1. RESEARCH DESIGN

2. Research Design  The term ‘research design’ relates to the choices and decisions you make about how you will research your chosen topic;  Research is a systematic process which needs to ensure that the research is rigorous: an investigation with evidence, not simply a professional reflection;  The first aspect of research design is selecting what type of research you will do;  There are many different types of research: action research; ethnographic designs; quasi-experimental studies; case study; longitudinal or cohort studies…  Choosing a design is about matching an appropriate design to the research question you have selected and about being pragmatic about what it is possible to do;  The Innovation Schools project involves you undertaking an intervention study. For more specific information about the design of Intervention Studies see the PPT Researching Innovation

3. Research Design  Having chosen your research type, the second aspect of research design is matching your data collection methods to your research questions;  This usually involves a lot of thinking about how to investigate your research questions:  what data will you collect?  what research instruments might you need (eg questionnaires; interview schedules; observation templates…)?  What sample do you need to answer your research questions?  How big does your sample need to be and/or how often will you need to repeat your data collection  It also involves checking that you are gathering data, and from an appropriate sample, to answer your questions effectively

4. An Example RESEARCH QUESTION DATA COLLECTION INSTRUMENTSAMPLE SIZESAMPLE TYPEDATA ANALYSIS Stage 1: What are the linguistic characteristics of secondary age children’s writing at sentence and text level? Desk analysis of writing samples Coding frame 720 writing samples: Writing samples stratified by age, gender, task type, and achievement Quantitati ve and qualitativ e Stage 2: What explicit knowledge do secondary writers have of the linguistic characteristics they are deploying and their own composing processes? Interviews with children Semi- structured interview schedule 24 children: 3 interviews each. Total: 72 Case study sample stratified by age, gender, and achievement Qualitativ e: grounded theory and responde nt validation When and how in the composing process do these linguistic characteristics appear in children’s writing? Classroom observation Annotated observation timeline 24 children: 3 observations each. Total: 72

5. Being Critical  Research is quintessentially a critical enterprise, which demands real intellectual engagement;  For every research question, there are multiple research designs available, not one ‘off-the-shelf’ perfect solution;  Every research design has limitations; there is no perfect research design;  Part of the process of research design is using this planning time to ensure that you have chosen a research design which is not only an appropriate match to your research questions but which is do-able in your research context;  Another important element of research design is being able to recognise and discuss the limitations of your chosen research design.

6. Research Design  So, in a nutshell, research design is a process of choice where you choose a type of research to match your research questions, and data collection methods to match your research questions.  Remember Stenhouse’s (1981)definition of research as a Systematic and sustained inquiry, planned and self-critical, which is subjected to public criticism. Research design is part of the process of ensuring that your research is systematic, planned and self-critical.  More detailed information about data collection methods and sampling is available on the website