiable by observation and evidence; data tielding proof or strong confirmation.
Parsimony: The third assumption underlying the work of the scientist is "the principle of parsimony". The basic idea is that phenomena should be explained in the most economical way possible. It is a preferable to account for the phenomenon by two concepts rather than three; that is a simple theory is preferred to a complex one.
Generality: Beginning with observation of the particular, the scientist sets out to generalize his findings to the world at large. This is so because he is concerned with explanation. Of course the concept of generalization, presents much less of a problem to the natural scientist working with inanimate matter rather than to the human scientist, who deals with longer samples of human population and thus has to be cautious when generalizing his findings to a particular population.
Causation: For a long time and as we have mentioned earlier, scientific research addressed itself to the task do identifying relationships among phenomena on a cause-and-effect basis; causal rather than concomitant relationships were sought. It has been realized, however, that a phenomenon invariably occurs as a result of different causation and that the problem of establishing the actual cause of a particular phenomenon, especially in behavioral sciences, is virtually insoluble. As a result, the notion of "causation" is no longer prevalent as it used to be. There has been a shift of emphasis in the direction do discovering functional relationships that can be expressed in terms of probability of occurrence. "Science is now reconciled to the idea that all that can be expected in the situational realities under which science must operate is prediction -and eventual control- at a high level of probability". This change in focus indicates the limitations of the human development and that science can only be approximate. And continue to function on a probabilistic basis.
Explanation: it is one of the ultimate aims of science. It does not only tell us what happens but also why. The emphasis is on the evaluation of the relationships between the variables or factors involved in a given phenomena in specific conditions. In any actual conduct of enquiry, explanations should be:
1/ Partial: Only some of the factors determining the phenomena being explained are taken into account.
2/ Explanations are conditional: They hold true only of a certain range of the phenomenon, and are applicable only when certain conditions are satisfied.
3/ Explanations are uncertain: The laws and theories especially in behavioral sciences are confirmed only to some degree. The history of science is a history of successive replacement of one explanation by another.
The hypothesis: It is the most important tool the scientist uses to discover truths. It is from this that much of research proceeds, especially when cause-and effect or concomitant relationships are being investigated. The hypothesis has been defined by Kerlingere as a conjectural statement of the relation between two or more variables. More simply, it is described as an "educated guess". Kerlinger considers that there are two criteria for good hypotheses and hypothesis statements. The first is that hypotheses are statements about the relations between variables; and second, that hypotheses carry clear implications for testing compatibility with current knowledge; and that they are expressed as economically as possible. Thus, if we hypothesize that social class background determines academic achievement, we have a relation between one variable, social class, and another variable, academic achievement. And since both variables can be measured, the criteria specified by Kerlinger are satisfied. A null hypothesis is one expressed in negative form ad declares, for important tools of research. First, they organize the efforts of the researcher. The relationships expressed in the hypotheses indicate what he should do. They enable him to understand the problem with greater clarity and provide him with a framework for collecting, analyzing and interpreting his data. Second, they can be deduced from theory or from other hypotheses. Third, they can be tested, either empirically or experimentally, thus resulting in confirmation or rejection.

The Ethics of educational and Social Research
Introduction
Developments in the field of social science in recent years have been accompanied by a growing awareness of moral issues implicitly in the work of social researchers and their need to mere their obligations with respect to those involved in, or affected, by their investigations. Ethical concerns encountered in educational research in particular can be extremely complex and can frequently put researchers in moral predicaments which might appear quite unresolvable. One such dilemma is that which requires researchers to strike a balance between the demands placed on them as professional scientists in pursuit of truth, and their subjects' rights and values potentially threatened by research. Examples of these ethical challenges are numerous. For instance, this might arise from the nature of the project itself (as in ethnic difference in intelligence) or the procedures to be adopted (as producing high levels of anxiety), or the nature of participants (like emotionally disturbed adolescents) or the style of data collected (highly personal information of

sensitive kind) and what to be done with the account, we will cast light on some of the most significant dilemmas that may face researcher's during their constant pursuit of truth.
Informed Consent: Much of social research requires obtaining the consent and co-operation of subjects who are to assist in investigations. In some cultures, informed consent is absolutely essential whenever participants are exposed to substantial risks or asked to forfeit personal rights. Nachmias, an American researcher says:
When research participants are to be exposed to pain, physical or emotional injury... physical or psychological stress... informed consent must be fully guaranteed. Participants should know that their involvement is voluntary at all times, and they should receive a thorough explanation beforehand of the benefits, rights, risks, and dangers involved as a consequence of their participation in the research project. It may be of a great interest to mention briefly other aspects of informed consent in relation to young, or very young children. Seeking informed consent with regard to minors involves two stages. First, researchers consult and seek permission from those adults responsible for the prospective subjects; and, second, they approach the young people themselves. The adults in question will be, for example, parents, teachers, tutors or elders responsible for those children. Objections, for whatever reason, will be duly respected.
Access and Acceptance: Access to the institution or organization where the research is to be conducted, and acceptance by those whose permission one needs before embarking on the task are of a primary importance. Investigators cannot expect access to nursery, school, college or factory as a matter of right. They have to demonstrate that they are worthy, as researchers and human beings, for being accorded the facilities needed to carry out their investigations. Bell (1987) stated that: Permission to carry out investigation must always be sought at an early stage. As soon as you have an agreed project outline and have read enough to convince yourself that the topic is feasible, it is advisable to make a formal written approach to the individuals or organization concerned, outlining your plans. Be honest. If you are carrying out an investigation in connection with a diploma, or a degree course, say that it is what you are doing.
