A. Strategies The general approach taken into an enquiry

Experiment

Case Study

Survey

Field Research Research about a field where an enquiry is asked

C. Consider the purposes of your Enquiry Enquiry can be classified in terms of their purpose as well as by the strategies used.

Use Examples, NJ, Jiwoong,

D. The purpose may help in selecting strategies The three traditional strategies presents different ways of collecting and analysing empirical evidence. Case studies are appropriate for exploratory work Surveys are appropriate for descriptive studies Experiments are appropriate for explanatory studies.

E. The research question does have a strong influence on strategy chosen The degree of control the investigator has, or wishes to have over events Whether the focus is over past or current events

E. Specific methods of investigation need not to be tied to a particular research strategies.

Experimental Methodology Psycho-Statistical paradigm (Fienberg, 1977)  how empirical studies in psychology should be carried out.

Ronald Fisher, 1937 The design of experiments Working in agricultural experiment Random sampling from the known populations allows the use of probability theory to estimate error, and through this the development and use of statistical tests of significance.

Two issues Internal validity  concerned with the extend to which that study establishes that a factor or variables that has actually caused the effect that is found External validity  the degrees to which the findings could be generalized from the specific sample of the study to some target population

Use of experiment in a real world? Feasible but present extremely difficult practical and ethical problems.

Quasi-experiment Campbell et al, Campbell & Stanley (1963), Cook & Campbell (1979) This includes, for example, comparison of intact groups rather than samples randomly selected and allocated for the purposes of study The concern is to tease out the threats to valid inference about causation present in a particular design and to evaluate how far these threats can be discounted in a particular study, taking into account the specific features of the study and the pattern of results obtained.

Quasi-experiment control more on its rival hypothesis. It attempts to liberalize the experiment to cope more realistically with conditions outside the laboratory The logic of the Fisherian randomized assignment to conditions model is that randomization attempts to control an infinite and unspecified number of rival hypotheses. Strictly speaking, randomization can never totally control for these hypotheses, but renders them implausible to a specified probability. In quasi-experimentation each rival hypothesis must be specified and specifically controlled for.

Task 1 Try to find a quasi experimentation strategies for this topic. The effect of using shared reading approach on improving learners’ reading comprehension ability and their interests in reading.

Survey Methodology Collection of standardized information from a specific population, or some sample from one, usually but not necessarily by means of questionnaire or interview. A great deal of information might be obtained from a key informant.

cross-sectional studies It’s suitable for cross-sectional studies Cross-sectional studies (also known as cross-sectional analyses, transversal studies, prevalence study) form a class of research methods that involve observation of all of a population, or a representative subset, at one specific point in time.research methods

For descriptive studies where the interest is, say, in how many people in a given population possess a particular attribute, opinion or whatever, or used to explore aspects of a situation, or to seek explanation and provide data for testing hypotheses. Samples tend to be large and requires careful attention to how samples are drawn. From the total sample and generalized to the population. Problem is on truthworthiness of the collected data Also can be done through some form of longitudinal research. But has many problems in relation to unavailability of subjects with many reasons. Survey questions: Jiwoong’s, Jullie’s

Case Study Methodology Situation, individual, group, organization or whatever it is that we are interested in. Case study is a strategy for doing research which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence.

Can use multiple methods. Example of the use of a multiple strategy. Kiely and Hodgson (1990): the place of stress in the job and role of prison officers, to assess the value and benefits of exercise programmes. Methods: literature review and theoretical conceptualizations of occupational stress; and of existing research on the value of exercise to offset that stress. Informal semi structured interviews with the governor and fourteen other offices. Surveyed young offender prisons by means of postal questionnaire. In-depth interview with governors who had illness etc. Exploratory and makes suggestions about ways in which physical exercise programmes might be evaluated and, more generally, how occupational stress in this context might be combatted.

Task 2 Read the article and find out whether it is a case study.

Is case study scientific research? Valsiner (1986) claims that the study of individual cases has always been the major strategy in the advancement of knowledge about human beings. Bromley (1986) maintains that the individual case study or situation analysis is the bed-rock of scientific investigation. But science is not concerned with the individual case. So it’s a soft option, exploratory precursor to some more hard-nosed experiment or survey etc. But it is not a flawed experimental design; it is a fundamentally different research strategy with its own designs.

Validity?