Research is the process we follow for systematically answering questions that we have about the world around us. This overview introduces you to some of the key concepts surrounding research methods.
Overview

Table of Contents

My Thoughts on Theory

Penn State's Dr. Hoi Suen provided me with an interesting visual depiction of the research process, called the Island of Research. Click on the picture below to for a larger view.

As the picture describes, research can be an arduous and perilous journey, but it can also be a great deal of fun. It's an opportunity to ask questions about the world around us; theorize about how it works; and explore our own theories in relationship to "reality," whatever that may be.

Wonderment - So what do you wonder about? That's where it all starts, with a question. Personally, I wonder about learning and performance and how context and interactions impact them. I also wonder about technology and its role in the learning process.

Research Question - From general questions and sources of wonderment, we draw specific research questions about a given phenomenon. Sometimes, those research questions are geared towards exploration of unknown relationships; other times, they involve confirming ideas you already have about those relationships. In other words, research questions can be geared towards exploratory research meant to produce hypotheses or they can be meant for hypothesis-testing research.

Your Tentative Theory - In either case, it is important that -- before you begin worrying about design, data collection, analysis, and other research procedures -- you conceptualize your theory. What do I mean by your theory? How do you explain the phenomenon and why it will behave the way you think it will behave? For example, if I wanted to study the effects of color-coding on memory, I would first ask myself the question, "Self, what do you think is the effect?" Let's say that I think that color-coding will help people remember things better. Next, I'd ask myself, "Self, why do you think it will help?" The answer to that question reflects my initial theory about color-coding's effect on memory. Many reseachers ask themselves what will happen but fail to answer why they think so.

Your theory, tentative as it may be, is that unique element that only you can bring to a study. It's a product of your insight into the phenomenon, a synthesis of all that you know and feel as well as all that you have experienced in your life pertaining to that phenomenon. Dr. Suen helped me realize that research without theory is like fishing without having any clue as to where the fish might be. If you cast your nets everywhere, eventually you will catch fish. Does that make you a good fisherman?

Now you're ready to start - Once you have a strong handle on your research question and your theory, you're ready to begin your journey. Unfortunately, many of us start the process of reviewing literature, designing the study, and generating hypotheses without truly understanding our own theory. As a result, the fishing boat is subject to being blown about by every strong breeze that comes along, being thrown off course by every helpful suggestion, every conflicting piece of research, and every obstacle that crosses its bow. Truly understanding your theory, on the other hand, can help you stay on course and weed out the relevant from the non-relevant suggestions, literature, methods, and so forth. How do you get in touch with your theory? There's no magic pill... it takes a great deal of zeal, introspection, and reflection. Qualitative researchers often say that you have to live with your data for a while... try living with your theory first.

Components of a Research Study

Once you are ready to begin (i.e., you have a research question and a tentative theory), it's time to start digging through the literature. Regardless of the type of study you are conducting, it is good to be aware of what previous researchers, who wonder about the same things you wonder about, have found in their own explorations and what theories (explanations) they offer for those findings.

Some might argue that reviewing the literature can taint the researcher, implant ideas into your head that will bias you against your own findings. This both assumes that you are an empty vessel with no preconceptions in your mind already and also that you are too intellectually weak to withstand the bombardment of other ideas. As I mentioned before, if you have a thought about your own theory, you are less likely to be swayed by every theory you read. Also, by getting in touch with your preconceptions, you put your biases out on the table, which I believe is way more important and useful than trying to suppress them (what some researchers call "bracketing" your assumptions).

As you conduct your literature review, keep in mind that you will need to address several issues early in your study. A typical chapter one (of a dissertation) contains the following information:

As you are reading through the literature, you will want to galvanize your theory with support from previous researchers. This adds credibility to your study and helps you feel more confident about and focused on your theory. Your theory probably calls on several underlying themes. Each of these themes will be explored in your lit review. For example, in a 1992 dissertation by Richard Kenny, the researcher was studying the effectiveness of instructional organizers when used in computer-based interactive video instruction. It should not surprise you to learn that he conducted an extensive literature review of advanced organizers, graphic organizers, generative learning, and of course instructional organizers in computer-based interactive video instruction.

In chapter three, you will describe your research methods. Subsections of a typical quantitative dissertation include:

Once you have all that written, you're over the hump! That's the first three chapters. From there you run your study, write up your results, discuss your findings, and write a snappy conclusion that paves the way for your next study. Along the way, you may need to write a prospectus -- an initial outline of your study summarizing chapters 1-3 items -- and/or a proposal, which represents the actual first three chapters. You see? It's a snap! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating the simplicity of it.

Essentially, the process involves getting in touch with what makes you wonder, coming up with a set of research questions and a tentative theory, and then setting about trying to test your theory. Even exploratory research works this... it's just that the theory is even more tentative than it is with hypothesis-testing research. So go out there and give it a shot!