Having identified the official and significant figures whose permission must be sought, and before actually meeting them, researchers will need to clarity in their own minds the precise nature and scope of their research. In this respect researchers could, for instance, identify the nature and size of samples or groups, what tests to be administrated and how, what activities to be observed; what subjects are to be interviewed, the time involved, the degree of disruption envisaged, and so on. All this helps to draw a clear indulging in real research.
Privacy: For the most part, individual "right to privacy" is usually contrasted with public "right to know". This also refers to all information related to a person's physical and mental condition, personal circumstances and social relationships which is not already in the public domain. While collecting data from participants, certain kinds of information are more personal than others and may be more threatening. According to a report by the American Psychological Association for example, "religious preferences, income, racial prejudices, and other personal attributes such as intelligence, honesty and courage are more sensitive items than name, rank, and serial number". Thus, the greater the sensitivity of the information, the more safe-guards are called for to protect the privacy of the research participants. Generally speaking, if researchers intend to probe into the private aspects or affairs of individuals, their intentions should be made clear and explicit and informed consent should be sought from those who are to be observed and scrutinized in private contexts. Other methods to protect participants are anonymity and confidentiality.
Anonymity: The essence of anonymity is that information provided by participants should in no way reveal their identity. A participant or subject is therefore considered anonymous when the researcher or another person cannot identify the participant or the subject from the information provided. Where this situation holds, the participant's privacy is guaranteed, no matter how personal or sensitive the information is. Thus, a respondent completing a questionnaire that bears absolutely no identifying marks-names, addresses, occupational details, or coding symbols is ensured complete and total anonymity. A subject agreeing to a face-to-face interview, on the other hand, can in no way expect anonymity. A most, the interviewer can promise confidentiality.
Confidentiality: The second way of protecting a participant's right to privacy is through the promise of confidentiality. this means that although researchers know who has provided the information or are able to identify participants from the information given, they will in no way make the connection known publicly; the boundaries surrounding the shared secret will be protected. The essence of the matter is the extent to which investigators keep faith with those who helped them. On the whole, the more sensitive, intimate, or discrediting the information, the greater is the obligation on the researcher's part to make sure that guarantees of confidentiality are carried out in spirit and letter.













Research Design Issues: Planning Research
Introduction
There is no single blueprint for planning research. Research design is governed by the notion of "fitness for purpose". The purposes of the research determine the methodology and design of the research. For example, if the purpose of the research is to map the field, or to make generisable comments then a survey approach might be desirable, if the effects of a specific intervention are to be evaluated, then may be an experimental research is appropriate. This lecture indicates how research might be operationalised i.e. how a general set of research aims and purposes can be translated into a practical, researchable topic.
To change "the rule of the game" in the midstream once research has commenced is a source of problems. The terms of the research and the mechanism of its operation must be ironed out in advance if it is to be credible, legitimate, and practicable. Once they have been decided upon, the researcher is in a positive position to undertake the research.
In planning research, there are two phases: a divergent phase and a convergent one. The divergent phase will open up a range of

Possible options facing the researcher, whilst the convergent phase will shift through these possibilities, see which ones are desirable, which ones are compatible with each other, which ones will actually work in the situation, and move towards an action plan that can realistically operate. This can be approached through the establishment of a framework of planning issues.
A framework for planning issues
The set of issues that constitute a framework for planning research should include:
1/ The general aims and purposes of the research.
2/ Generating research questions.
3/ Identifying and setting in order the priorities for and constrains on the research.
4/ Approaching the research design.
5/ Research methodology.
6/ Ethical issues.
7/ Sampling.
8/ Time frames.
9/ Resources required.
10/ Instrumentation.
11/ Validity and reliability.
12/ Data analysis.
13/ Reporting and writing research.
All these can be summarized into four main areas (Morrison 1993):
1/ Orienting decisions.
2/ Research design and methodology.
3/ Data analysis.
4/ Presenting and reporting the results.
Orienting decisions: Are those decisions which will set the boundaries of the research. For example, let us say that the research has to be completed within six months, this will exert an effect on the work. on the one hand, it will "focus the mind" requiring priorities to be settled and data to be provided in a relatively short time. On the other hand, this may reduce the variety of possibilities available to the researcher. Hence, questions of time will affect:
A- The research questions to be answered (for example, some research questions might require a long data collection).
B- The number of data collection instruments used (for example, there might be only enough time for a few instruments to be used).
C- The sources (people) to whom the researcher might go (for example, there might be only a few time to interview a handful of people).by clarifying the time scale a valuable note of realism is injected into the research which enable questions of practicability to be answered. So, in orienting decisions, the researcher needs to consider: who wants the research? What are the general aims and purposes of the research? What are the main priorities and constrains? What are the time scales of the research? What ethical issues are to be faced? What resources are required for the research?...
Research design and methodology: The process of operationalisation is critical at this stage for effective research to be carried out. What is required here is translating a very general research aim or purpose into specific, concrete questions to which specific, concrete answers can be given. The process moves from the general to the particular, from the abstract to the concrete. Thus the researcher breaks down each general research purpose or general aim into more specific research purposes and constituent elements, continuing the process until concrete questions have been reached to which specific answers can be provided.
Let us imagine that the overall research aim is to ascertain the continuity between primary and secondary education. (Morrison 1993). This is very general and needs to be translated into more specific terms. Hence, the researcher can deconstruct the term "continuity" into several components. For example, this might include: experiences, syllabus content, teaching and learning styles, skills, concepts, aims and objectives or education, assessment... Having a vast scope of this (this divergent phase) the researcher can decide that the focus of his study, is going to be on "continuity of pedagogy". This is then broken into its component are as:
1/ The level of continuity of pedagogy.
