University of Agriculture Faisalabad

PREPARED BY: Dr. Ijaz Ashraf

COURSE: EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
CLASS: B.ed 2nd Sem.
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Research Types by Method & Techniques:

1. Historical Research: Historical research involves studying, understanding, and

explaining past events in order to describe cause and effects or trends of those events
that may help to explain present events and anticipate future events.

Examples:
1. A study of curricula of Muslim institutions in Mughal period.
2. A study of teacher training program in British period.
3. A study of resources of Muslim countries.
4. A study of literacy campaign in Pakistan.
Steps in Historical Research: The steps involved in conducting a historical research
study are as under;
1. Definition of a problem.
2. Collection of data.
Primary sources.
Secondary sources.
3. Analysis (Criticism) of data.
External Criticism
Internal Criticism

4. Drawing conclusions.
5. Report writing.
1. Definition of a problem: The historical research is limited to the data which is
already available. The problem should be well defined with one or more specific
hypothesis. Those problems are not suitable which are broadly stated or have
insufficient data.

2. Data collection: In historical research data is collected through primary and

secondary sources.

Primary Sources: Primary sources are eye witness accounts. They are
reported by an actual observer or participant in an event. Primary sources
of data are as under.
 A). Documents: Documents are the records kept and written by actual
participants in an event. These are constitutions, characters, laws, official
records, court decisions, diaries, letters, contracts, affidavits, declaration
certificates, lists, bills, newspapers, magazines, books, diagrams, maps,
pamphlets, films, pictures and research reports.

B). Remains and relics: These are the objects associated with a parsons
or period. These include buildings, furniture, paintings, pictures, teaching
material, equipment, textbooks and examinations.

C). Oral Testimony: It is spoken account of a witness of an event. This

includes interviews of teachers, administrators, students and parents.

Secondary sources: Secondary sources are accounts of an event that were

not actually witnessed by the reporter. The reporter may have read an
account by the observer or talked with an actual observer. The historians
use secondary sources only when primary sources are not available. Most
history textbooks and encyclopedias are examples of secondary sources.

3. Analysis / Criticism of data: Analysis of data is logical rather than statistical. In

historical research data is analyzed in terms of criticism. Criticism is of two types.
External Criticism: It is concerned with the authenticity or genuineness
of data. It explores whether the document or relic is real and original
rather than a counterfeit, forgery or a hoax?
Various tests are used to know the genuineness. This included the test of
signature, type, spelling and writing, language usage. It may also involve
physical and chemical tests of paper, ink, cloth, stone, wood, metal and
paint. Knowledge available at the time and consistency with what is
known and technology of that time is also taken into account.

Internal Criticism: It is concerned with the accuracy or worth of the

content. Although the documents may be genuine, do they represent true
picture?
i. Were the writers competent, unbiased, and honest?
ii. Were they subject to fear and pressure?
iii. How long after the event was recorded?
4. Drawing conclusion: Conclusions are drawn from the criticism of data and
generalizations are made.

5. Report writing: The format of typing of historical research report is different

from descriptive and experimental research report typing. The first chapter is
written in the same way as in descriptive and experimental research. The
remaining chapters in historical research depend on the nature of contents. The
chapters may range from two to many depending upon the variety of contents.
Advantages of Historical Research:
1. Allows investigation of topics and questions that can be studied in no other way.
2. Study evidence from the past.
3. Make use of different kinds of evidence.
4. Provide a rich source of information.
Disadvantages of Historical Research:
1. In conducting historical research, the researcher can neither manipulate nor
control any of the variables.
2. Threats to internal validity.
3. Unable to check the validity and reliability.
4. It excessively relies on secondary sources.

2. Descriptive Research: Descriptive research is used to describe characteristics of a

population or phenomena being studied. It doesn’t answer questions about how /
when / why the characteristics occurred.
It is a study designed to depict the participants in an accurate way. There are three
ways a researcher can go about doing a descriptive research project and they are as
follows;
i. Observational: It is defined as a method of viewing and recording the
participants.

ii. Case study: It is defined as an in depth study of an individual or group of

individuals.

iii. Survey: It is defined as a brief interview or discussion with an individual

about the specific topics.

