Research Design [Creswell]

Research Design by John Creswell

Worldviews (aka methodologies)

Postpositivist (6-7)Social Constructivist (8-9)Advocacy/Participatory (9-10)Pragmatic (10-11)

Strategies of Inquiry (aka methodologies)

Qualitative (e.g. ethnography)QuantitativeMixed Method

Methods

ways to gather data

Literature Review

Secondary/library research conducted to situate current study

Important questions:Can it be researched? Should it be researched?Is there any interest in this?

Independent & Dependent Variables

situation + independent variable = dependent variable

SO...adults over 25 + drink green tea = better performance on memory test

Intervening Variables

situation + independent variable + intervening variable = dependent variable

adults over 25 + drink green tea + steeped tea for 15 minutes = better performance on memory test

Moderating Variables

situation + independent variable + intervening variable = dependent variable[+moderating variables]

adults over 25 + drink green tea + steeped tea for 15 minutes = better performance on memory test[age x ounces consumed daily]

Control Variables

situation + independent variable = dependent variableadults over 25 + drink green tea = better performance on memory test

situation + control variable = dependent variableadults over 25 + drink no green tea = no change in performance on memory test

Confounding Variable

situation + independent variable [+ confounding variable] = dependent variable

adults over 25 + drink green tea [+ daily crossword] = better performance on memory test

Purpose Statement

coveys overall intent of study (111);

include methodology, method, site, participants, definitions (112-113)

Research Questions

central question of project

what or how are generally qualitative questions

Quintessential ethnography question:What is happening here?

nondirectional (no cause, impact, influence, etc.)

Hypotheses

predictions

null, directional, nondirectional (134-135)

Sampling Terms

cross-sectional (146)longitudinal (146)population (148)samplingsingle-stage or cluster sampling (148)random sampleconvenience sample (148)stratification (148)random table list & sample size formula (149)

Validity (Experimental)

Does the instrument measure what you want it to measure? [Think SATs: are they apt indicators of a student's potential for college?]

threats to validity (162-165)

Reliability (Experimental)

Consistency of scores internally (on the same instrument), over time, and in the administration and scoring

Key for Writing Studies: interrater reliability: will different readers score a piece of writing the same over time?

Experiments

True experiment (uses random sampling) vs. Quasi experiment (does not use random sampling) (155)

pre-experiment (no control group) (158)

Backyard Research

Studying the researcher's own organization, friends, work, family, etc. (177)

In Writing Studies, this is a researcher studying his/her own classroom (teacher research) or own institution (happens a lot in dissertations and theses)

Methods for qualitative research

observationsinterviewsdocumentsaudio/visual artifacts(182)

Coding

breaking data into pieces and assigning each piece at least one label (code)

Qualitative Reliability Strategies

check transcripts for accuracycheck for code driftintercoder agreement (190-91)

Qualitative Validity Strategies

triangulationmember checkingrich, thick descriptiondisclosure of biasinclude discrepant informationstay in field long enoughpeer debriefingexternal auditor (191-92)