Understanding Education Research: A Guide to Critical Reading

143 Pages·2014·1.02 MB·English

by  Gary Shank

Understanding Education Research
U E R
NDERSTANDING DUCATION ESEARCH
A Guide to Critical Reading
Gary Shank
Launcelot Brown
Janice Pringle
First published 2014 by Paradigm Publishers Published 2016 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shank, Gary D.
Understanding education research : a guide to critical reading / Gary Shank, Launcelot Brown, Janice
Pringle.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61205-581-7 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-61205-639-5 (consumer e-book)
1. Education—Research—Methodology. I. Brown, Launcelot. II. Pringle, Janice. III. Title.
LB1028.S4395 2014
370.72—dc23
2013045264
Designed and Typeset in New Baskerville by Straight Creek Bookmakers.
ISBN 13: 978-1-61205-581-7 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-61205-580-0 (hbk)
Contents
Preface
CHAPTER ONE Research Literacy and the Research Critic
CHAPTER TWO Basic Approaches in Educational Research
CHAPTER THREE Types of Research Articles
CHAPTER FOUR Understanding Titles and Abstracts
CHAPTER FIVE Understanding Purposes and Rationales
CHAPTER SIX Understanding Questions and Arguments
CHAPTER SEVEN Understanding References
CHAPTER EIGHT Understanding Methods and Procedures
CHAPTER NINE Understanding Quantitative Results and Findings
CHAPTER TEN Understanding Qualitative Results and Findings
CHAPTER ELEVEN Understanding Discussions and Conclusions
CHAPTER TWELVE Advanced Concepts and Techniques
CHAPTER THIRTEEN The Research Path
APPENDIX A Guidelines for Article Evaluation
APPENDIX B Dissecting an Article
References
Index
About the Authors
Preface
The Role of Research
This book is not only about the role of research in the field of education. More
than that, this book is about research not just as a tool for looking at how to
understand and improve education, but as a process that is fundamental to
education itself.
Before we talk about how fundamental research is to education, we first must
talk about how fundamental education itself is. We have argued for some time
that education is a basic human process (Shank, 2005). That is, education is as
fundamental as any other basic human experience. We eat, we sleep, we seek
companionship, we create and raise our young, we seek shelter, and we teach and
learn from each other.
Try this little experiment. Look at any group of people gathered informally.
Once they start talking to each other, within minutes they are teaching and
learning. We see this in just about every human setting. It is part of our nature as
human beings. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to us that education
pervades every aspect of human culture.
Human beings specialize and institutionalize many of their basic processes. For
instance, we don’t just seek food. We also go to specialty supermarkets and
Chinese restaurants, for example. Education is no different. We have created
many formal systems of education. Our system of public education is the biggest
example, and the one that professionally engages most of us.
When we look at schooling as a formal system, we see that it has many
components. Professional researchers do their work because they want to
improve the way things work, or sometimes just because they are curious and
want answers to basic questions. That is, research on its own terms can be just as
basic as any other aspect of education. We all are curious and we all want to
make things better. But research goes further, in its service to teachers.
Teachers, for their part, need to be able to deliver accurate and up-to-date
information to their students. They need to be able to organize that material so
that it is quickly and easily learned. They need to be able to check and see what
their students are learning and not learning. They need to be able to manage their
students as individuals and as groups in order for them to sustain a proper
climate for learning. The list goes on and on.
When we look at the areas discussed above, they all have at least one thing in
common—they all depend on ongoing research efforts in order to realize their
potential to students and teachers. That is, without research, there is no formal
process of schooling, as we know it. If research stopped, teachers would soon be
teaching out-of-date material. They would be dependent on learning and
behavioral strategies that might not be able to address the needs of our ever-
changing society. There would be at least stagnation, and at worst a
disconnection between our culture and our educational process. For these, and for
many other reasons that we have not mentioned, research is a fundamental part
of the educational system.
As we move forward, we need to look at our relationship to research, and how
this affects our roles as educational professionals.
Features of This Book
As you read on in this book you will find features and information that will
Provide a step-by-step breakdown of the form and logic of research
articles
Develop critical reading skills
Provide a practical sense of the skills being presented, through exercises
throughout the book
Offer a framework for questions helpful in critically engaging research
materials, and ways to discover answers
Explore the idea of research literacy as a necessary skill
As we move forward, we need to look at our relationship to research, and how
this affects our roles as educational professionals. We begin this process in the
next chapter.