Descriptive research describes what exists and may help to uncover new facts and
meaning. It is helpful for investigating a variety of educational problems. It is
concerned with the assessment of attitudes, opinions, demographic information,
conditions and procedures.
Instruments we will use to obtain data in descriptive studies include;
 Questionnaires
 Interviews (close questions).
 Observation (checklists etc).
Examples:
 How many students drop out of school in ICT Rural?
 To what extent are elementary teachers using math problem solving
methods?
  What are the attitudes of parents, students, and teachers concerning an
extended school year?
 What kinds of activities typically occur in sixth-grade art classes, and how
frequently does each occur?

1. Identification of the problem.

2. Literature review.
3. Development of hypothesis.
4. Population (target and accessible).
5. Sample (size and technique).
6. Development of instrument (valid and reliable), administration of instrument
(when, whom and how), scoring of instrument (objective).
7. Pilot testing.
8. Analysis and interpretation of data.
9. Report writing.
Advantages of Descriptive Research:
1. It is effective to analyze non-quantified topics and issues.
2. A possibility to observe the phenomena in a completely natural and unchanged
natural environment.
3. The opportunity to integrate the qualitative and quantitative methods of data
collection.
Disadvantages of Descriptive Research:
1. Descriptive research / studies cannot test or verify the research problem.
2. Research results may reflect certain level of bias due to the absence of statistical
tests.
3. The majority of descriptive studies are not repeatable due to their observational
nature.

3. Experimental Research: It involves manipulation of at least one independent

variable and observations of effects on dependent variable / variables while
controlling relevant / extraneous variables.

Examples:
1. The effect of self-paced instruction on self-concept.
 2. Impact of term tests on achievement in the subject of Mathematics.
3. Impact of CAI on student’s achievement.
4. Study of impact of A.V aids on learning in the subject of social studies.
Steps of Experimental Research: The steps of an experimental study are basically
the same as for the other types of research.
1. Selection and the definition of the problem.
2. Selection of subjects.
3. Measuring instruments.
4. Selection of a design.
5. Executions of procedures.
6. Analysis of data.
7. Formulation of conclusion.
Characteristics:
1. Control: It refers to efforts which the researcher makes to remove the effect of
irrelevant / extraneous variable. It leads to remove or minimize the effect of
irrelevant / extraneous variables. If there is no control, results may be due to
variables other than the independent variables.

2. Manipulate: It refers to the use of at least one independent variable. It has

following forms.

Presence Vs Absence (A verses no A). E.g. Home assignment Vs no home

assignment.
Presence in varying degree (a lot of A Vs little A). E.g. A lot of
assignment Vs little assignment.
Presence of a kind Vs another (A Vs B) E.g. Lecture Method Vs
Discussion Method.

3. Randomization: It is a process in which every member of a population has

independent and equal chances of selection. It has the following forms;
Subjects randomly selected from the population.
Subjects randomly assigned to groups. (Matching).
Treatments randomly assigned to groups.

4. Experimental Design: It refers to use of following in different ways.

Control group and Experimental group.
Randomization.
Pretest.
Treatment.
Posttest.
 Comparison
of results.

5. Replication: It refers to conduct a number of small experiments (sub experiment)

rather than one experiment on a large scale. With the help of many experiments,
results can be verified e.g. five experimental groups and five controlled groups.

1. Internal Validity: Internal validity refers to the conditions that observed

differences on the dependent variable are a direct result of manipulation of the
independent variable, not some other variable.

1. History: History refers to occurrence of any event which is not part of

experimental treatment but which may affect performance on the dependent
variable.

2. Maturation: Maturation refers to physical or mental changes that may occur

within the subjects over a period of time.

3. Testing: Testing also referred to as pretest sensitization, and refers to

improved sources on a posttest resulting from subjects having taken a pretest.

4. Instrumentation: Instrumentation refers to unreliability, or lack of

consistency in measuring instruments which may result in an invalid
assessment of performance.

5. Statistical regression: The fact that groups selected on the basis of extreme
scores are not as extreme on subsequent testing.

6. Selection bias: Identification of comparison groups in other than a random

manner.

7. Experimental mortality: Loss of participants from comparison groups due to

nonrandom reasons.

8. Interaction among factors: Factors can operate together to influence

experimental results.

2. External Validity: External validity refers to the conditions that results are
generalizable, or applicable, to groups or environments outside of the
experimental setting.