2/ The nature of continuity of pedagogy.
3/ The degree of success of continuity.
4/ The responsibility for continuity.
5/ Resources available to support continuity.
The researcher may delimit this in investigating (the convergent phase):
1/ The nature of continuity (the provision of information about continuity).
2/ The degree of continuity (i.e. a measure against a given criteria).
3/ The level of success of continuity (i.e. a judgment).
An operationalised step of putting down research questions might be:
1/ How much continuity of pedagogy is occurring across the transition stages in each curriculum area? What kind of evidence is required to answer this question?
2/ What pedagogical styles operate in each curriculum area? What are the most preferred ones? How is pedagogy influenced by resources? To what extent is continuity of pedagogy planned and recorded? What kind of evidence is required to answer this question?
3/ Is continuity occurring by accident or design? What kind of evidence is required to answer this question?
4/ Who is responsible for continuity at the transition points?
5/ What resources are there to support continuity at the point of transition? What kind of evidence is required to answer this question?
It is clear that the research has moved from simply an expression of interest or a general aim into a series of concrete issues to be investigated in a practical and real way. This is what precisely meant by the process of operationalisation. It is now possible not only to formulate the specific questions to be posted, but also to select the appropriate instruments that will gather the data to answer them (for example, interviews, questionnaires, documentary analysis...).
In planning research it is important to clarify a distinction between methodology and methods, approaches and instruments, styles or research and ways of collecting data are:
Interviews Observation
Questionnaires Tests
Accounts Role-playing Biographies
Personal constructs Simulations
The decision on which instrument to use follows from an important earlier decision on which kind of research to undertake:
A survey An experiment
Case study research Testing and assessment
An in-depth ethnography Action research
We will examine each of these research styles and their principles in the coming lectures.
Data analysis: The planning of data analysis will need to consider:
What needs to be done with the data when they have been collected? How will they be processed and analyzed ? How will the results of the analysis be verified, cross-checked and validated?
Statistics are the frequent means used by the researchers in order to analyze any gathered data.
Presenting and reporting the results: The researcher needs to consider the form of the reporting of the research and its results, giving due attention to the needs of different audience (for example, an academic audience may require different contents from a lay audience). Decisions here will need to consider:
How to write up and report the research? How to present the results in tabular and/or written-out form? To whom to report (the necessary and possible audiences of the research)...

The Problem Statement in the Research Paper
The first substantial step
The problem provides the context for the research study and typically generates questions which the research hopes to answer. In considering whether or not to move forward with a research project, you will generally spend some time considering the problem.
you’re your paper, the statement of the problem is the first part of the paper to be read [we are ignoring the title and the abstract]. The problem statement should “hook” the reader and establish a persuasive context for what follows.
You need to be able to clearly answer the question: “what is the problem”? and “why is this problem worth my attention”? At the same time, the problem statement limits scope by focusing on some variables and not others. It also provides an opportunity for you to demonstrate why these variables are important.
Problem importance
The importance of the problem should receive considerable and persuasive attention [note that importance is inevitably subjective and will vary from person to person and agency to agency]. Clearly indicate why your problem is an important one by answering questions such as these:
Is the problem of current interest? Is it topical?
Is the problem likely to continue into the future?
Will more information about the problem have practical application?
Will more information about the problem have theoretical importance?
How large is the population affected by the problem?
How important, influential, or popular is this population?
Would this study substantially revise or extend existing knowledge?
Would this study create or improve an instrument of some utility?
Would research findings lead to some useful change in best practice?
Is there evidence or authoritative opinion from others to support the need for this research?
The problem statement should persuasively indicate that major variables can be measured in some meaningful way. If you can identify likely objections to the study, identify and respond to them here.
Problem statement question
The problem statement should close with a question. Typically, the question contains two variables, a measurable relationship, and some indicate of population. The purpose of the literature search that follows is to answer the research problem question. If the literature cannot answer the question, the research is needed to do so. An example question might be: “What is the relationship between grade point average of UTK juniors and their use of the library”? The information needed is (1) grade point average and (2) some measure of library use. A bad example might be: “What is the best way to teach bibliographic instruction”? This is insufficient because:
What are the variables?
What will be measured?
What relationships will be examined?
What is the population?
The title and the problem statement question are often nearly identical. For example, in the good example above, the title of this research project would be something like this: “Library Circulation Use by University of Tennessee Juniors and Their Grade point Average”.

What is the Difference between Quantities and Qualitative Research?
Qualitative and quantitative research are the two main schools of research, and although they are often used in tandem, the benefits and disadvantages of each are hotly debated. Particularly in the social sciences the merits of both qualitative and quantitative research are fought over, with intense views held on both sides of the argument. It is generally agreed upon, however, that there are some phases of research where one or the other is clearly more useful than the other, and so few people completely dismiss either.
Quantitative research is probably the less contentious of the two schools, as it is more closely aligned with what is viewed as the classical scientific paradigm. Quantitative research involves gathering data that is absolute, such as numerical data, so that is can be examined in as unbiased a manner as possible. There are many principles that go along with quantitative research, which help promote its supposed neutrality. Quantitative research generally comes later in a research project, once the scope of the project is well understood.
The main idea behind quantities research is to be able to separate things easily so that they can be counted and modeled statistically, to remove factors that may distract from the intent of the research. A researcher generally has a very clear idea what is being measured before they start measuring it, and their study is set up with controls and a very clear blueprint. Tools used are intended to minimize any bias, so ideally are machines that collect information, and less ideally would be carefully randomized of numbers, which can be subjected to statistical analysis to come to results.
