Ed602 Lesson 2

Assignment and Information

Reading: Chapter 1

Definition Page: Contains definitions arranged alphabetically.

The textbook briefly discusses the topic of rounding in this chapter. The author suggests that it is acceptable to round to one or two decimal places beyond the value of your original scores. The standard in the professional world is two places beyond the original scores, and that is the standard you will be expected to follow in this course for homework, quizzes and the final exam.

Please note that the vocabulary list contains two research methods not mentioned by your text.

Quasi-experimental methods are often used in educational research for the sake of convenience. It is easier to study intact groups, like the second hour math class, rather than trying to bring together students who have been randomly selected throughout the school. There is a stronger chance of selection bias, or stacking the deck in favor of your research hypothesis, this way, but itís easier to manage the study.

Chapters 13 and 14 in the text cover correlation between variables, and regression lines. Both topics are used for correlational research, which is research that looks for relationships between two or more variables.

Okay, now lets look again at our BASC study, and apply our knowledge from chapter 2. For our notes we know that you work at Moorhead High School. A parent has complained that the BASC assessment their child took is culturally biased. You decide to set up small research project to look for cultural biases in the assessment. You are interested in comparing the results for Hispanic students at your school with national norms for the BASC and with Caucasian students at your school. You will randomly select 25 Hispanic students and 25 Caucasian students, and give each of them the student self-report survey. The students selected are in grades 9-12, each student takes the survey in the counseling office, each student gets directions that are read from a script by the school psychologist.

In looking at the list of possible research methods, we can determine that our BASC study is set up in a survey method. We are asking students to fill out a survey about their thoughts and behaviors, and then analyzing the data from that survey.

We can operationalize our research question by stating how we will run the study and how we will collect the data. We are surveying 25 students, one at a time, in the counselor's office. They are being measured on standard scores for the self-report section of the BASC test.

The measurement scale we are using is interval. The scores on a BASC are equal distances apart, but a zero on the BASC does not indicate a complete absence of behavior.

Our study is a quantitative one, because we are collecting numeric scores.

Our variable is continuous, because even though scores are reported in whole numbers, it is possible for someone to score the test with greater and greater precision, leading to an infinite set of values being possible.

Vocabulary

Empirical data - scores or measurements based on sensory experience or observation. Responses to the BASC survey are empirical, because we can see or observe them.

Research method - A general approach used by a behavioral scientist to collect data. We will be using the survey method for collecting data on our two groups of students.

Naturalistic Observation - observing behaviors occurring in natural settings without intruding into the situation. Portions of the BASC that are not being used in our study involve observing the students in the natural setting of their regular classroom. This is also referred to as ethnographic research.

Archival records research - answering scientific questions from information in existing records. If we were basing our measure of student behavior on information in their permanent school records, that would be archival records research. Meta analysis and historical research are two popular forms of archival records research.

Survey method - obtaining data from oral or written interviews with people. Our study involves the student self-report survey portion of the BASC, so we are doing the survey method.

Experimental method - manipulating one or more independent variables in a carefully controlled situation. Randomly assigning students to one of two groups and teaching one group with a new spelling method, and the other group with the traditional method would be experimental research.

Quasi-Experimental method - A loosely defined type of research that is intended to be run as an experiment, but with limitations to the randomness of the sample. If we tested all the Hispanic students in one English as a Learned Language class and all the Caucasian students in a regular English class rather than drawing names from all the students in the school, we would have a quasi-experimental method.

Correlational method - A type of research in which two or more variables are measured but not manipulated, and the relationship between the variables is assessed. If we were looking for a relationship between BASC scores and absenteeism, we would be doing correlational research.

Operational definition - specifies the procedures used to manipulate an independent variable or to measure a dependent variable. The operational definition for our study is that we are giving written copies of the BASC student self-report survey to our subjects in the controlled environment of the counselorís office.

Measurement - Assigning numbers to variables following a set of rules. The BASC comes with a strict set of rules for scoring, or measuring, student responses.

Measurement scales