Purposes of Research: Descriptive Research, Assessment, and Evaluation
Descriptive Research, Assessment, and Evaluation
Fundamental or Basic Research
journalpapers.org To this point, we have described research in its more formal aspects. Research has drawn its pattern and spirit from the physical sciences
and has represented
a rigorous, structured type of analysis. We have presented the
goal of research as the development of theories by the discovery of broad generalizations or principles. We have employed careful sampling procedures to extend the findings
beyond the group or situation studied.
So far our discussion has shown
little concern for the application of the findings
to actual problems in areas considered to be the concern of people other than
the investigator. Such an approach, which often leads to knowledge
for knowledge’s sake, is the approach of basic or fundamental
research.
Fundamental research is usually carried
on in a laboratory or some other
sterile environment, sometimes with animals. This
type of research, which generally has no immediate or planned application, may later result in further research of an applied nature
Applied research
Action research
Since the late 1930s, the fields of social psychology and education
have shown a strong interest in so-called action research. In education, this
movement aims to involve both specialist researchers and classroom teachers in
the study and application of research.
Descriptive Research, Assessment, and Evaluation
The term descriptive research has often been used incorrectly to describe
three types of investigation that are different.
Perhaps their
superficial similarities have obscured their
differences. Each uses a disciplinary research process
by collecting and analyzing empirical data, each seeks to develop knowledge.
To do this
competently, everyone needs the expertise of a careful and systematic
investigator. A brief explanation may serve
to put each one in a proper perspective. Assessment is a fact-finding activity that describes
conditions that exist at a particular time. No hypotheses are proposed
or tested, no variable relationships
are examined, and no recommendations for action are suggested.
Types of
Educational Research Any attempt to classify the types of educational research
creates a difficult problem. The fact that nearly every textbook offers a
different classification system provides convincing evidence that there is no
generally accepted scheme. In addition, there is the potential confusion with
what we termed the purposes of research (basic, applied, or action) earlier in
this chapter.
Some would
consider this structure as three types of research. However, because little
educational research is fundamental, most being applied or action, we present
four categories of research methods that are most common in educational
research. Any one of these categories could include research studies that are
of a basic, applied or action nature.
Actually, all research involves the elements of observation, description,
and the analysis of what happens under certain circumstances. A rather simple
four-point analysis may be used to classify educational research. Practically
all studies fall under one, or a combination, of these types:
1. Historical research describes what was.
The process involves investigating, recording, analyze ing, and interpreting
the events of the past for the purpose of discovering generalizations that are
helpful in understanding the past and the present and, to a limited extent, in
anticipating the future.
2. Descriptive research (quantitative) use
quantitative methods to describe what it is, describe, record, analyze, and
interpret conditions that exist.
- Qualitative
descriptive research uses nonquantitative methods to describe what is, Qualitative
descriptive
research uses
systematic procedures to discover
nonquantifiable relationships
between existing variables.
- Experimental research describes what will be when certain variables are carefully controlled or manipulated. The
focus is on
variable relationships. As defined here, deliberate manipulation is always a part of the experimental method.
These four categories are
not meant to imply that a study cannot include more than one category. For example, a study might include both quantitative and qualitative methods.
At least one entire chapter
of this text is devoted
to each of these types of research, to techniques
of data gathering, and to methods of analysis.
Summary
Human beings’ desire
to know
more
about their world has led
them from primitive
superstition to modern scientific
knowledge. From mysticism,
dogma, and the limitations of unsystematic
observation based on personal experience, they have examined the process of thinking
itself to develop
the method of deductive – inductive
thinking, which has become the foundation of the scientific method.
Although first applied as a method of the physical
sciences, the process of scientific inquiry has also become the prevailing method of the behavioral sciences.
There is no
single scientific method because scientists carry on their investigations in a number of ways. However, the accuracy of observation and the qualities
of imagination, creativity, objectivity, and patience are some of the common ingredients of all scientific methods.
Form for the purposes
of statistical analysis of their observations. This procedure facilitates inferring
population characteristics from
observed variable relationships as they relate
to the error inherent in the
sampling process.
Sampling, a deliberate rather than haphazard method of selecting subjects for
observation, enables the scientist to infer conclusions about a population of interest from the observed characteristics of a relatively small number of cases. Simple
random, systematic, stratified random, area
or cluster, and available (nonprobability) samples have been described.
Meth- ods of determining the size of an appropriate
sample are suggested, and the sources of sample bias are considered.
Research is defined as a systematic and objective analysis
and recording of controlled observations that can lead to the development of
generalizations, principles, or theories that lead to the prediction and control
of event outcomes. The research features presented can help clarify the passion
and importance of research.
Basic or basic research is a formal and systematic process
of deductive-inductive analysis that leads to theory development. Applied
research adapts theory developed through basic research to solve problems.
Action research, which may not achieve the characteristics of basic research
and rigorous applied research, tries to apply the spirit of the scientific
method to problem-solving in specific situations without making assumptions
about the general applicability of results outside the research situation.
References
John W. Best, James V. Kahn, Arbind K. Jha. 2016. Research in Education tenth Edition. TENTH
EDITION. Published by Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd, CIN:
U72200TN2005PTC057128. Formerly known as TutorVista Global Pvt. Ltd, licensee
of Pearson Education in South Asia.
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