Remaining separate from the research emotionally is a key aspect of quantitative research, as is removing researcher bias. For things like astronomy or other hard sciences, this means that quantitative research has a very minimal amount of bias at all. For things like sociological data, this means that the majority of bias is hopefully limited to that introduced by the people being studied, which can be somewhat accounted for in models. Quantitative is ideal for testing hypotheses, and for hard sciences trying to answer specific questions.
Quantitative research, on the other hand, is a much more subjective form of research, in which the research allows themselves to introduce their own bias to help form a more complete picture. Qualitative research may be necessary in situations where it is unclear what exactly is being looked for in a study, so that the researcher need to be able to determine what data is important and what isn’t. while quantitative research generally knows exactly what it’s looking for before the research begins, in qualitative research the focus of the study may become more apparent as time progresses.
Often the data presented from qualitative research will be much less concrete than pure numbers as data. Instead, qualitative research may yield stories, or pictures, or descriptions of feelings and emotions. The interpretations given by research subjects are given weight in qualitative research, so there is no seeking to limit their bias. At the same time, researchers tend to become more emotionally attached to qualitative research, and so their own bias may also play heavily into the results.
Within the social sciences, there are two opposing schools of thought. One holds that fields like sociology and psychology should attempt to be as rigorous and quantities as possible, in order to yield results that can be more easily generalized, and in order to sustain the respect of the scientific community. Another holds that these fields benefit from qualitative research, as it allows for a richer study of a subject, and allows for information to be gathered that would otherwise be entirely missed by a quantitative approach. Although attempts have been made in recent years to find a stronger synthesis between the two, the debate rages on, with many social scientists falling sharply on one side or the other.





The review of literature:
What’s a literature review?
1/ it’s a critical and evaluative account of what has been published on a chosen research topic.
2/ its purpose is to summarize, synthesize and analyze the arguments of others. (The main purpose of the review is to support your own arguments).
3/ you should describe and analyze the knowledge that exists and what gaps occur in research related to your field of interest. (This should clarify the relationship between your own research and work that has been previously done).
4/ it should also shed light on similarities and differences, consistencies and inconsistencies as well as controversies in previous research.
N.B: The review of literature should not take the form of the bibliography list; it should be a separate chapter with a number of paragraphs that cast light on the previous studies their weaknesses and strengths as well as the common point with your topic.
Approach the review of literature:
There are five stages in any literature review:
1/ find models: look for other literature reviews in your discipline and read them to get an idea of the types of themes you might want to include in your research, to do so, you can put the words “Literature review + key words of your topic” to get reference or articles.
2/ problem formulation: you should try to construct a working statement that will form the basis of your literature review. In other words, it considers the main questions to be investigated.
3/ literature search: will help you identify the most important authors in the field of investigation, not only those who share your view but also those who contradict with you.
4

/ evaluation of findings: reading research articles is different from other types of reading. You must develop a good understanding of a good research literature to be able to write a competent review of literature. This requires you to use the following greeding strategies:
Skimming (looking at the general idea) and Scanning (looking for a specific information), as well as breaking the complex ideas into simple ones. Furthermore, you should begin by reading the easier articles before moving to the difficult ones, because this will pave the way to an understanding of more complicated issues as you will gain more familiarity with the topic.
5/ analysis and interpretation of the literature: after you have an idea of the main ideas in each article, identify the precise methods used and the theories tested. When you are comparing the work of the number of researchers who may have different views on the topic being investigated, you will need to have an in-depth understanding of their work. Also reading may help you understand the existing differences and it is from this gap that you will start your research work.
Writing a literature review
There are a number of different approaches to organizing a literature review. It is better to consult your supervisor before beginning your work:
1/ introduce your research question: (what is it? And why is it worth examining?).
2/ narrow the research question to the studies you’ve read.
3/ outline briefly the organization of the paper.
4/ if there are many methodologies followed in your research you should mention them briefly.
5/ describe the previous studies and findings in a clear way.
6/ compare and evaluate the previous findings.
7/ discuss the implications of the previous studies and how you intend to build on them.
8/ conclusion: the review of literature should end up with a conclusion; discuss what you’ve learnt from reviewing literature so far and where the research will lead. After reading you review, the reader should be convinced that your research project will play a necessary role in furthering the existing knowledge in your field.













A literature review discusses the published information in a particular subject within a period of time. It’s a simple summary of sources that follows the certain organizational pattern and combines both summary and synthesis. A summary is a recap of the important information of the source but the synthesis is the re-organization of that information using paraphrasing.
What is the difference between Literature review and an Academic review paper?
The main focus of the academic paper is to develop a new argument and it contains a literature review itself. In a research paper, you use the literature review as a support or a foundation for a new incite that you will develop. However, the focus of a literature review is to summarize and to synthesis the previous contributions without adding new ideas.
Reasons for writing literature review?
Literature reviews provide you with a handy guide to a particular topic. It you have limited time to conduct a research literature reviews can give you an overview or act as a stepping stone. For researchers, they provide a solid background for the research papers investigation.
What should you know before writing your literature review?
Consider whether your documents are current/authentic. Some disciplines require you to use current information especially in science/exact sciences, where as in human sciences like sociology and psychology writing the literature review compels you to talk about a survey of the historical development that occur in the topic being investigated.
Strategies for writing a literature review
1/ find a focus: your job is not to give a list of an annotative bibliography. It is rather an organization of a list of sources which you select carefully about a given theme. Before writing down your review, you’d raise the following questions:
Does the source present a similar or different view of the topic you intend to investigate?
