Applying Educational Research

This text is intended for instructors who emphasize teaching students how to locate, read, and interpret, and apply the findings of educational research studies. This revision addresses how to design and conduct a research study in more detail. The text includes numerous recent, published research articles involving high-interest problems of educational practice. The chapters, which treat quantitative, qualitative, and applied forms of educational research, stand alone, allowing instructors to choose those they want to cover. This text brings research alive for educators by introducing readers to people who actually "do" research. Designed for courses focused primarily on applying, rather than conducting research, it includes 13 actual research articles, reprinted in their entirety. The book makes no assumptions about readers' prior knowledge of research or statistics. This text builds students' confidence so that they are able to successfully read research reports and research. For the first time, readers will see the relevance of research to educational practice.PART I: INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 Using Research Evidence to Improve Educational Practice Chapter 2 Doing Your Own Research: From Proposal to Final Report PART II: APPLYING EXISTING RESEARCH STUDIES TO PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE Chapter 3 Conducting and Writing Your Own Literature Review Chapter 4 Using Search Engines in a Literature Review Chapter 5 Making Use of Available Literature Reviews PART III: USING QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY TO STUDY PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE Chapter 6 Analyzing and Evaluating Reports of Quantitative Research Studies Chapter 7 Using Descriptive Statistics to Study Problems of Practice Chapter 8 The Practical Significance of Statistical Results Chapter 9 Tests of Statistical Significance Chapter 10 Descriptive Research Chapter 11 Group-Comparison Research Chapter 12 Correlational Research Chapter 13 Experimental Research PART IV: USING QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY TO STUDY PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE Chapter 14 Case Study Research Chapter 15 Narrative Research Chapter 16 Ethnographic and Critical Ethnographic Research Chapter 17 Historical Research PART V: COMBINING QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGIES TO STUDY PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE Chapter 18 Mixed-Methods Research PART VI: USING OTHER METHODOLOGIES TO STUDY PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE Chapter 19 Action Research Chapter 20 Evaluation Research SELF-CHECK TEST ANSWERS APPENDICES 1. Guide for Outlining a Quantitative or Qualitative Research Proposal 2. Questions To Ask Yourself When Evaluating a Report of a Quantitative Study 3. Questions to Ask Yourself When Evaluating a Report of a Qualitative Study 4. Design-Specific Questions to Ask Yourself When Evaluating a Research Report