Discuss the concepts of educational research. Also, examine the needs and importance of research in Education.
Course: : Research Methods in Education
Course Code 8604
Level: B.Ed Solved Assignment
ANSWER
CLASSIFICATION OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH BY PURPOSE
Introduction
Educational research is classified into Basic research Applied research and Action research. The basic and applied research are differentiated by their purposes. The primary purpose of basic research is the extension of knowledge whereas the purpose of applied research is the solution of an immediate, practical problem.
However, some misconceptions have developed with the use of the terms basic and applied research. One such misconception is that basic research is complex and applied research is simple in its methodology. A related misconception is that applied research is often sloppy and haphazard but of great practical value, whereas basic research is precise and exacting but of no use in a real situation.
Likewise, one type of applied research is action research. Action research is usually conducted by teachers and administrators to solve a specific problem or to provide information for decision-making at the local level.
Efforts have been made in this unit to highlight the actual role played by basic research, applied research, and action research with their characteristics.
1. Basic Research
This type of research is also regarded as fundamental/pure research. It builds up broad generalizations, principles, and theories of education. It results in the discovery of useful concepts such as motivation, reinforcement, concept formation, etc. It is not concerned with day-to-day problems.
The basic research has the following characteristics.
- It aims at developing educational theories and principles that will apply to a broad population.
- It requires expert training.
- It makes use of a wide range of methods to locate the research problem.
- Highly specific hypotheses are developed.
- It involves careful attention so that error is reduced to the minimum.
- It calls for a complex analysis of data.
- The generalizations usually remain confined to books and research reports.
2. Applied Research
This type of research is also called functional research. Education like Medicine is an applied science. Walter R. Borg (1987, P.11) has stated, “The primary function of research in education as in medicine--is to find improvements for education or medicine both to be understood as fields of human actions, not as fields of knowledge.”
Applied research does not aim at solving the practical problems that are faced by teachers, educational planners, administrators, curriculum specialists, etc. Applied research deals with problems of practical value. Applied research is less rigorous than the basic research.
Applied research involves both the classroom teacher and the research specialist. The comparison of applied versus basic research is discussed as under:
It is argued that in a country having limited resources, research should be given a practical orientation. Researches that do not have apparent relevance to the solution of practical problems are considered an unnecessary luxury. The contrary point of view asserts that in the absence of sound analytical concepts, there are obvious limitations to the extent to which applied research is possible. Not only will the lack of conceptual refinement improvise analysis and limit methodological sophistication, but it will also result in a constricted perception of cause-and-effect relationships.
Unless applied research is taken to mean the publication of facts through simplistic tables of percentages and averages, a job which can be done on the existing capital of the social sciences in Pakistan, there is no gainsaying the fact that basic research is an essential base for the development of applied research. Apart from the fact that basic research does not have application as its immediate goal, the two are deeply interrelated, particularly in the case of the social sciences whose concepts and theories derive from the analysis of social reality as an ongoing process. Research designed to diagnose social reality and to introduce correctives for the achievement of goals uses a theoretical base no less than it helps enrich it.
Thus, the difference between basic and applied research is not as sharp as that between applied and theoretical social scientists. To illustrate, survey research can be taken as an example of ‘pure' applied research. However, a few survey researches do not lend themselves to generalizations germane to theory building. Whether such attempts are actually made depends upon the training and professional orientation of the researcher. In such areas of organizational performance, intergroup conflicts, or the administration of and response to social change, the opportunities for testing hypotheses and for theory building are enormous. Perhaps the seriousness with which the distinction between theoretical and applied research is made will be lost as more and more Pakistani social scientists acquire components in quantitative research methodology. Both basic and applied research has an important part in the development of the social sciences and must be supported.