Do they provide the same solution or different ones?
Is there an aspect in the field that is missing your job is to pickup one of these themes to focus the organization of the review the narrower the focus is, the easiest, the research will be.
2/ problem statement – construct a working: use the focus you found to construct a thesis statement.
3/ consider organization: now you’ve got focus, you’ve narrowed it into a question the next step is how to present the information.
What are the most important topics and the subtopics that your review will include?
In what order would you present them?
Develop an organization of your review in the following way:
Cover the basic categories: as any academic paper, review of literature contains at least three parts; an introduction, a body and a conclusion.
Introduction: acts as the background information.
The body: the discussion of the sources.
The conclusion: is about recommendation or what you expect to get from the research.
How do we organize the body?
Once you’ve the basic categories clear, you should create an organizational pattern to present them.
There are three ways of presenting and organizing the information:
Chronological
According to topics and themes.
According to methods used in presenting information.
Once you decide upon which organizational pattern you would follow, the sections you need to include in your paper will be easy to figure out.
Begin composing: now that the organizational pattern is clear, you’re ready to write each section. There are few guidelines to be followed during writing:
Use evidence: when making your point refer to the resource you bring your idea from, because this will give more validity to your work (Chomsky 1956).
Be selective: pick up only the most important point in each source you highlight in your review.
Use direct quotations to emphasize the point that you cannot rephrase if you consider very important.
Keep your own voice: while the literature review presents other’s views, your voice should remain present and centered, that is to say, you should maintain your own view about the issue being investigated at the beginning and the end of each paragraph.
The sources are only a support to your future research work.
Use paraphrasing: avoid plagiarism, or be sure you represent the author’s ideas in an accurate way using your own language.
Revise, revise, revise: it is very wise to revise your paper before you hand it over to your supervisor, and make sure that your literature review …
Use an academic language avoid literary styles, and avoid using slang or jargon, just use direct and short sentences.
Questionnaire – a brief introduction
A questionnaire is often the first tool that people consider when undertaking a research project. However, designing a questionnaire is complex and time-consuming and the quality of the data collected is determined by the quality of the questionnaire used.
It is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using questionnaires.
Advantages:
The data gathered is standardized and therefore, easy to analyse;
Data can be gathered quickly from a large number o respondents;
It is possible to compare your results with similar surveys used in other institutions;
Respondents can answer anonymously which may produce more honest answers;
Online surveys are relatively inexpensive;
One person can administrate the whole process if they have the necessary skills.
Disadvantages:
Responses may be inaccurate, especially through miss-interpretation of questions in self-completing questionnaires;
Response rates can be poor, people may lack the motivation to complete or return the questionnaire.
The complexity of designing, producing, distributing, and analysing the questionnaires may make them expensive and time consuming;
Quantitative data (i.e. research that produces numbers and percentages etc.) may not be enough to answer the questions you are seeking to answer in your research. More in-depth interviews or focus groups may be needed.
This guide is intended as an overview. In order to successfully use a questionnaires as a research tool it will be necessary to consult more detailed texts, some of which are listed in the reference section.
Process of designing and using a questionnaire:
Preparation in vital. Focus on the aims of the investigation and consider how the data is to be analysed before collecting it. Failure to do this may result in data being collected that is incomplete or that is not adequate for satisfying the research aims. The means of analysis should also be decided before the questionnaire is delivered, not after the data is collected, this is to ensure that the questions are in a format which is suitable for analysis by the package chosen. A lot of skill is involved in designing a good statistically sound questionnaire, if possible use an existing questionnaire that has been standardized and validated by someone else.

Define aims
Identify the population and the size of sample required
Decide how to distribute and collect the survey
Design the questionnaire
Carry out a pilot survey
Analyse the data
Draw conclusions.
Define Aims.
What is the exact purpose of the study? It is important that this is identified clearly as it dictates the questions that are required. Clearly defined aims should result in a relevant concise questionnaire.
Identity population and sample.
The population is the entire group of people that you are concerned with, for example, if you are researching part-time students’ use of electronic resources, then all of the part-time students enrolled at Bolton University are the population. Unless the population size is very small, you will only be administering the questionnaire to a sample of them. The responses from the sample can be assumed to represent the views of the entire population. It is important that the sample size is sufficient to be statically viable, i.e. that you can be confident that results accurately represent the views of the whole population. Generally, the bigger the sample the more reliable it is. However, the sample size required will be determined by several factors, such as: the importance of the research; the budget of the project; and willingness of people to participate. If doing a postal or online survey, response rate must be taken into account when considering the number of questionnaires to send out. The response rate is generally about 20%, therefore, the required number should be multiplied by five, for example, if you wanted to obtain 50 responses you must send out 250 questionnaires.
Is the sample representative of the population as a whole? It is not just the number of responses that is important, but also ‘type’ of respondents, for example, if you wanted to survey the student population as a whole it would be important to have a representative mix of part-time full-time students, male and female, different age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, etc. A large enough sample, distributed in a random way should provide a representative mix of different categories of students. If conducting a survey on the use of library resources it might be tempting to give questionnaires to those students familiar to us through their regular use of library, but this would not necessary provide results that are representative of the student population as a whole. Therefore, the survey should be distributed in a non-biased random way. Postal surveys are ideal for solving this problem but are expensive and time-consuming to conduct.
Method of collection.
There are various means of administering the survey, for example, the respondents can complete the survey themselves or it can be completed by an interviewer in a one-to-one structured interview. Self-administrated surveys can be distributed by post, online, or personally handed-out. The method chosen may be influenced by cost and the size of sample required. The method must be appropriate to fulfill the aims of the research, for a sample, a one-to-one interview may be appropriate when very detailed information is required from a small sample or population, but would be inappropriate for a large sample using a survey of twenty questions with tick boxes.
