Course: Research Methods in Education (8604)
Level: B.Ed (1.5 Year)
Semester 2021 Autumn
Assignment no 1..
Question no 1.
Describe different sources of knowledge and which one is more authentic in your opinion and why?
Meaning of Knowledge – Derivative Meaning: ‘Epistemology’ comes from the Greek words ‘episteme’ meaning Knowledge and logos meaning discourse or science. – Epistemology is one of the branches of philosophy, which is concerned with the theory of knowledge. It solves two fundamental problems of knowledge– origin of knowledge and validation of knowledge
- Concept of Knowledge Knowledge includes the fact or condition of knowing which is gained through experience or association. Further, knowledge is understood in terms of enlightenment. The Indian philosophy believes it as breaking the veil of ignorance.
- Definitions of Knowledge – Plato has examined three definitions of knowledge which are as under: – Knowledge is perception or sensation; – Knowledge is true belief; – Knowledge is true belief accompanied by a rational ground. – Plato finally called knowledge as ‘Justified truth’. – Dewey denotes knowledge as ‘inference from truth’.
- – The National Curriculum Framework (2005), while placing the experience of the knower at centre, also defined knowledge. – According to it, “Knowledge can be conceived as experience organized through language into patterns of thought (or structures of concepts), thus creating meaning, which in turn helps us to understand the world we live in. It can also be conceived of as patterns of activity, or physical dexterity with thought, contributing to acting in the world, and the creating and making of things. Human beings over a time have evolved many bodies of knowledge, which include a repertoire of ways of thinking, of feeling and of doing things, and constructing more knowledge (P.25).” Definitions of Knowledge
- Inference from Definition – According to the most widely accepted definition, – knowledge is justified true belief. – It is a kind of belief is supported by the fact that both knowledge and belief can have the same objects and that what is true of someone who believes something to be the case is also true, among other things, of one who knows it. – For example, sun rises in the east is the knowledge or true belief that is supported by the fact which is arrived at through daily observations for millions of years by people.
- Nature of Knowledge – Abstract nature of Knowledge : Knowledge is shared understanding; be it justified truth or agreement between two ideas. This attributes to the abstract nature of knowledge. – Social nature of Knowledge: Knowledge is socially shared understanding, as it is developed through collective pursuit of the community members of the society. Individuals acquire a great deal of knowledge from their own experience; simultaneously they build up the knowledge through association with fellow humans. Therefore, the knowledge is acquired and built up only in society, and its roots lies in the social activities of man. – Knowledge is Cumulative: It is cumulative in nature because it is socially preserved and transmitted from one generation to the future generations. It is continuous to grow and develop in generations with the help of new understanding of reality, knowledge of the reality
- – Knowledge is Both Limited and Limitless: The cumulative character of knowledge also informs us both limit and limitless nature of knowledge. At any particular stage in the development of humanity, knowledge comes up against limits set by the limited character of available experience and by the existing means in obtaining knowledge. In other words, the known is always bounded by the unknown but not the unknowable. – Knowledge is always on Probation – Knowledge meets our daily requirements – Means to reach the truth Nature of Knowledge
- Perception, Conception and Information Sensory Receptors • Sensation Attention • Sensation Interpretation • Meaning Response • Meaning Perception • Process of Perception
- Perception – Perception involves giving meaning to sensory output. It is the organization, Identification and Interpretation of sensory information. – In perception, sensory data is enriched to the extent that we perceive more than is actually there. – Ex: Seeing an orange coloured sphere we not only perceive it is an orange but also as an article of food and even the taste of the orange is anticipated.
Q.2 Differentiate different types of research on the basis of their purpose explaining their use in life.
Definition: Research is defined as careful consideration of study regarding a particular concern or problem using scientific methods. According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie, “research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed phenomenon. It involves inductive and deductive methods.”
Inductive research methods analyze an observed event, while deductive methods verify the observed event. Inductive approaches are associated with qualitative research, and deductive methods are more commonly associated with quantitative analysis.
Types of research methods and example
Research methods are broadly classified as Qualitative and Quantitative.
Both methods have distinctive properties and data collection methods.
Qualitative methods
Qualitative research is a method that collects data using conversational methods, usually open-ended questions. The responses collected are essentially non-numerical. This method helps a researcher understand what participants think and why they think in a particular way.
Types of qualitative methods include:
One-to-one Interview
Focus Groups
Ethnographic studies
Text Analysis
Case Study
Quantitative methods
Quantitative methods deal with numbers and measurable forms. It uses a systematic way of investigating events or data. It answers questions to justify relationships with measurable variables to either explain, predict, or control a phenomenon.
Types of quantitative methods include:
Survey research
Descriptive research
Correlational research
Remember, research is only valuable and useful when it is valid, accurate, and reliable. Incorrect results can lead to customer churn and a decrease in sales.
