The Increasing Instance of Ethical Issue in Educational Research - Essay Example

?What are the key ethical issues relating to research in educational settings? There is a growing concern about increasing instance of ethical issue in educational research setting since 1970(Keeves,1988).Ethical approval is one of the key issues that needs to be taken care of right from the beginning of the research (Kervin et al.,2006).It is critical for researchers to get approval from respective authorities before moving forward in their research or data collection.Consent or approval is critical because of privacy concerns,in particular, when the research participants are children or people with sensitive backgrounds.For instance, ethical issues often arise when interviews are conducted with the participants under 18-years of age(Konza,1998). It is crucial to either declare the information with consent;keep the information confidential; or declare complete anonymity depending on the subject’s needs.Ensuring privacy is important,not only for authenticity or research,but also for the safety and privacy of young people who are vulnerable to abuse and other psychological,emotional, and physical threats.Keeping the subject’s information confidential is another ethical concern. Once the research is done,researcher must ensure the safety of the information.In order to avoid ethical issues,researcher must comply with the ethical policies or guideline provided by the respective institution.For instance, Australian education departments provide their students with the ethical guidelines that are required to be strictly followed during any kind of research while working in schools.Researchers are also required to comply with university ethical acts when the research is part of degree completion(Kervin et al.,2006). Describe the steps in conducting a research inquiry, connect these to what they might look like for an educator conducting classroom based research. According to (Kervin et al.,2006),a research inquiry involves four major steps: topic selection;the literature review; literature critique; and research question or hypotheses formation. Topic Selection Selecting a topic for inquiry is a major task because all the proceeding steps depend on its validity and strength.Researcher must select a broad category of his or her own interest and then it must be narrowed down to as specific as it can.Researcher’s prior experiences, observations, and further research and inquiry leads to a strong and specific question in his or her area of study(Kervin et al.,2006) The Literature Review Literature review is the study of existing literature and research work done in the same area of study researcher has selected.In literature review ,researcher studies and analyses authentic primary and secondary sources,such as,books, journals, reports, and interviews.The main objective is to gather as much information and understanding as possible about the particular topic and move ahead with the research objective in mind.The new research has the potential to confirm the findings; disapprove with results or methodology;fill the gaps; and further diversify the existing research.Literature review provides the foundation of a strong research(Kervin et al.,2006) Critiquing the Literature Once the researcher studies and analyses the primary and secondary sources for the literature review,he must take points and write every idea in a precise paragraph with valid arguments.Researcher must focus on his or her area of study by documenting particular examples or observations in the class(Kervin et al.,2006). Research Question or Hypothesis Defining research question or hypothesis is the integral part of research study because research proceeds on it.The question must be clear either general or specific.It is because a clearly defined and specific question leads to a better research plan;helps in quality data collection; gain solid knowledge;and lesser change of errors(Kervin et al.,2006). What are two differences between qualitative and quantitative research designs? Provide examples where appropriate. The major difference in qualitative and quantitative research design is of text and numbers.Qualitative research design is more subjective and requires text,on the other hand, quantitative data is objective and requires numbers to explain.For instance,contrary to  qualitative research ,statistical tests and analysis is required fro quantitative research(Kervin et al.,2006). Quantitative research is analysed and results are determined by the relationship between variables,in particular, cause and effect.For example, Experimental research, Co-relational research, descriptive research, a longitudinal study and quasi-experimental design.Researching the mean weight of male and female students in different grades in order to identify the proportion of overweight students is a class-base example of quantitative research(Kervin et al.,2006,p.59). The research is based on cause and effect analysis.It deals with numeric data (weights,and grades) from a larger sample(class) and its statistical analysis. Qualitative research deals with the theory and methods formulations,such as, case study,ethnographic study,and action research(Patton,2002).Qualitative data is descriptive or explanatory and comparatively less generalisable.The data deals with the narration of feelings, behaviors, and thoughts.Therefore, the information can not be considered as 100% accurate.For instance, a question, how do you feel about teenage pregnancies? is open ended,therefore, the results will depend on the variety of responses. Describe some forms of data that might be gathered in a qualitative design.  Describe their value and how might you use them as a researcher. Interviews and observations are common forms of data collected in qualitative research design.In interview,researcher tries to ask questions that are designed to get particular information from the subject(Kvale,1996).The process of taking interview lets the subject unfold about his or her experiences that can facilitate research to a great extent.I would let the subject reveal his or her thoughts, behavior, and emotions while keeping it as directed as possible by asking small but non-disturbing questions. Observation is a form of data that is gathered as a human activity by senses from outside world, or data recording by using scientific instruments.The term is equally applicable to any piece of datum collected during the activity.Interview and observation provide with the most appropriate date that ensures adequate supports and improve the response to the questions posed by hypothesis and research question(Kervin et al.,2006). These forms of of data collection can be used by researchers to built qualitative research arguments.By analysing the data,the researcher can reach the conclusion of the research question.Moreover, researcher can further investigate the situation in depth for two purposes.Firstly, to find out about participant’s feelings and views towards the research focus.Secondly, to determine the social structure and the context of natural setting(Kervin et al.,2006). Describe how participants might be recruited for a qualitative study and a quantitative study.  Identify some of the differences and reasons for this. Participant recruitment holds prime importance for qualitative and quantitative research both.Researcher must identify the population for taking samples and determine the criterion to select the participants carefully(Kervin et al.,2006).Qualitative research studies are subjective in nature because the results depend on the individual interpretation of the events.It incorporates participant observation, and in-depth interviews,such as, face-to-face interviews.Selecting s small population often helps in getting better results in qualitative research. Quantitative research is objective in nature because it is based on precise measurement and analysis of target concepts.In incorporates surveys and questionnaires as data collection methods.In addition, researcher ensure the use of large number of participants because quantitative studies gathers and analyses statistical data. Discuss the differences between experimental research and quasi-experimental research. In experimental research two groups of randomly selected participants are used,one of the groups is a control group.For instance, for the research on the topic of child obesity, researcher can select a group of children which is following a complete diet and physical activity program and compare it to another group that is following only diet plan.The researcher can measure the difference between the participants of both groups.Experimental research’s objectives are to test the hypothesis and infer valid conclusions about the relationship between dependant and independent variables.Researcher controls the variables other than dependant one in order to investigate its influence over other controlled variables(Key,1997).For instance, the research study that evaluates the efficiency of learning among two groups of deaf students.In experimental study,one of the groups learns by using multimedia support while other use traditional methods to learn(Pooerbrasert,2009). Quasi-experimental research design quite similar to experimental research,however, the selection groups in quasi-experimental research are not random(Kervin et al.,2006).For instance, the above example is quasi-experimental comparison between the two groups,one of which is on diet plan and workout routine and other on diet plan only.The difference between the two groups is measured in quasi-experimental research. Reference list Keeves, J. P. 1988. Educational research, methodology and measurement.Michigan:Pergamon Press. Kervin, L., Vialle, W., Herrington, J., and Okely, T., 2006. Research for Educators.Melbourne: Cengage. Key, J. P.,1997. Research Design in Occupational Education. Module r13: Experimental research and design.[online]Available at: [Accessed  26 May 2010]. Konza, D.,1998. Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research: What Would You Do? Conference Papers. AARE:University of Wollongong. Kvale, S.,1996.Interviews An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing.California:Sage Publications. Patton, M., Q., 2002.Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. California:SAGE Publication,Inc. Poobrasert, O. and Cercone, N., 2009. Evaluation of educational multimedia support system for students with deafness. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 18(1), pp.71-90. Read More