Postal surveys should also include a reply-paid envelope and covering letter. Obviously, if this method is chosen you will need the respondents to include personal data.
Set a deadline for completed responses to be returned and include this information on the questionnaire or covering letter.
Design Questionnaire.
There are three main elements to consider:
Determine the questions to be asked
Select the appropriate question type and wording for each question
The overall layout and question sequence
The questions should relate directly back to the aims of the research. For example, a study attempting to establish the motivations of students in using a particular library service might want to consider factors such as age, course, level of education, gender, etc. therefore, possible questions could include:
What is your age?
Are you male or female?
What is the highest educational qualification that you have achieved?
What course are you currently enrolled on?
It is important to avoid asking too many questions as this will put respondents off and leave you with a lot of (probably irrelevant) data to analyse.
There are many different question formats:
Closed questions direct the respondents to choose from supplied answers. This can be more manageable at the analysis stage. Including the ‘other’ option allows for any answer that you may not have thought of. For example:
Which services offered by Learning Support Services do you fund useful?
(Tick if appropriate)
Book collection ?
Printed journals ?
Electronic journals ?
Electronic books ?
Binding ?
Study space ?
Other (please specify) ?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Closed questions can lead to bias because respondents are lead by the answers you are supplying to the questions. These can result in a wide variety of answers in terms of content, length and complexity. For example:
Which services offered by Learning Support Services do you find useful?
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
..
The advantage of open questions is that more informative responses may be given. The disadvantage is that they may be more difficult to interpret and analyse.
You must decide if you want single or multiple response answers, for example, in the closed question example above, it must be clear whether respondents should just tick one box, i.e. the service that they find most useful, or several if they find more than one useful. Therefore, include an appropriate instruction such as ‘tick only one box’ or ‘tick all that apply’.
Ranked responses are sometimes useful to indicate the strength of respondent’s preferences. For example:
Which library services are most useful to you? (Indicate by numbering from 1-6 in order where 1 is the most important)
Book collection ?
Printed journals ?
Electronic journals ?
Electronic books ?
Binding ?
Study space ?
The disadvantage of this format is that it generates a lot of data and respondents may find it difficult to accurately differentiate between the options, i.e. there is no option for an equal weighting of responses and no option to not weight a library for book borrowing (ranked 1), therefore, ranking the other options 2-6 is meaningless and misleading.
How useful do you find the following aspects of library services?
(Circle the number under the initial that applies. VI = Very important; I = Important; N = Neutral; U = Unimportant; VU = Very Unimportant).
VI I N U VU
Book collection 1 2 3 4 5
Printed journals 1 2 3 4 5
Electronic journals 1 2 3 4 5
Electronic books 1 2 3 4 5
Binding 1 2 3 4 5
Study space 1 2 3 4 5
It is a good idea to use a variety of formats so that the respondents don’t get bored or mechanically tick the same boxes for all questions.
Whichever format is chosen, the wording of the questions should be clear, unambiguous, and jargon free. Be specific rather than vague, for example, ‘have you used the library in the last week?’ is more meaningful than ‘have you used the library recently?’ Avoid double barreled questions such as ‘Do you find electronic books and journals useful?’ The respondents may have a different answer for each component of the question.
The layout should be clear and not cluttered with unnecessary headings, numbers, boxes etc. do not overfill the page. Reducing the font size can make the questionnaire appear shorter and therefore less time-consuming to complete, but not so small that it is difficult to read. Formatting should be consistent and used to assist the respondent, for example, use a clear font style such as Arial. The sequence of the questions should be logical: the simplest questions first, group themes together, and leave personal data questions until last.
The questionnaire should include an introductory statement (or covering letter) and contact and return information. The introductory statement should include the purpose of the survey and why it is important, so that the respondents can see that it is a worthwhile exercise. It should also include guarantees of confidentiality to reassure respondents. If the introductory statement is done well it can encourage people to complete the survey, thus improving the response rate.
Run Pilot.
The pilot is a trail run of the questionnaire designed to spot any flaws which can be corrected before going to the expense of implementing the main survey. The pilot should be delivered to a small sample of the intended respondents, if this is not possible, colleagues or friends are acceptable. The pilot should include questionnaire completion, analysis and feedback from respondents. A good pilot will help to maximize the response rate, minimize errors and help you get the data you need to fulfill the aims of the project. If the questionnaire is changed as a result of the pilot you must not include the pilot responses in the final survey.
Main Survey.
Deliver the questionnaire as you have planned in section three. If you are sending questionnaires to specific people, you might want to consider sending reminders and another questionnaire to those not returned by a specific date.
Analyse data.
The data can be analysed simply by using a package such as Excel. It is possible to calculate percentages and produce charts which illustrate your results. For larger surveys more complex statistical packages such as Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) are also available. If you have used open ended questions or included ‘other’ options you will need to group the answers and code them before proceeding.
Conclusions.
The analysed results should be related back to the aims of the project. The following questions must be considered before making recommendations based on the project findings. Are the results reliable? Was the sample size sufficient and representative of the whole population? Do the results provide enough information or are further studies needed, for example, you may have out what is happening in a particular situation, but do you know the reasons why? It may be that research provides the basis short-comings, for example, the sample size is too small, it is acceptable to report the results as long as the potential for error is acknowledged.

Research Proposal
In any type of research, the first thing you need is to write a research proposal. In writing an essay you need an outline follow, and in writing a thesis you need to write a proposal. That is to say, something to follow in writing task.
