Research as a Scientific Inquiry and Approaches to Educational Research (Research as a Scientific)
Approaches to Educational Research (Research as a Scientific)
journalpapers.org Inquiry As per perceived knowledge, the scientific inquiry may be defined as searching knowledge using three
fundamental steps a collection of
data through recognized
and established methods, its
analysis, and meaningful interpretation. Every inquiry has to have a purpose.
In the existing literature
available on science and scientific inquiry, there is no mention of any
universally accepted description of the elements of scientific inquiry.
However, the scientific process
have been described in terms of some of the interrelated principles of inquiry
like posing questions that can be investigated empirically; using methods that
allow for investigation of the research question;
providing an orderly and
explicit chain of reasoning; replicating and generalizing across studies; link-
ing research to pertinent theory; and disclosing research to encourage scrutiny
and critique. Developing the educational knowledge foundation is one of the
main goals of research as a scientific inquiry in the field of educational
research.
Research as a scientific
inquiry involves describing and examining the phenomena and their relationships
precisely and more importantly, testing the causality of the relationship among
phenomena.
Approaches to Educational
Research
It is commonly alleged that
methodological education lacks a single and appropriate method to study it. In
fact, the nature of education is such that it does not allow having a single
method to study education and educational phenomenon.
There are three basic
approaches to educational research positivism, interpretivism, and critical
theory. The positivist paradigm is generally perceived as the scientific
paradigm of research. The practitioners of this paradigm assume that any
reality could be observed.
In the positivist paradigm
of educational research, the aim is to prove or disprove a hypothesis and
conducting the research using the scientific method.
The Positivist paradigm has its
own philosophical (ontological and epistemological) assumptions. Its
ontological assumptions delineate that reality is peripheral to the educational
researcher and is symbolized by objects in space; the meaning of these objects remain
independent of any consciousness of their existence and reality can be
encapsulated by human senses and consequently predicted.
As outlined by the
indicators of epistemological assumptions, the methodology of natural sciences
should be used to study social and educational reality. Truth can be attained on
the premise that knowledge lies on a set of indisputable truths, is objective,
and can be obtained deductively from a theory or hypothesis.
The Role of Theory
At this stage in the
discussion, a statement about theory is appropriate. To many people, the term
theory suggests an ivory tower, something unreal and of little practical value.
On the contrary, a theory establishes a cause-and-effect relationship between variables
with the purpose of explaining and predicting phenomena.
Those who engage in pure
research devote their energies to the formulation and reformulation of theories
and may not be concerned with their practical applications. However, when a
theory has been established, it may suggest many applications of practical
value. John Dewey once said that there was nothing more practical than a good
theory.
Theories about the
relationship between the position of the earth and other moving celestial
bodies were essential to the successful launching and return of manned space
vehicles. Theories of the behavior of gases were essential to the development
of refrigeration and air conditioning.
Controlled atomic energy
could not have been achieved without the establishment of theories about the
nature of mass and energy and the structure of the atom. The real purpose of
scientific methods are prediction, the discovery of certain theories or
generalizations that anticipate future occurrences with maximum probability.
Underlying Assumptions of
Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches
Every paradigm of research
has certain assumptions on the basis of which it operates. These assumptions
guide the specific research activity undertaken in its domain. As per perceived
perception, there are two broad approaches in the field of
education—quantitative and qualitative.
Quantitative approach
Approach Quantitative the approach is based on the assumptions that there exists an external universe that human beings may know; events in the universe are determined by a finite set of causes, and the essential elements of events will recur (McMillan, 1996).
These three fundamental assumptions guide and decide the goals, key
concepts, design, and so on, which are adhered to as referent points
in conducting the
research in the
field of education
using a quantitative approach.
Quantitative research must include many subjects representative of the groups from which they are selected. Probabilistic sampling techniques like random sampling, stratified random sampling, etc., need to be used to select the subjects. It is also assumed that qualitative studies would use numerical data, gathered from tests, surveys, structured observations, or interviews at fixed times (e.g., before or after tests), and analyze it statistically.
In such studies, the researcher is
expected to remain detached and observe events objectively. They should
maintain distance from the subjects. In the quantitative context of the
research, it is assumed that quantitative researchers should direct and run the
setting to ensure that the variables of interest are cut off and extraneous
variables are kept under control.
Qualitative approach
The qualitative approach assumes that there is no one's own knowledge of something things that can be accessed by human consciousness and that can be explored by humans have experience of reality and describe it appropriately (McMillan, 1996).
These
three main assumptions guide and define the main objectives, concepts and
designs used in conducting research in education using a qualitative approach.
With regard to objectives, qualitative approaches to research define sound
theory, develop understanding, explain multiple realities, or encapsulate
naturally occurring behaviors.
Qualitative research uses some commonly used terminologies like naturalistic, field research, ethnographic, phenomenological, anthro- biological, ecological, interpretivistic, and constructivism. Subjects with distinct traits of interest should be included by the researcher.
Being selected by probabilistic sampling techniques (i.e., purposeful sampling), often the subjects do not project the typical characteristics of the group it represents. Narrative data (i.e., text) gathered from observations, interviews, or reviews of documents or artifacts over a considerable duration need to be used in qualitative studies. Qualitative researchers are categorized as participating observers.
By establish- ing a close and trustworthy
relation with the participants,
qualitative researchers need to responsibly scrutinize
and report data depicting the subject’s perspectives. As far as the context of the qualitative approach is concerned, it is assumed that
qualitative approach should be
adopted and the phenomena should be observed in a naturalistic context, that
is, events should take place in a natural set-up.
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