1. Interaction effects of testing: The fact that the pretest may make the
participants more aware of or sensitive to the upcoming treatment.
 2. Selection bias: When participants are selected in a manner so they are not
representative of any particular population.
3. Reactive effects of experimental setting: The fact that treatments in
constrained laboratory settings may not be effective in less constrained, real-
world settings.
4. Multiple-treatment interference: When participants receive more than one
treatment, the effects of previous treatments may influence subsequent ones.
Experimental Designs: Experimental design is the blue print of the procedures that
enable the researcher to test hypothesis by reaching valid conclusions about
relationships between independent and dependent variables.
Types of Experimental Designs: (Campbell & Stanley, 1963)
Pre-experimental design: It is the weak experimental design in terms of
control. No random sampling. Threats to internal and external validity are
significant problems. Example: One-group pretest/posttest design.

True experimental design: It is the best type of research design because of

their ability to control threats to internal validity. Utilizes random selection
of participants and random assignment to groups. Example: Pretest/posttest
control group design.

Quasi-experimental design: Uses readymade groups and provides a less

satisfactory degree of control, used only when randomization is not feasible.
Example: Nonequivalent group design.

4. Co relational Research: Co relational research involves collecting data on order

to determine whether, and to what degree, a relationship exists between two or more
quantifiable variables.
Degree of relationship is expressed as a correlation coefficient. It is relationship exists
between two variables, it means that scores on one measure are associated with scores
on another measure. The fact that there is a relationship between variables does not
imply that one is the cause of the other.
Examples:
1. The relationship between intelligence and self esteem.
2. The relationship between anxiety and achievement.
3. Use of an aptitude test to predict scores in an algebra course.
Correlation Research Design:
Problem Selection: Co relational studies may be designed either to determine which
variables are related or to test hypothesis regarding expected relationships.
Sample: The sample for a co relational study is selected using an acceptable
sampling method, and 30 subjects are generally considered to be minimally
acceptable sample size.
Design: The basic co relational design is not complicated; two or more scores are
obtained for the all members of a selected sample, one score for each variable of
interest, and the paired scores are then correlated.
Data Analysis and Interpretation: A co relation coefficient is a decimal number
between 0.00 and +1.00 or 0.00 and -1.00, which indicates the degree to which the
two variables are related.
If the co efficient is near +1.00, the variables are positively related. This means that
the person with a high score on one variable is likely to have a high score on the other
variable, and a person with a low score on one is likely to have a low score on the
other. If the coefficient is near 0.00, the variables are not related.
If the coefficient is near -1.00, the variables are inversely related. This means that a
person with a high score on one variable is likely to have low score in other variable,
and a person with low score with one variable is likely to have high score on the
other.
A correlation coefficient much below 0.50 is generally useless for either group
prediction or individual prediction. Coefficients in the 0.60 and 0.70 are usually
considered adequate for group prediction purposes, and coefficient in the 0.80s and
above for individual prediction purposes.

5. Casual Comparative Research: Casual-comparative, ex post facto, research is

that research in which the researcher attempts to determine the cause or reasons for
the existing difference in the behavior of the individuals.
The basic casual-comparative approach involves starting with an effect and seeking
possible causes. Casual-comparative studies attempt to identify cause-effect
relationship.
The major difference between experimental research and the casual-comparative
research is that in experimental research the independent variable is manipulated and
in casual-comparative research it is not manipulated, it has already occurred.
The basic casual-comparative design involves selecting two groups differing on some
independent variable and comparing them on some dependent variable.
The groups may differ in that one group possesses a characteristics that the other does
not, or the groups may differ in degree; one group may possesses more of a
characteristic than the other or the two groups may have had different kinds of
experiences.
Examples:
1. The effect of preschool attendance on social maturity at the end of the grade.
2. The effect of having a working mother on school absenteeism.
3. The effect of sex on algebra achievement.
Control procedures: Lack of randomization, manipulation and control which
characterize experimental studies are weakness in a casual-comparative design.
Data Analysis: Analysis of data in casual-comparative studies involves a variety of
descriptive and inferential statistics.
The most commonly used descriptive statistics are the mean, which indicates the
average performance of a group , the standard deviation which indicates how spread
out a set of scores is, that is whether the scores are relatively closed together and
clustered around the mean or spread out covering a wide range of scores.
The most commonly used inferential statistics are the test, which is used to see if
there is a significant difference between the means of two groups. Analysis of
variance is used to see if there is significant difference among the means of three or
more groups. The chi square test is used to compare a group frequency that is to
see if an event occurs more frequently in one group than other.