In your proposal you are proposing your research topic to be approved by your supervisor/advisor. Therefore you should not include the detailed information about the topic you intend to investigate; leave this to the dissertation paper later on.
Parts of the Dissertation Research Proposal
The Abstract: is the first part to be included. It is considered as the executive summery of the whole work. Here you describe the research contents without specific details.
The Introduction: this part includes an explanation on why have you selected a particular topic. You also need to include the Thesis Statement of the entire research paper, and this is also the part that contains the problem statement of your research. It may also include a brief description of the methodology to be followed in your research.
Literature Review: the following step is to include the review of literature in your dissertation research proposal. This review contains everything published on the topic to be researched to make your paper credible and reliable.
Conclusion: the last step is to provide a conclusion not about how will the research end up because you have not started the investigation but a short summery on your guesses and expectations about the research; or an idea about the assumptions you think will solve your problem statement.





Interviews
Introduction: The interview is probably the most widely used method of data collection in educational research. Interviews can be conducted on all subjects by all types of interviewers and they can range from informal incidental sources of data to the primary source of information used in research study. When used with care and skill, interviews are a rich source of data. Perhaps the commonness of the interview is its major downfall. We use interviews in all walks of life for a wide range of purposes and to use them for research purposes requires more care and skill than is commonly exercised. In this paper, we will shed light on the various types of interviews, planning requirements and how to structure an interview protocol.
What is an Interview? An interview is defined as a specialized form of communication between people for a specific purpose associated with some agreed subject matter. Thus, the interview is a highly purposeful task which goes beyond mere conversation. There are many advantages to the interview as a method of data collection. People are more easily engaged in an interview than in completing a questionnaire. Second, the interview can clarify question and problem the answer of the respondent, providing more complete information than would be available in a written form. It is this opportunity for in-depth probing that makes the interview so attractive when dealing with informal respondents.
Third, interviewing enables the interviewer to pick up non-verbal cues, including facial expressions, tones of the voice as well as cues from the surrounding context. They are also disadvantages. It is often difficult to record responses particularly if they are written down. Second, the quality of responses, that is their reliability and validity, is dependent of the interviewer and this may pave the way to subjectivity. Third, the context which has the advantage of providing useful non-verbal information had the disadvantages of sometimes affecting responses due to interruptions and pressures of time.
Types of Interviews: There are basically two types of interviews categorized according to purpose: normative and key informant. Normative interviews are used to collect data which is classified and analyzed statistically. Common examples of normative interviews are those used in mass surveys by researchers who intend to find views of large numbers of people about a fairly straightforward question. In essence, these routine interviews are little more that a questionnaire but in oral form. The other type of interview is called a key informant interview and is for a different purpose. The researcher is not interested in statistical analysis of a large number of responses, but wants to probe the views of small number of elite individuals a key informant interview is one directed at a respondent who has particular experience or knowledge about the subject being discussed the person might be a school principle who has in-depth knowledge of what goes on in the school or it could be a historical figure whose knowledge is of a great importance in this case, there may be only one respondent this is frequently used in historical research where someone specialized in history discusses it
Normative interviews, however, include many interviewers all whom are trained to ask questions in a similar way their knowledge of the subject is of far less consequence than is their ability to interview for reliable and valid responses on the contrary, with key informant interviews, the interviewer should be expert in the subject under discussion he or she must be in a position to grasp new information and use it to pursue new directions.
Interview Context: There can be many contexts of interviews which may encompass a variety of settings and from to a large number of participants. The typical interview includes two people, and when face to face, it often takes place at the respondents’ place of work, whether home, office or school. It is also preferable to conduct the interview in a setting where one’s full attention is devoted to the interview. (Avoid lunch or dinner time or factors that may interrupt the interview).
Interviewing by telephoning is one of the most commonly used research techniques because it is quick and economical. People who are often difficult to reach in person can sometimes be reached by telephone, and the fact that one is not on view facilities people answering honestly. Yet, there are disadvantages. Complicated explanations and visual aids such as response cards or diagrams cannot be used to help the respondent nor can the interviewer depend on visual cues from respondents that might reveal a misunderstanding of the question or boredom with the interview. The effectiveness of research interviews by telephone can be greatly enhanced when there is precontact, either by letter or phone, arranging a precise time for the telephone interview to take place. In some cases, written information can be sent to the respondent in advance and it can be reviewed and considered prior to the phone call.
Planning for a Successful Interview: After the interview protocol has been developed and tested, several factors should be considered in order to carry out the actual interview. One needs to arrange the appointment giving some idea of the interview’s purpose and how long it is expected to take. On the question of length, most interviews should not exceed 40 minutes. Elite interviews, however, can last hours and may even be phased over several sessions. The location is important. If the interview is to be conducted in a busy office where there are many interruptions, the interview process could be affected profoundly. It is best then to find a quiet, uninterrupted place and time. The second consideration is the physical arrangement of furnishing and seating. It is usually recommended to sit facing the interviewee. Third, effective communication requires a degree of trust between the interviewer and the interviewee. It helps in establishing this trust to be like the person being interviewed. A common background of age, education, social class, and manner of speech is helpful. For instance, it is very difficult for a 20 year old researcher to interview a senior manager in his sixties. Be careful about your physical appearance too. Just a few school principals would accept being interviewed by someone wearing jeans and a T-shirt, for instance. School children will interact easily with the interviewer if he is not wearing a tie. As a general rule, wear something similar to what you presume your interviewee will wear.
