Research seminar for Educational Sciences, Lecture 4 by prof. Dr. Chang Zhu

1. 1
Research Seminar for
Educational Sciences
Prof. Dr. Chang Zhu
Department of Educational Sciences
Major sections of a research
proposal
2
Title
Summary
Research problem
Literature review
Research questions
Research methods
Expects results &
significance
Planning

2. 2
Literature review
• Theoretical basis/ conceptual framework
• What research has been done in the
area?
• What has been found in previous
studies?
3
A good research idea
• Choose something you are interested in, think it
fascinating, relevant for your future work,…
– You’ll need that personal motivation to pursue the studies.
• Relevant, in need and ‘hot’:
– useful to someone, such as policy makers
– more motivating to work on
– help in a broader research project
– other sources

3. 3
Research questions: why
important?
• Developing a good research question is the
most important part of the research process.
• The question should be narrow and fits the
research objectives.
Research questions: why
important?
• The most difficult part, spend time on it!
• Risk if not well defined:
– collect data that will not be used;
– don’t collect data that would be useful.
• Good research questions limit the scope of the thesis
• A good research questions structure the thesis:
– define relevant literature,
– develop good hypotheses,
– define data needed, ….
• It helps the reader – you tell them what you are going
to answer. It simply makes it more interesting!

4. 4
Central research questions and
specific research questions
• Ask one or two central research questions
• Followed by a number of specific research
questions
Types of research
questions
• Description
• Relationship
• Descriptive-Comparative
• Causality/impact or affect
• Causality-Comparative
• ………

5. 5
Types of research
questions
• Research questions in qualitative research
• Research questions in quantitative research
Types of research questions
• Questions of Description
• What are the characteristics of…?
• What/Which factors influence…..?
?
Qualitative? Quantitative?

6. 6
Types of research questions
• Questions of Description
• What/Which factors influence
international student decision in
choosing VUB for their studies?
Types of research questions
• Questions of relationship
• Is there an association between … and ….?
• Is (variable A) related to (variable B)?

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Types of research questions
• Questions of relationship
• Does critical thinking ability relate to
student achievement?
• To what extent does critical thinking ability
relate to student achievement?
Types of research questions
• Descriptive-Comparative Questions
• What differences exist….?
• Is group A differ from Group B?
• Are there differences between…..?
• Are there differences between female and
male students with regard to….?

8. 8
Types of research questions
• Causality/impact Questions
• Does ….(variable A) affect….(variable B)?
• Does …..have an impact on…?
• To what extent does ….(variable A)
affect….(variable B)?
Types of research questions
• Causality-Comparative
• Does ….(variable A) have a higher
impact on (variable Y) compared to the
impact of….(variable B) on … (variable
Y)?

9. 9
good research questions
• Not purely descriptive
• Not just What/Which questions
• But also How/To what extent….questions
• Relationship questions
• Comparative questions
• Causality/impact questions
• …
good research questions
• Be clear about the research variables
• Reflect in your research questions

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Variables
• A variable: any entity that can take on
different values.
• A variable is a label or name that
represents a concept or characteristic that
varies
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Variables
• E.g. age, gender, grade, school, study domain,
diploma, income, country…
use of ICT, exam score, performance,
academic achievement, attitude, emotion,
motivation, perception, satisfaction, well-
being, self-esteem, critical thinking, ….
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11. 11
Independent variable
• The one you will vary to see how it may affect
the dependent variable
• Independent Variable – something that is
changed by the scientist/researcher
– What is tested
– What is manipulated
• In experimental research:
• Manipulated Variable
Independent variable
• In experimental research:
• Keep all variables constant, except for the
independent variable.
• A Experimental Group will be the group with the
Independent Variable:
• A Control Group will be the group without the
Independent Variable

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Dependent variable
• The One You Measure as a result of the
changing Independent variable
• A variable that might be affected by the
change in the independent variable
– What is observed
– What is measured
– The data collected during the investigation
Construct
• What is a construct?
A construct is a (theoretical) concept that is
inferred from commonalities among observed
phenomena and that is presumed to explain or
shed light on the meaning of those phenomena.
• A variable is a quantitative expression of a
construct.
24