It is essential to ensure that your data is:
Valid – founded, logical, rigorous, and impartial.
Accurate – free of errors and including required details.
Reliable – other people who investigate in the same way can produce similar results.
Timely – current and collected within an appropriate time frame.
Complete – includes all the data you need to support your business decisions.
Q.3 Discuss different designs of experimental research and their use n education for improvement.
Experimental research is a method used by researchers through manipulating one variable and control the rest of the variables. The process, treatment and program in this type of research are also introduced and the conclusion is observed.
Commonly used in sciences such as sociology, psychology, physics, chemistry, biology and medicine, experimental research is a collection of research designs which make use of manipulation and controlled testing in order to understand casual processes. To determine the effect on a dependent variable, one or more variables need to be manipulated.
The experimental Research is a systematic and scientific approach to research in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables, and controls and measures any change in other variables
The aim of experimental research is to predict phenomenons. In most cases, an experiment is constructed so that some kinds of causation can be explained. Experimental research is helpful for society as it helps improve everyday life.
Experimental research describes the process that a researcher undergoes of controlling certain variables and manipulating others to observe if the results of the experiment reflect that the manipulations directly caused the particular outcome.
Experimental researchers test an idea (or practice or procedure) to determine its effect on an outcome. Researchers decide on an idea with which to “experiment,” assign individuals to experience it (and have some individuals experience something different), and then determine whether those who experienced the idea or practice performed better on some outcome than those who did not experience it.
Validity Threats in Experimental Research
By validity “threat,” we mean only that a factor has the potential to bias results.In 1963, Campbell and Stanley identified different classes of such threats.
Instrumentation. Inconsistent use is made of testing instruments or testing conditions, or the pre-test and post- test are uneven in difficulty, suggesting a gain or decline in performance that is not real.
Testing. Exposure to a pre-test or intervening assessment influences performance on a post-test.
History. This validity threat is present when events, other than the treatments, occurring during the experimental period can influence results.
Maturation. During the experimental period, physical or psychological changes take place within the subjects.
Selection. There is a systematic difference in subjects’ abilities or characteristics between the treatment groups being compared.
Diffusion of Treatments. The implementation of a particular treatment influences subjects in the comparison treatment
Experimental Mortality. The loss of subjects from one or more treatments during the period of the study may bias the results.
In many instances, validity threats cannot be avoided. The presence of a validity threat should not be taken to mean that experimental findings are inaccurate or misleading. Knowing about validity threats gives the experimenter a framework for evaluating the particular situation and making a judgment about its severity. Such knowledge may also permit actions to be taken to limit the influences of the validity threat in question.
depends on the quality of the research methodologies used to investigate these treatments.
Types of experimental research designs
There are three basic types of experimental research designs . These include
1) True experimental designs
2) Pre-experimental designs,
3) Quasi-experimental designs.
The degree to which the researcher assigns subjects to conditions and groups distinguishes the type of experimental design.
True Experimental Designs
True experimental designs are characterized by the random selection of participants and the random assignment of the participants to groups in the study. The researcher also has complete control over the extraneous variables. Therefore, it can be confidently determined that that effect on the dependent variable is directly due to the manipulation of the independent variable. For these reasons, true experimental designs are often considered the best type of research design.
A true experiment is thought to be the most accurate experimental research design. A true experiment is a type of experimental design and is thought to be the most accurate type of experimental research. This is because a true experiment supports or refutes a hypothesis using statistical analysis. A true experiment is also thought to be the only experimental design that can establish cause and effect relationships.
types of true experimental designs
There are several types of true experimental designs and they are as follows:
One-shot case study design
A single group is studied at a single point in time after some treatment that is presumed to have caused change. The carefully studied single instance is compared to general expectations of what the case would have looked like had the treatment not occurred and to other events casually observed. No control or comparison group is employed.
Static-group comparison
A group that has experienced some treatment is compared with one that has not. Observed differences between the two groups are assumed to be a result of the treatment.
Post-test Only Design – This type of design has two randomly assigned groups: an experimental group and a control group. Neither group is pretested before the implementation of the treatment. The treatment is applied to the experimental group and the post-test is carried out on both groups to assess the effect of the treatment or manipulation. This type of design is common when it is not possible to pretest the subjects.
Pretest-Post-test Only Design –
The subjects are again randomly assigned to either the experimental or the control group. Both groups are pretested for the independent variable. The experimental group receives the treatment and both groups are post-tested to examine the effects of manipulating the independent variable on the dependent variable.
One-group pretest-posttest design
A single case is observed at two time points, one before the treatment and one after the treatment. Changes in the outcome of interest are presumed to be the result of the intervention or treatment. No control or comparison group is employed.