Conducting Effective interviews: For effective interviewing, the interviewer needs to control both the content and the process of the interview. The content is controlled by the protocol and the nature of the questions. If the objectives are clear and one uses appropriate techniques, there should be few occasions when you leave without the content you need. To ensure a validity of your interview, good process skills are required. The basic structure of the interview lies in the messages send and the responses obtained about a particular subject. So, the major roles are played by both the interviewer and the interviewee. They enter into a kind of interactive relationship in which communication becomes a two-way street. The interviewer sends a message which the respondent receives. The respondent processes the message and sends a response. The response is received and processed by the interviewer and so on. Both interviewer and respondent act as senders and receivers. It is this passing of messages from one party to the other which offers the greatest challenge for reliability and validity. The researcher should be careful in getting the appropriate response because as well all know, much distortion can occur when messages are communicated verbally. He should be, therefore, very sensitive to this source of error and must take steps to ensure valid responses.
Initial attitudes may influence the rapport between the interviewer and respondent. If the respondent has any negative feelings towards the interviewer, it is unlikely that the respondent will be open to the questions being asked. It is also important for the interviewer to know that he/she may reflect a particular attitude simply because of the tone used in phrasing a question. If as an interviewer, you are self-assured or lack confidence, this may also influence your interviewee. The interviewer must be aware of the way that attitudes can shape an interview.
Cross-cultural interviews can be among the most challenging. For example, Chinese respondents prefer to receive the questions days in advance so that they can ponder their response. In Western culture however, the respondents prefer to rely on spontaneity. In Thailand, you must not cross your logs so that the sole of your foot faces the person you are with. In India and some parts of Asia, you should provide a long introduction before you raise the first question while in western culture, they just do the reverse, i.e. it is better to be straightforward and to pose the question without any unimportant introduction. If the interviewer is not aware about these cultural differences, this will result in a total mismatch in communication.
Effective communication is also affected by expertise. Perhaps the greatest hallmark of effective communication is one’s facility to use language. We may all passed a through a situation where we failed in making someone to understand the idea as we perceived it. We were unable to make a description of a situation as vivid to our audience as it was for us. This was probably due to the fact that we could not find proper words to serve us adequately. In the interview process, it is extremely important that the questions are understood. In the same way, the interviewer must check whether he or she has understood the answer that has been given.
Basic interviewing Skills:
Active Listening: It is important to listen actively to the respondents. Good attending behavior demonstrating respect and that you are interested in what the respondent has to say. By using attending behavior to enhance the individual’s self-respect and to establish a secure atmosphere, the interviewer facilitates free expression thereby enhancing validity.
In order to attend to the interviewee, the interviewer should be physically relaxed and seated with natural posture. Be as natural as you can in order to make your respondent feel at ease and able to respond freely and comfortably. In addition, the eye contact is very important. As an interviewer, you should maintain eye contact with the person being interviewed without too much overuse because in some cultures it can be inappropriate and may put the respondent at an uneasy situation to answer the questions properly.
Another characteristic of good attending behavior is the interviewer’s use of comments which follow directly from what the person is saying. Follow what the other person is saying by taking your cues from what is said. Do not jump from subject to subject or interrupt. There is no need to talk about yourself or your opinions when you are interviewing. By directing one’s comments and questions to the topics provided by the individual, one not only helps develop an area of discussion, but reinforces the person’s free expression, resulting in more spontaneity and animation.
In sum, the interviewer’s goal is to listen effectively and to communicate this attentiveness through a relaxed posture, use of adequate eye contact, and verbal responses which indicate that the interviewer is attempting to understand what is being communicated.
Openness and Empathy: The purpose from the interview is to allow the interviewee to share his or her information with the interviewer. You should be open in posture and expression, willingly accepting the information offered. You should emphasize, but in a non-leading way. Avoid value judgments ad agreeing or disagreeing with the respondent. Accept what is said, but do not lead the person being interviewed further than he or she wants to go voluntarily. If you do not understand, get the message clarified, but resist taking sides. Being open is also important. But it does not mean that you are not assertive. You must control the interview while not condoning the opinions expressed. Be firm and direct while at the same time open.0paraphrasing takes what the interviewee has just said and repeats it back in different words. It acknowledges your attention and it increases validity by checking whether what you heard was the intended message. It crystallizes comments by repeating them in a more concise manner. When your paraphrasing differs from the interviewee’s intent, he or she will clarify the statement and you will not have obtained the invalid response.
Summarizing Content: Summarizing attempts to recapitulate, condense and crystallize the essence of what the interviewee has said. It is used when the interviewer wishes to structure the beginning of a conversation by recalling the high points of a previous interview; when the interviewee’s presentation of a topic has been either very confusing or just plain lengthy rambling; when an interviewee has seemingly expressed everything importance on a particular topic; or when at the end of an interview, the interviewer wishes to emphasize what has been learned within it.
Controlling the Process: The interviewer must know how to control the interview, its process and its pace. In many key informant interviews, the person being interviewed is so skilled at communicating and knows exactly what to say. You merely give a lead and the interviewee picks it up and carries on. However, you must be able to regain the lead at any time or the interview will no longer be yours and it may no longer suit your purpose. In order to assume and maintain leadership in the interview it is important to set the stage right up front. Your introduction will do much to establish where you will be in the process. If you are unsure of where you are going you may easily get sidetracked into a friendly conversation which will not provide you with the appropriate data you intend to collect. Thus, it would be better if you prepare an outline which states the major themes or sections. This helps prevent the respondent from moving ahead. The outline also helps to speed up the interview when required using the interjection “ ‘that is very interesting!’; but as you know, we have three more topics to cover, so perhaps we should move on”.