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Construct
• Constructs, Factors, Scales, Sub-scales
• Measured through a number of observed items
• E.g. Teacher professional identity (including
Self-efficacy, job satisfaction, motivation and
commitment)
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• Characterized by complete random assignment
of groups or subjects
• Groups are independent
• Usually employs strong control
Experimental design

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• Groups or subjects not randomly assigned
– e.g., sample of convenience
• May not have a comparison group
Quasi-Experimental design
• Single factor (one-way)
– Studies one independent variable
• Multi-factor
– Studies multiple independent variables
• May have several levels
– Examples:
• Two-way (e.g., 2 x 2)
• Three-way (e.g., 2 x 2 x 2)
• Time-series
Types of experimental design

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• Pretest-posttest (one-group)
• Pretest-posttest (control group)
• Posttest-only (control group)
Single factor design
• Quasi-experimental
• One set of measures taken before and after
treatment or intervention
• Compare pretest and posttest scores
• Analysis
– paired t test
• Weakness
– No comparison or
control group
Single factor design

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• Two-way factorial
– e.g., 2 x 3
• Three-way factorial
– e.g., 2 x 2 x 3
Experimental Designs
– Quasi-experimental
– True experimental
– Factorial

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Experimental Designs
• Notation
– R indicates random selection or random
assignment
– O indicates an observation
• Test
• Observation score
• Scale score
– X indicates a treatment
– A, B, C, ... indicates a group
Quasi-Experimental Designs
• Threats to internal validity
– Selection is the major concern
– Controls for statistical regression
– Likely to control for most other threats provided
the groups are not significantly different from one
another

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True Experimental Designs
• Important
– Random assignment
• Participants are placed into groups using a
random procedure
• This ensures equivalency of the groups
– Random selection of subjects
• Participants are chosen from a population using
random procedures
• This ensures generalizability to the population
from which the participants were selected (i.e.,
external validity)
True Experimental Designs
• Types
– Randomized posttest only experimental control
groups
• R A X O R B O
– Randomized posttest only multiple treatment
groups
• R A X1 O R B X2 O
– Randomized pretest-posttest experimental control
groups
• R A O X O R B O O

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Factorial Designs
• Research designs containing two or
more independent variables
– A study of the effects of two instructional
strategies on male and female students’
math achievement
– A study of two counseling approaches on
middle and secondary students’ self-
esteem
Hypotheses in quantitative
research
• Hypotheses about comparison
• Null hypothesis
• There is no significant difference between….
• Directional hypothesis
• Students in Group A will have higher achievement
than students in Group B…

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Hypotheses in quantitative
research
• Hypotheses about relationships
• There is no relationship between student
computer use skills and their performance in e-
learning
• Student achievement motivation is related to their
anxiety for failure. (nondirectional)
• Students from higher SES families have higher
media literacy than students from lower SES
families. (directional)
The hypotheses
• The hypothesis is based on known facts,
but takes it a step further, often by
combining facts and thereby creating
(possible) links.
• The hypothesis posits the expected
relationship between some variables.
• Two requirements:
– Must fit known facts
– Be testable

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Do all theses need to have
hypotheses?
• No, but most of them would be better if the
research is organized around them
• What’s the difference between research
question and hypotheses?
– Hypotheses often more specific, and each research
question can have several hypotheses.
Suggestion
A good approach and balance between the three
first components of the research:
– one grand research idea
– a few (3-5) research questions
– some hypotheses, at least one, maximum 3-5 linked
to each research question. But in total not more than
6-8 hypotheses for a master thesis.

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How to make a good research
question?
• Read – discuss – think!
• Get into your creative mood!
Some useful note
• Research should not be embarked upon with the
idea that the empirical evidence will prove a
general “truth”, but it can increase our
knowledge & understanding on a certain issue.
• Research can only demonstrate the utility of an
idea within a specific context.

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Some useful note
• Researchers must be prepared for unexpected results.
Unexpected results represent the possibility of
learning something new about the phenomenon under
study.
• Finding unexpected results also shows that there is a
good reason for conducting research.
Additional readings
• Creswell (2008). Research questions and hypotheses

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Assignment
• Read Theme 5
• Self-test/quiz: theme 1-5
Research topics
• Research group
• Or individual work
• Thesis Info session
• 3 Dec. 12-14h