research design methodology

Part A
For each of the following scenarios, please identify the research design methodology label which might apply to the particular study. Just to remind you, these include:

Descriptive (Survey)
Descriptive (observational)
ComparativeCausal
Comparative
Correlational
Quasi-Experimental
True Experimental

1. The researchers hypothesized that peer evaluation as part of the writing process would lead to improved attitude toward writing and increased fluency in a sample of ninth grade students. Seven (7) intact classrooms taught by three (3) different teachers were randomly assigned to treatment and comparison groups so that each teacher had one class in each condition. Both groups wrote a first draft of a paper. The treatment group received peer evaluation training and rewrote their papers based upon assistance from their peer evaluation group. The control group rewrote their papers receiving assistance from the teacher only when they requested help. The subjects responded to two (2) attitude instruments as pretest and posttest measures. A significant increase in positive attitudes toward writing was observed for the treatment group. Writing fluency was measured by a count of words on pre- and post-treatment drafts. There was a decrease in word count from the first to the last draft for the treatment group.

2. This study examined factors which predict performance on the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) Core Battery. The researchers found strong relationships between a student’s undergraduate grade-point average (GPA), American College Test (ACT) subtests, and the NTE Core Battery tests.

3. This study was intended to identify high school students’ attitudes toward school policies and practices. Subjects were given a rating scale instrument listing specific school policies and asked to rate each one on a 5-point scale ranging from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” A typical sample item being rated is as follows: “Students in my school are given enough responsibility in establishing rules of conduct.”

4. This study was intended to identify the types and effectiveness of various forms of positive teacher reinforcement. Teams of researchers developed checklists of such positive behaviors and recorded types and frequency of occurrence in a sample of classroom sessions they attended.

5. The purpose of the study was to determine if Method A of teaching reading would produce superior results in terms of reading comprehension than Method B. One thousand (1,000) second graders were randomly chosen to participate in the study. These second graders were then randomly assigned to either Method A or Method B. Both groups were given a baseline pretest of reading comprehension, as well as the same posttest.

6. A researcher is interested in finding out if children who have attended nursery school perform better in reading in the first grade than those who have not attended nursery school. He/she compares the mean reading scores of both groups.

7. The purpose of this study was to determine if selected students whose homes were called, using a computer-assisted telecommunications device, on days when they were not in school would show an expected difference in school attendance, as compared with selected students whose homes were not called. One hundred and fifty (150) students were chosen at random at the beginning of the school year to serve as the baseline group. No calls were made to the students to were absent in this baseline group. The same random selection procedure was followed for selecting the one hundred and fifty (150) students in the “treatment” group. For this group, each of the students was called at the end of the day(s) for which he/she was absent from school, using the automatic dialing device.

HINT: Think about ‘researcher’s power to ‘form’ groups here! This one is a bit ‘subtle’ in that regard!

8. This study was intended to determine how much knowledge of world geography children have in the third grade. To address this problems statement, students in the sample were administered a paper-and-pencil questionnaire containing basic geography concepts.

9. A teachers’ union wishes to determine whether there is a difference between elementary and secondary teachers in their propensity to run for and assume office. This information (numbers of elementary and secondary teachers who have run for, and/or assumed, office) is obtained from the school district office records, and appropriate statistical tests of between-group difference are run on these data.

10 The same teachers’ union also wishes to determine if there is a relationship between the number of union meetings that teachers attend, and the length (in years) that they have been members of the union.

Part B
1. For the following two research articles, identify the research design and give reasons for your decision (articles are attached)

Reading Instruction-Principals
( Jacobson, J., Reutzel, D. & Hollingsworth, P. (1992). Reading Instruction: Perceptions of Elementary School Principals. The Journal of Educational Research, 85, (6): 370-380)

Motivational Effects on Test Scores
( Brown, S. & Walberg, H. (1993). Motivational Effects on Test Scores of Elementary Students.The Journal of Educational Research, 86, (3): 133-136)

2. In each of the following indicate whether the result or relationship is likely to be practically significant and then explain your reasoning:

(a) A researcher finds that a particular relationship can occur by chance about 20 times in 100

(b) A researcher finds that students who use a new biology textbook recently purchased by the school district scored an average of 20 percent higher on an end-of-the course examination

(c) A researcher finds that use of a certain drug decreases the incidence of a life-threatening illness among a group of senior citizens by 3 percent

(d) A small appliance store owner finds that advertising in the local neighborhood newspaper increases her sales each week by 1 percent

(e) A new method of teaching five-year olds how to tie their shoes results in their being able to do so three weeks earlier than similar five-year olds not taught by this method

(f) A researcher finds that a correlation of .18 has only a 1 in 1,000 likelihood of occuring by chance