The Research Process

As I have begun delving into the world of educational research, I have found myself mulling over two major takeaways.

Takeaway 1: Most research (especially educational research) involves direct involvement with participants.

My view of research during my time in school was always skewed toward a more scientific approach. Generate a hypothesis, experiment while keeping involvement neutral, observe, record, and report. The idea of involving oneself could render the study invalid due to personal bias. Therefore, the only way to produce a valid study was to remain objective. However, in reading An Introduction to Educational Research and The Research Process: A Beginner’s Guide I have now seen multiple instances where research designed with direct researcher to participant involvement is still considered strong and valid. Of the four methods outlined on page 11 (and other places) in An Introduction to Education Research, three of them recommend becoming actively engaged with participants either to understand their perspectives or to directly collaborate with them in the research. This was mind-blowing to me, as this was not how I thought acceptable research worked. I still wonder, however, how personal bias comes into play with these types of research. How skewed does the qualitative and quantitative data become? Is this still considered an issue with more forms of social research such as those involved with educational reform? Does

Takeaway 2: Effective research sometimes needs to have a clear, simple, and focused question or hypothesis, but not always.

Again, going back to my prior experience, the success of one’s research can be traced back to the questions or hypotheses posed. This was even addressed in The Research Process: A Beginner’s Guide when it was stated “it is very important that the research question or hypothesis is clear, simple, and focused,” and “time spent clarifying and revising your question or hypothesis...is well spent.” However, in reading about the research methods that involve participants, it can be seen that the words “clear, simple, and focused” do not always apply to the questions asked or hypotheses being formed. In fact, due to the existence of multiple realities for Social Constructivists or the collaborative nature of Pragmatism and Advocacy, the goals and questions change and adapt over time with the changing needs of the participants and surrounding situations. It would seem that with any kind of action oriented research, this would always be the case as actions require reactions; social change is inevitable in education and adaptability is necessary to lead to effective research in this field.