However, it would be of great interest to quote what William Wiersma (186, p13) has _ stated regarding basic and applied research, “The relation of theory and research is one of mutual contribution. Theory can point to areas in which research is likely to be fruitful, can summarize the findings of several specific studies, and can provide a basis for explanation and prediction. Research findings, on the other hand, can test theories that have been worked out, clarify theoretical concepts, and suggest new theoretical formulations or extend old ones. Moreover, the process of reciprocal contributions is a continuing, one, research stimulated by theoretical considerations may raise new theoretical issues, which in turn lead to further research and so on,... To conduct research without theoretical interpretation or to theorize without research is to ignore the essential function of theory as a tool for achieving an economy of thought.
3. Action Research
The process by which practitioners attempt to study their problems scientifically to guide, correct, and evaluate their decisions and actions is called action research.
There is no doubt that research work done by professional students of educational research is seldom noticed by the workers in the actual field of action. Now it is increasingly being realized that the practitioners of education must be involved in research work. Action research is a step ahead of the common sense approach. A good teacher does not merely depend upon tradition, or experience of others, or recommendations of expert bodies. In action research, he is deliberately more systematic and scientific in dealing with the problem.
A useful definition of 'Action Research' is the research a person conducts to enable him to achieve his purposes more effectively. A teacher conducts action research to improve his own teaching. A school administrator conducts action research to improve his administrative behavior.
Some people differentiate action research from applied research in as much as the former is confined to classroom situations and the latter probes into practical problems of greater complexity and wider applicability. There are eight aspects of the process of action research. These include the following: ‘. Self-dissatisfaction. The teacher feels dissatisfied with the situation. Identification of the problem. The teacher pinpoints the problem. Defining the problem. After identifying the problem, the teacher dennes the problem. Problem analysis. The teacher then locates the causes of the weakness. Action hypothesis. An action hypothesis is formed.
RESEARCH IN EDUCATION: SIGNIFICANCE, NEED AND CHARACTERISTICS
Research and progress. Significance of and need for education research. Educational research and scientific research their common characteristics. Special characteristics of educational research. Summing up.
Research has proved to be an essential and powerful tool in leading man towards progress. There would have been very little progress, as we find it today, without systematic research.
“The secret of our cultural development has been research. Pushing back the areas of ignorance by discovering DC“ truths, which, in turn. lead to better ways of doing things and better products."
“Research is a power of suspending judgment with patience, of meditating with pleasures, of asserting with caution, of correcting With readiness, and of arranging thought with scrupulous pain. Francis Bacon.
All significant research leads to progress in some field of life or the other. Each year new products, new facts, new concepts, and new ways of doing things 'come into our lives due to ever-increasing significant research in the physical, biological, as well as the social and psychological fields. Research activity is no longer confined to the science laboratory. Even as the manufacturers, the agricultural experts, and the archaeologists enter research in their respective spheres so also, the sociologists, and anthropologists. economists and educationists.
The goal of all research is progress and good life. In so far as good education is recognized as the basis of adequate individual and social development, the need for research, in education to improve educational practices and policies is being realized increasingly. Educationists are constantly searching for more effective methods of instruction, more satisfactory techniques of evaluation, richer learning materials, more comfortable physical facilities, more efficient systems of administrative organization, and so on. This search is assuming greater urgency because of the very rapid expansion and democratization of education throughout the world during the last few decades. Since the right of every individual to full development through education has been recognized "Where every country is aiming at providing universal education to its people in the ' Shortest possible time. As a result several new educational problems. never imagined
Thus, it is not difficult to show that education research is extremely necessary and very worthwhile. But to the question is educational research and what are its characteristics?’ there may not be one agreed answer. It might be helpful to acquaint ourselves with some of the accepted connotations of the term educational research. “Research is considered to be' the more formal, systematic, intensive process of carrying on the scientific method of analysis. It involves a more systematic' structure of investigation, usually resulting in some sort of formal record of procedures and a report of results or conclusions.”
“Educational research is that activity which is directed towards the development of a science of behavior in educational situations. The ultimate aim of such a science is to provide knowledge that will permit the educator to achieve his goals by the most effective methods."
Thus, as a result of research, there may be an improvement in teaching, administration, or human relations, or an increase in comparative, developmental, and historical knowledge and its philosophical, sociological, or psychological foundations.
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