Solomon Four Group Design – Subjects are randomly assigned into one of four groups. There are two experimental groups and two control groups. Only two groups are pretested. One pretested group and one unprotested group receive the treatment. All four groups will receive the post-test. The effects of the dependent variable originally observed are then compared to the effects of the independent variable on the dependent variable as seen in the post-test results. This method is really a combination of the previous two methods and is used to eliminate potential sources of error.
Factorial Design –
The researcher manipulates two or more independent variables (factors) simultaneously to observe their effects on the dependent variable. This design allows for the testing of two or more hypotheses in a single project.
Randomized Block Design –
This design is used when there are inherent differences between subjects and possible differences in experimental conditions. If there are a large number of experimental groups, the randomized block design may be used to bring some homogeneity to each group.
Q.4 What are historical sources? Keeping in mind them, discuss historical criticism in detail.
History is the study of life in society in the past, in all its aspect, in relation to present developments and future hopes. It is the story of man in time, an inquiry into the past based on evidence. Indeed, evidence is the raw material of history teaching and learning. It is an Inquiry into what happened in the past, when it happened, and how it happened. It is an inquiry into the inevitable changes in human affairs in the past and the ways these changes affect, influence or determine the patterns of life in the society. History is, or should be an attempt to re-think the past. Collingwood (1945) is particularly interested in this concept of
history.
History aims at helping students to understand the present existing social, political, religious and economic conditions of the people. Without the knowledge of history we cannot have the background of our religion, customs institutions, administration and so on. The teaching of history helps the students to explain the present, to analyze it and to trace its course. Cause- and-effect relationship between the past and the present is lively presented in the history.
History thus helps us to understand the present day problems both at the national and international level accurately and objectively. In this unit we will be dealing with meaning, nature and scope of history, aims and objectives of teaching history at secondary level and values of teaching history.
Concept of History
History is the analysis and interpretation of the human past enabling us to study continuity and changes that are taking place over time. It is an act of both investigation and imagination that seeks to explain how people have changed over time. Historians use all forms of evidence to examine, interpret, revisit, and reinterpret the past. These include not just written documents, but also oral communication and objects such as buildings, artifacts, photographs, and paintings. Historians are trained in the methods of discovering and evaluating these sources and the challenging task of making historical sense out of them. History is a means to understand the past and present. The different interpretations of the past allow us to see the present differently and therefore imagine—and work towards—different futures. It is often said to be the “queen” or “mother” of the social sciences. It is the basis of all subjects of study which fall under the category of Humanities and Social Sciences. It is also the basis of the study of philosophy,
Nature of History
- A study of the present in the light of the past: The present has evolved out of the past. Modern history enables us to understand how society has come to its present form so that one may intelligently interpret the sequence of events. The causal relationships between the selected happenings are unearthed that help in revealing the nature of happenings and framing of general laws.
- History is the study of man: History deals with man’s struggle through the ages. History is not static. By selecting “innumerable biographies” and presenting their lives in the appropriate social context and the ideas in the human context, we understand the sweep of events. It traces the fascinating story of how man has developed through the ages, how man has studied to use and control his environment and how the present institutions have
grown out of the past.
Scope of History
The scope of History is vast; it is the story of man in relation to totality of his behavior. The scope of history means the breadth, comprehensiveness, variety and extent of learning experiences, provided by the study. History which was only limited to a local saga, has during the course of century become universal history of mankind, depicting man’s achievements in every field of life-political, economic, social, cultural, scientific, technological, religious and artistic etc., and at various levels-local, regional, national, and international. It starts with the past; makes present its sheet-anchor and points to the future. Events like wars, revolutions, rise and fall of empires, fortunes and misfortunes of great empire builders as well as the masses in general are all the subject matter of history. History is a comprehensive subject and includes-History of Geography, History of Art, History of Culture, History of Literature, History of Civilization, History of Religion, History of Mathematics, History of Physics, History of Chemistry, History of Education, History of Biology, History of Atom, History of Philosophy-in fact history of any and every social, physical and natural science we are interested in. History today has become an all-embracing,
comprehensive subject with almost limitless extent.
Values of teaching History
Value is that experience or fruit which one gets in the path of achieving aim whereas aim is a conscious and active purpose that we always keep before our mind. It always remains before us in the path of achievement. History is valuable as a study in more ways than one. Some of the values are general that is they apply to the teaching of the subject in all circumstances. Other values are limited and specific. They apply to particular types of history, hold for a particular level of schooling or are the necessary result of teaching if carried out in a particular way. The values of teaching history may be stated as under: Disciplinary value: History is quite fruitful for mental training. It trains the mental faculties such as critical thinking, memory and imagination. It quickens and deepens understanding, gives an insight into the working of social, political, economic, and religious .
