Transcript Introduction to Educational Research (4th ed.) C.M. Charles/Craig A

Introduction to Educational Research (5th ed.)
Craig A. Mertler & C.M. Charles
Chapter 5
Interpreting & Summarizing
Published Research
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Reading Research Reports
• Skim to quickly examine nature of study and
conclusions
• Begin with abstracts, summaries
• Title and introductions
• Scan Findings, Conclusions, and Discussion
• Summarize the report; include the following:
» Topic
» Subjects
» Basic methods
» Results
» Complete bibliographic citation
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Interpreting Statistical Information
• Three types of research questions/findings:
» Status—describes people, places, etc. as they currently exist
» Comparison—examines differences between two or more
groups
» Covarying relationships—examination of relationships that
will permit predictions
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Interpreting Statistical Information
(cont’d.)
• Status reports (descriptive, qualitative research):
» Often make use of raw data
» Utilize statistics that indicate:
◊ Typicality (mean, median, mode)
◊ Spread or diversity (range, standard deviation)
◊ Conversion or transformation (z-scores, percentile
ranks, grade equivalents, etc.)
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Interpreting Statistical Information
(cont’d.)
• Comparison reports (evaluation, causal-comparative,
experimental research):
» Utilize statistics including:
◊ Chi-square (c2)—when data are counts or
categories; used to determine if difference exists
between two groups
◊ t-Test—when measures are scores; used to
determine whether difference exists between two
groups based on means
◊ Analysis of variance or ANOVA (F-ratio)—when
measures are scores; used to determine whether
differences exist between three or more groups
based on variability of scores about the means
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Interpreting Statistical Information
(cont’d.)
• Correlational reports (correlational research):
» Utilize statistics including:
◊ Pearson correlation coefficient (r)—when
measures are scores; used to determine degree
of relationship between variables, ranging from 1.00 to +1.00
◊ Many other additional measures of correlation
exist
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The Concept of (Statistical) Significance
• Significant—whether or not a topic is worthy of
investigation
• Significance—a.k.a., “statistical significance;”
interpreted as “it is very likely that the findings we
observed in the sample also exist in the population”
» Alpha level (a) determines the likelihood, or
probability
◊ Traditional values are .05 & .01
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Applying Technology…
Web sites to aid in writing a literature review
• Writing a Literature Review in the Health Sciences and
Social Work (http://www.utoronto.ca/hswriting/litreview.htm)
• Purdue University Online Writing Lab
(http://owl.english.purdue.edu)
• Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the
American Psychological Association
(http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html)
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