AEE 578--Scientific Inquiry in Agricultural and Extension Education
| AEE 578--Scientific Inquiry in Agricultural and Extension Education |
Class 2:  |
° The Research Problem ° Basic Research Terminology |
Introduction:
 |
There is an old
saying
that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Conducting
research is very much like going on a long journey. So what is the
first
step in research? The first step in research is to come up with a
good
research question. It is not uncommon for graduate students who are
doing
research to flounder around at this stage of the research process.
Graduate
students may take months or even years to identify and succintly state
a
research problem. In this lesson we will focus on how to
identiffy
and develp a good research question. Once this is accomplished, the
research
process is much easier. However, one problem in research has to do with vocabulary. VOCATS! EMAPS! ERS! IEP! SAE! All of these terms are commonly used in Agricultural and Extension Education. To a person not familiar with the field, these terms could be very confusing. However, in order to function effectively within the field of agricultural and extension education, a knowledge of these terms is needed. In the field of educational research there are a number of words that describe various aspects of research. In order to function effectively as a researcher, a working knowledge of these terms is needed, In this lesson we will also explore some basic terms used in research. |
Learning
Objectives:  |
 Give
some
examples of potential research problems in education; Formulate a research question; Distinguish between researchable
and non-researchable questions; Name 5 characteristics that
good research questions possess; Describe 3 ways to clarify
unclear research questions; Give an example of an operational
definition, and explain how these
differ from other kinds of definitions; Explain the
research term relationship, and give an example of a research question that involves a relationship. Explain the
research term variable, and name at least 5 variables that might be investigated by educational researchers; Explain how a variable
differs from a constant; Distinguish between a
quantitative and a categorical variable; Explain how independent
and dependent variables are related; Give an example of a
moderator variable; Explain what a
hypothesis is, and formulate at least 2 hypotheses that might be
investigated in education; Name at least 2
advantages and 2 disadvantages of stating
research questions as hypotheses; and Distinguish between
directional and non-directional hypotheses,
and give an example of each. |
| Instructional Activities:  |
Read Chapter 2 " The Research Problem"
and Chapter 3 "Variables
and Hypotheses" in the course text, How
to Design and Evaluate Research in
Education
(Fraenkel & Wallen). The Research Assistant web site
provides several questions
to consider when identifying a research problem. Read the Word document from Virginia
Commonwealth
University on the Criteria
for Good Questions. Read
Trochim's work on Problem
Formulation
from his Research Knoweldge Base web site. Two researchers asked Deans of Agriculture,
Deans of Education and Directors of Experiment Stations what
problems should be researched in agricultural education. See what was
identified in the article Mission, Initiatives, and
Obstacles...: A National Delphi Using External
Decision-Makers published in
the Journal
of Agricultural Education
('89, Vol. 30, No.
4). Did the profession agree with the
recommendations for research in the previous study? A study of
professionals in the field were asked
to identify research priorites. Read "Priorities
for Research in Agricultural Education" from the Journal of
Agricultural Education ('90, Vol 31, No. 3) to see. Now that we know what the profession should
be
researching (from the previous two articles) the question is, "Is this
what
we are actually researching?" Radhakrishna and Xu
answer this question in their article "A Review
of Subject Matter Topics Researched in Agricultural and Extension
Education" in the Journal of
Agricultural Education ('97, Vo. 38, No. 3). Do you need additional help on understanding
variables? See what Trochim has to say. Read Levels of
Measurement from Trochim's Knowledge
Base
to understand the difference between interval, ordinal, nominal and
ratio
data. The importance of this will become very clear when we talk about
data analysis. There may be times
when you want additional clarfication or
want to see a full definition for a word. The online Glossary
in the text book is a good site to have bookmarked. View the PowerPoint presentation on Research
Problems. If you have PowerPoint you can download
the presention to your computer.
The presentation on Research Terminology can be viewed or downloaded.
|
Preparation: |
The text site of support materials has some excellent
information, you should
check it out: Chapter Outline- Main Points- Key Terms- Visit the
text site and complete the multiple
choice questions for Chapter
2 AND the multiple
choice questions for Chapter
3. |
| Additional
Resources: |
IF you want to see more (NOT required): View another PowerPoint for Chapter 2 or download it- Chapter 2 - Additional Web Links- View another PowerPoint for Chapter 3 or download it- Chapter 3 - Additional Web Links- Also the text's url is: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073525960/student_view0/.
|
Assignments:
 |
Complete
Worksheet 2 and Worksheet2b. Here are word
versions of worksheet 2 and worksheet 2b. |