CONSTRUCTION AND STANDARDIZATION OF RESEARCH TOOLS IN

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Concept, Nature and Gaps in Educational Research

The Basic Commitments

Joy Kirt SidhuHimalaya College of Education, Ranwar, Karnal

Abstract

In order to make the research study more objective, systematic and authentic, the construction of tools and selection of the techniques for collecting data are of prime importance in social sciences and education is no exception. It is more vital and important task for' the trainee researchers in educational institutions. Due to lack of awareness and proper knowledge about research among them is the main reason for lower quality and ineffective research in the field of education. The most important link in the entire research process is the researcher. The training imparted to the researcher determines the quality of research generated therefore it becomes imperative that adequate focus be given to this vital aspect of research. Research in Social sciences is intrinsically different from research in natural sciences therefore the sensitization of the apprentice researcher to this aspect of research is also needed. There is also a perceived lack of connection between research and practice. This paper aims at enlisting the Basic Commitments which should guide any research work so that good quality of research is accomplished.

Modern social science is about finding those conventions, those predictable patterns, with

which we can make sense of our lives. Particularly important to the social scientific

method is the use of language for identifying, maintaining, and sharing our propositions.

"In Western and especially modern consciousness, ... the idea of method draws its power

from the fact that certain objects and processes can be experimentally isolated and

thereby controlled" (Gadamer, in Grondin, 1994, p. 118).

Four hypotheses have been put forward to account for a perceived lack of connection

between research and practice by Prof. Mary M. Kennedy of Michigan State University:

(a) Educational Research needs to be more authoritative,

(b) Educational Research needs to be more relevant,

(c) Educational Research needs to be more accessible, and

(d) The education system itself is inherently too stable or too unstable and therefore

unable to respond coherently to research findings.

Research in Social Science should lead to innovation, build interdisciplinary and

international networks, and focus research on important public issues. It should be

independent and not-for-profit, and should be guided by the belief that justice, prosperity,

and democracy all require better understanding of complex social, cultural, economic,

and political processes. The aim should be to work with practitioners, policymakers, and

academic researchers in all the social sciences, related professions, and the humanities

and natural sciences. With partners around the world, it should be able to mobilize

existing knowledge for new problems, link research to practice and policy, strengthen

individual and institutional capacities for learning, and enhance public access to

information. It should ideally bring necessary knowledge to public action.

Research in social sciences is characterized by fact-finding and empirical approach. That

is partly because it originated from critical views against philosophy-bound pedagogies

which had focused on the history of the educational ideas, and against politically biased

educational theories which had superseded the traditional pedagogies. On the other hand,

while researchers tend to isolate a slice of the question so that they can handle it more

easily, their task is not accomplished until they place the output back into the context of

intertwined social problems and see the question in its proper perspective.

In the second place, educational research is macroscopic while that in fields like natural

sciences and educational psychology it is microscopic, though these disciplines have

positivism in common. Within social sciences, fields such as the history of education and

comparative education also pursue macroscopic research but sociology differs from them

in having policy-oriented stance. It is true that sociologists should keep on paying close

attention to social needs and historians should do the same but this does not mean that

they should act in obedience to the request from their clients.

Thirdly, the members of the present Society show a rich variety in their disciplines. It

comprises of specialists in economics, politics, geography and history as well as

sociology, and accordingly, "educational research" is used as generic term for researches

in the field of education done by social scientists. This intercommunication between

various disciplines can be regarded as an asset to the Society, because educational

research is inherently of multi-disciplinary nature. Moreover, research interests for a

Japanese sociologist cannot be the same as those for an American sociologist. Different

countries are faced with different social problems and policy issues. Discouraged by the

foreign culture and social milieu, expertise transplanted from another country hardly ever

bears good fruit. Therefore, a researcher must not remain too sensitive to the trends in

other advanced countries. Instead, he is expected to develop an original theory with a full

understanding of the situation and problems in his country.

In addition, educational research includes not only quantitative analyses but also

qualitative analyses, being free from the limitation of natural science which considers

what cannot be measured to be negligible. It is well known that natural science goes in a

linear way through the steps of pure research, applied research, and development before it

is turned to practical use for policy markers. In contrast with natural science, educational

research in social sciences is not often utilized directly for policy formulation and

administrative decision making. Its chief function is to exert influence over educational

policies through diffusion or enlightenment in a long term, usually by heightening the

awareness of new problems or new perspective on the problems.

The Basic Commitments

The approaches to the research work should be guided by five basic commitments:

Fostering Innovation

To work on problems that need new approaches; the researchers should act as a catalyst

for new thinking, seeking to mobilize the most creative and knowledgeable researchers

and to help research institutions be more dynamic. Renewing existing expertise, putting

knowledge to work on new problems, and generating novel data and theories are all

crucial to advancing social science for the public good.

Investing in the Future

Its aim should be to ensure the future of knowledge production through nurturing new

generations of researchers, enabling practitioners to act on scientific knowledge,

enhancing cross-fertilization among intellectual fields, developing capacity where it is

most lacking, and facilitating the internationalization of social science.

Working Internationally and Democratically

Better understanding of basic social processes is a resource for improving the lives of all.

It should be available to all. Participation in the production of scientific knowledge

should also be as broad as possible. Work should be in support of the internationalization

of social science and opportunities for under-represented groups both as matters of equity

and as requirements for ensuring that the production of knowledge is informed by

different contexts and perspectives.