General Aims of Teaching History
- To promote self-understanding: History needs to be taught to promote self- understanding. Everyone has a heritage which is uniquely his, a combination of racial, national, family and individual traditions which are woven into his very being. Without enquiry into these historical factors, man will remain a stranger to himself. Similarly in the absence of historical study, groups and persons will fail to comprehend their own identity. Being a key subject, history provides useful information necessary for understanding the common allusions in daily reading-names, places, dates and events etc.
Thus the knowledge of history is a part of the self-awareness and realization of our environment.
- To give proper conception of time, space and society: History gives a proper understanding of the concept of time, space and society. It reveals the relationship of the
present with the past, the local with the distant and personal and national life with the
lives and the cultures of men and women in other countries, in time and space. History is a link uniting each of us as an individual with a whole greater than ourselves.
- To enable the pupils to assess the values and achievements of their own age: History
provides the youths the standards of reference against which they can measure the values
and achievements of their own age. This enables them to have an enlightened awareness of the problems of modern communities, political, social and economic.
- To teach tolerance: History teaches tolerance- tolerance with different faiths, different loyalties, different cultures, different ideas and Idea’s.
Q.5 Write note on followings
- a) Survey Studies
A survey is considered a cross-sectional study. Some epidemiologists may call it a prevalnce study. The survey results provide a ‘snapshot’ of a population. Surveys are a useful tool for gauging the health of a population or to monitor effectiveness of a preventative intervention or provision of emergency relief.
While a survey may provide a relatively quick and inexpensive method for assessing the health of a population
Some considerations in the design of survey sampling
Even though this is not a course on surveys, you should be aware of some approaches to drawing a sample for an epidemiologic survey. First, if the population can be enumerated (listed), a simple random sampling approach can be used to draw a representiave sample of potential participants. For example, you might generate a list of all children attending a public school and then from this list, randomly select students for the survey. Procedures for simple random sampling can be done in many software packages, including Excel. The use of simple sampling allows us to generalize the results of the survey back to the population from which the sample was drawn.
Sometimes, we want to make sure that there are an adequate number of responses from a groups that is relatively small. To do that, we might use stratified random sampling which divides groups into homogeneos groups. Then we can draw simple random samples from each of the groups. Stratified sampling assures that selected subgroups of the population will be represented in the sample. If the strata are homogeneous, statistical precision from stratified sampling is greater than that achieved with simple random sampling. Stratified samples can be proportionate (or disproportionate) to the size of the stratum . If sampling is disproportionate, overall population estimates are constructed by weighting within-group estimates by the sampling fraction. Cluster sampling is a specific type of stratified sampling, and often refers to sampling from geographic areas. A cluster might be a zip code area in the US or streets within a city.
Systematic sampling occurs when we select our sample in a systemic manner.For example, you might select every 10th house on a street to participate in a household survey. Systematic sampling can be easier to implement than simple random sampling and may represent the population as well as a simple random sample. However, if every rth unit corresponds to an existing sequence in the population with the result that each member of the sample was selected from the same part of the recurring pattern, the sample will be biased. For example, if an observation is made every seventh day, beginning on a Monday, the entire sample will only represent Monday experiences.
Multi-stage sampling occurs when a combination of sampling methods is used.
Fially, tthere are several types of surveys that may be used but may produce biased population estimates. First, we may choose a convenience sample, such as randomly asking people on a street corner or in a store to particiapte in a survey. The convenience sample may be useful in gathering preliminary or pilot data for a future sruvey that would be larger and have more rigourous sampling methods. Finally, you may choose purposive sampling because you are particularly interested in the responses of a specifc group. Each of these approaches are useful, but to what population can the results be generalized.
- b) Interrelationship Studies
Interrelation is the state of things being closely connected to each other and maybe affecting each other.
Interrelation can also refer to an instance of when things are connected or related in such a way.
The word interrelationship can be used to mean both of these things.
The elements in an interrelation can be described with the adjective interrelated.
The verb interrelate means to be connected in this way or to cause things to become connected in this way. Interrelate, interrelated, and interrelation are used in situations in which two or more elements strongly influence each other or are closely linked to each other. For example, a study on unemployment and crime in a particular area may conclude that there is an interrelation between them. Saying that there is an interrelation between two things does not necessarily mean that one causes the other or that they cause each other (though in some cases this may be true).
Such words are typically used in the discussion of complex topics, such as economics, science, and politics. These often involve situations in which multiple things are happening at the same time. An interrelation can involve things impact each other or work together to affect something else.
For example, the economy is affected by the interrelation of many factors, such as employment, interest rates, and inflation.
It is more common to describe things as interrelated or to say that they interrelate than to use the word interrelation to refer to the relationship between them.
Example: The strength of the hurricane depends on the interrelation of several factors, including temperature and air pressure.