Educational Research

Knowledge of Educational research methods is important because educators must be able to access, understand and evaluate the findings of research and the claims of researchers.

Research - formal, systematic application of the scientific and disciplined inquiry approach to the study of problems.

Educational Research: Scientific and Discipline Inquiry

Educational Research - is the systematic application of a family of methods employed to provide trustworthy information about educational problems, issues, and topics. Its primary goal is to explain or help understand educational issues, questions and processes.

• Rarely does any single study produce definitive answers to research questions. Cumulated studies are the basis for research progress and understanding.
• Compared to other methods of knowing, such as tradition, expert advice, personal experience, and inductive or deductive logic, a scientific and disciplined inquiry approach provides the most unbiased and verifiable understandings.
• This approach is made up of four main steps:

1. Identify a question or problem to be studied
2. Describe and execute procedures to collect information about the problem being studied.
3. Analyze the collected information
4. State results or implications based on the analysis.

Educational Research encompasses many types of topics, procedures, methods for analyzing data, and formats for reporting conclusions, implications, and findings.

Basic Research and Applied Research

Basic Research - conducted to develop or refine theory, not to solve immediate practical problems

Applied Research - conducted to find solutions to current practical problems.

Evaluation Research

Evaluation Research - its purpose is to help in decision making about educational programs and practices

Quantitative and Qualitative Research

• The purpose of quantitative research is to generalize about or control phenomena, while that of qualitative research is to provide in-depth descriptions of settings and people
• Because quantitative and qualitative researchers differ in their view of the world, they tend to utilize different methods to seek knowledge.
• Quantitative and qualitative approaches should be thought of as complementary methods that, when taken together, provide broader options for investigating a range of important educational topics.
• Quantitative methods involve collecting and analyzing numerical data from tests, questionnaires, checklist, and surveys.
• Key features...
  

Q and A in Education

Question: What is the meaning of the statement "Education in this country is a state function"?

Answer:

" This means that all educational institutions in the Philippines, public and private, are under the supervision and subject to the regulation of the State. This is a constitutional mandate. Since education is a State Function, the Philippine Congress or parliament has a large power in the organization, support, and control of our school system. The State is, therefore, the agency which regulates the organization, administration, supervision, and instruction in public and private schools, colleges, and universities.

Education as a State function placed our school system under the administration and supervision of the Department of Education. Our school administration falls under the Line and Staff school administration. The authority and responsibility of the line officers are derived from the power of the law. In this type of school administration, the Secretary of Education is the highest officer in our school system and the principal teacher is the lowest line officer in the field."

Reference: Gregorio, Herman C., Introduction to Education in Philippine Setting, page 172

Comparative Education

Educational Laws

Foundations of Education