Descriptive Research Article Essay

Descriptive research plays an important role in educational research because it has greatly increased our knowledge about what happens in the classroom. What is descriptive research? Descriptive research can involve collecting quantitative information, or it can describe categories of information such as patterns of interaction when using technology in the classroom. Although it may employ fundamentals of both quantitative and qualitative research, descriptive research does not fit neatly into the definition of either quantitative or qualitative research methodology. Descriptive research takes a â€Å"what is† approach. Types of questions that may be addressed using descriptive research include: What is the best way to provide access to computer equipment in schools? Do teachers hold favorable attitudes toward using computers in schools? What have been the reactions of school administrators to technological innovations in teaching? Using descriptive research methodologies with the educational setting may be advantageous for several reasons. Educational research and experiences may contain many variables that cannot be realistically controlled, educational research may require observations of life experiences, and data collection may be spread over a large number of people over a large geographic area. Descriptive research may be used most effectively within the educational setting because educational research experiences cannot be as realistically controlled as laboratory experiments. In contrast to laboratory experiences, descriptive research is valuable because it allows for the human element of research. Four of the most common ways to collect information for descriptive research include surveys, interviews, observations, and portfolios. These may be used singly or in various combinations depending on the research question to be addressed. Used in the simplest way, surveys may be used to reveal summary statistics by showing responses to all possible questionnaire items. For instance, 30% of the participants agreed, 50% disagreed, and 20% had no opinion. Descriptive results of this type are typical of survey research in education and often provide leads in identifying needed changes. Survey data may also be used to explore relationships between two or more variables. Rather than limit their research to one variable, researchers can investigate relationships in the survey data and have a more substantial research contribution. Two critical components of survey research are sound methodology and well- designed data collection instruments. Data collection instruments should be designed to collect information in a way that will yield quantifiable results, and they should be distributed to all subjects so that data can be summarized and compared. Surveys can be in the form of written questionnaires, personal interviews, or telephone interviews. Factors to be considered in choosing a data collection method include: sampling, type of population, question form, question content, response rates, costs, available facilities, length of data collection, and computer-assisted techniques for data collection. Face-to-face interviews and telephone interviews are a second method of data collection. Interviews are more time efficient, allow the research to establish a rapport with the respondent, and allow the acquisition of more in-depth information. They also allow the interviewer to observe the respondent and obtain visual cues. Disadvantages of personal interviews are that they require more staff time and travel. Telephone interviews may be particularly advantageous because they are less expensive and less time consuming. They can also employ random dialing for a more random survey sample. However, limitations exist because of limited telephone access and the interviewer’s inability to observe the respondent and obtain visual cues. Mailed questionnaires provide some particularly important advantages, including the ability to reach large numbers of people across a wide geographic region. Other advantages include the ease and low cost of distribution, the minimal amount of staff and facilities needed, and the ability of respondents to respond in their own time frame. Disadvantages include lower response rate and the need to take design a survey instrument with a simple format. A letter of transmittal should accompany mailed questionnaires. The letter of transmittal should state the purpose and importance of the research, the importance of responding to the research, a time frame to respond, a confidentiality statement, an offer to share results, and a thank-you to the respondent. To obtain the best results, good surveys should use good questioning techniques. They should use complete sentences and offer a limited set of answers. Surveys should be interesting and should be worded so that the questions mean the same to everyone. They should inform participants about the kinds of answers that are appropriate and should provide definitions for any terms that might be confusing. The third way to collect information for descriptive research, observational research methods, has long been used across a number of disciplines. Observational methods are concerned with naturally occurring behaviors observed in natural contexts or in contexts that are contrived to be realistic. Since observational research methods require direct observation of behavior, many consider it superior to other methods because the data are gather directly without intermediary instruments such as tests or questionnaires. Observational research methods can yield a wealth of valuable information, but it can be a complicated process. Some problems associated with observational research include defining and developing coding schemes, training observers, experiencing technical errors. Yet observational research can yield invaluable descriptions that other research methodologies cannot. Observational research methods can be employed productively to support many purposes in the area of educational technology. It can be used to determine how people interact with technology in various stages of design and implementation. Research questions may consist of questions such as: How do learners interact with a new hardware system? How do learners respond to and interact with a specific program? Observation makes it possible both to explore the implementation of a particular technological innovation and assess the instructional outcomes. Two types of observational research are structured observations and unstructured observations. Structured observations are rigid and controlled. A hypothesis, methods for recording data and analyzing data, as well as, what, how, when, and where to observe are established before the observation takes place. Unstructured observations are used to determine unselective, detailed, continuous description of behavior. Unintended effects are best detected through unstructured observation. However, a disadvantage of unstructured observation is the time and labor required to collect and analyze sets of extensive observations. Once observational variables are identified, an observation form can be developed. These may be paper and pencil or electronic forms. With some observation forms, the observer must evaluate behavior on a rating scale. If a rating scale is used as part of the scoring procedure, a 3-point rating scale with categories such as â€Å"above- average,† â€Å"average,† and â€Å"below-average,† are often sufficient. Newer mediated observation techniques are now available. Behaviors can be recorded using audio and/or videotape. Computers offer the advantage of on-line monitoring which is the process of capturing characteristics of the human-computer interaction automatically. Keystroke records, audit trails, and logging data are terms used to describe on-line monitoring. Position-tracking devices make it possible to record human performance precisely and in great detail. In the naturalistic contrived research approach, unbeknownst to the subject, the researcher manipulates the situation to ensure that certain events will occur. Naturalistic observations can require many hours of observation to record a short, 2-minute event. For example, you want to observe teachers’ responses to deviant student behavior such as cheating, fighting, or abusing computer equipment. Since these behaviors occur at a very low frequency in most classrooms, a great deal of observer time would be needed to gather data on a reasonable sample of such behavior. Situational testing is another form of contrived observation in which the subjects are aware that they are playing a role. The researcher â€Å"devises a situation and assigns appropriate roles to the subjects, who are asked to play the roles to the best of their ability.† Typically, all participants except the person being tested have been trained to play their roles. The situations are manipulated to observe the specific behavior that the researcher is interested in observing. An advantage to situational testing is that by setting up the situation, the behavior can be controlled. The fourth descriptive measure of student work based on actual performance is the student portfolio. Portfolios consist of learner-created products that reflect the processes of learning and development over time. Portfolios have been recommended as a way to integrate learning and assessment since portfolios offer students an opportunity to learn about their own learning while they require active student responsibility and self- assessment. Portfolios serve as measures of student progress. They can take many forms such as game performances, multimedia projects, artwork, compositions, etc. Although descriptive research is growing in importance, many research questions involve questions about cause. Yet descriptive research can play a role because it can provide information from another perspective. Two possible reasons exist for the increase in popularity of descriptive research studies. First educational researchers realize that scientific methods of research do not adequately measure what is happening in the classroom. Secondly, new technologies have led to new classroom activities that necessitate new methods of analysis. This article suggests that if current trends continue, descriptive research methodology will grow in popularity and use.