Combining Urgency and Patience

It must bring researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and broader publics together to

focus on topics of pressing public importance from health to human rights. But since

even the most urgent problems are seldom solved overnight, we must learn even as we

act, and we must continually renew existing knowledge.

Keeping Standards High

Practical action, policy, and debate on major public issues all need to be informed by the

best possible knowledge. This is produced by emphasizing scientific quality, engaging

important public questions, and ensuring openness to critical analysis. Theory and

research can then command the attention of those who approach practical issues with

different values or agendas.

To achieve the above listed basic commitments its imperative that research trainees be

trained so that the realization of basic commitments can be achieved with the aim to

support students, within an active research community, in identifying and designing their

own original research project on a modest scale. The learning outcomes by the end of the

unit, the students should be able to have the following:

Knowledge and Understanding

* understand the basic principles of research design and appreciate alternative approaches

to research;

* understand the significance of alternative epistemological positions that provide the

context for theory construction, research design and the selection of appropriate

analytical techniques

Intellectual skills

* define researchable problems and formulate questions and, where appropriate,

hypotheses;

* understand the relationships between, and the rationale for, particular qualitative and

quantitative research methods and be able to select appropriate strategies for research

and/or evaluation;

* understand and apply concepts of generalisability, validity, reliability and replicability;

Professional Practice Skills

* develop, apply, test and hone on a modest scale the professional practice skills taught in

the research methods units of the programme, depending on the particular nature of their

research apprenticeship

* understand issues posed by social research in relation to ethics, confidentiality and

legality;

* have a good command of language skills where appropriate.

Transferable/Key skills

* develop, apply, test and hone on a modest scale some of the transferable/key skills

taught in the research methods units of the programme, depending on the particular

nature of their Research Apprenticeship Project.

Content

Any area of social science research for which an adequate level of supervision can be

offered is suitable to be the content for the Research Apprenticeship Project. The nature

of the Short Research Apprenticeship Project should be that students 'learn-by-doing', and

so they will be expected to demonstrate their ability to identify a manageable research

question from an area of interest and literature, and then to plan the research process

through from problem identification to research choices, to data collection and analysis,

with clear consideration of ethical issues. The submitted research design, including pilot

data, is expected to conform to acceptable standards of presentation for a research

proposal.

Research Design

All research has a research design, but that sometimes this is left implicit, when it should

be made explicit and systematic. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of being

as clear as possible about design issues, even before writing a research proposal. At the

same time, it should be kept open to the premise on the assumption that those decisions

are likely to be revised throughout the process of inquiry; they are not conceived as the

formulation of a plan that is then simply implemented. While there is now a considerable

literature dealing with qualitative method, little of it focuses specifically on research

design; and one needs to deal with the issue in a practical, and at the same time

principled, way. The apprentice researcher should be made familiar to a range of different

aspects of research design i.e. purposes, conceptual context, research questions, methods,

and validity issues etc. There should be discussions of the different sorts of purpose that

can motivate research, and of the relationship between these and research questions; as

well as of the link between research questions and the methods to be used. The final

training should deal with writing research proposals.

The distinction between personal, practical, and research purposes is valuable with the

first two as the motives for research and the last as its goal. By making this distinction,

the different roles of these purposes in research are emphasized terminologically. The

variance and process theory is characteristic of quantitative research and involves

assessing the causal contribution of different explanatory variables. Process theory, is

more appropriate to qualitative research, and as the name implies is concerned with

describing processes as they occur. However some may find that causal analysis requires

both assessment of the relative causal power of potential explanatory factors and

documentation of the processes involved, neither is sufficient on its own. This relates to

more fundamental doubts about the very distinction between quantitative and qualitative

method.

With the above training the trainee / apprentice researcher will be well equipped for the

next set of research skills. The next step would be to equip the students with an

understanding of the rationale for and appropriate use of qualitative methods in social

research, and the skills to conduct qualitative research. The specific aim would be to

achieve the following Learning Outcomes:

Knowledge and Understanding:

* Appreciate the rationale for when to use qualitative methods, and where relevant the

relationship between qualitative and quantitative methods;

* Understand the epistemological assumptions that underpin qualitative methodology.

Intellectual skills

* Be able to define researchable problems using qualitative methods;

* Be able to select appropriate qualitative methods for research questions;

* Understand how issues of measurement, validity, reliability and replicability are

addressed within qualitative methods;

* Be able to conduct research using qualitative methods, including the use of recording

techniques;

* Know how to approach the analysis of qualitative data;

* Recognise how tools for research are developed in response to a particular research

question;

* Recognise the cultural context of the design, conduct, analysis and interpretation of

qualitative material and the implications of this for formulating research designs.

Content:

The unit should comprise of

1. Core lectures on issues in qualitative research, and key questions of context and

culture.

2. Lectures that combine traditional lecturing with workshop activities to provide

theoretical understanding and practical experience of methods of qualitative research in

terms of collecting and eliciting data, and observational and textual data analysis:

interviewing, focus groups, ethnography, participatory research, action research,

grounded theory and discourse analysis.

3. Introduction to computer aided qualitative analysis.

4. Seminars in which students discuss set articles related to each lecture topic.

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