Historical Research

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Historical Research
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What is Historical Research?

• The systematic collection and evaluation of data
  to describe, explain, and understand actions or
  events that occurred sometime in the past.
• There is no manipulation or control of variables
  as in experimental research.
• An attempt is made to reconstruct what happened
  during a certain period of time as completely and
  accurately as possible.

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The Purposes of Historical Research

• To make people aware of what has happened in the
  past in order to
• Learn from past failures and successes
• Apply them to present-day problems
• Make predictions
• Test hypotheses concerning relationships or
  trends
• Understand present educational practices and
  policies more fully

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Steps Involved in Historical Research

• Defining the Problem
• Locating relevant sources
• Documents
• Numerical records
• Oral statements
• Relics
• Summarizing information obtained from historical
  sources
• Evaluation of historical sources
• Internal criticism
• External criticism

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Categories of Sources

• Documents
• Written or printed materials that have been
  produced in some form or another.
• Numerical records
• Considered as a separate type of source in and of
  themselves or as a subcategory of documents.
• Oral Statements
• Are stories or other forms of oral expression
  that leave a record for future generations.
• Relics
• Are any objects whose physical or visual
  characteristics can provide some information
  about the past.

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Primary vs. Secondary Sources

• Primary source
• one prepared by an individual who was a
  participant in or a direct witness to the event
  being described.
• Secondary source
• a document prepared by an individual who was not
  a direct witness to an event, but who obtained a
  description of the event from someone else.

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Data Analysis in Historical Research

• Historical researchers use the following methods
  to make sense out of large amounts of data
• Theoretical model leading to a content analysis
• Use of patterns or themes
• Coding system
• Quantitative data to validate interpretations

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Historical
Research

• Advantages
• Permits investigation of topics and questions
  that can be studied in no other fashion

• Disadvantages
• Cannot control for threats to internal validity
• Limitations are imposed due to the content
  analysis
• Researchers cannot ensure representation of the
  sample

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Action Research

• The word "academic" is a synonym for irrelevant.
  (Alinsky, 1969)

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What is Action Research?

• Action Research is conducted by one or more
  individuals or groups for the purpose of solving
  a problem or obtaining information in order to
  inform local practice.
• Such studies are seriously limited in
  generalizability.

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Why Action Research?

• Teachers do not find research persuasive or
  authoritative.
• Mainstream research has not been relevant to
  practice nor has it addressed teachers
  questions.
• Findings from research often not expressed in
  ways that are comprehensible to teachers.

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Key Characteristics of Action Research

• Persuasive and Authoritative
• Teachers are invested in the legitimacy of the
  findings.
• Relevant
• Think Stanovich and multiple causation
• Accessible
• Problem solving approach
• Not a fad
• Good teachers have always systematically looked
  at the effects of their teaching.

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Basic Assumptions Underlying Action Research
Assumption Teachers and other education
professionals have the authority to make
decisions. Teachers and other education
professionals want to improve their
practice. Teachers and other education
professionals are committed to continual
professional development. Teachers and other
education professionals will and can engage in
systematic research.
Example A team of teachers, after discussions
with the school administration, decide to meet
weekly to revise the mathematics curriculum to
make it more relevant to low- achieving
students. A group of teachers decide to observe
each other on a weekly basis and then discuss
ways to improve their teaching. The entire
staffadministration, teachers, counselors, and
clerical staffof an elementary school go on a
retreat to plan ways to improve the attendance
and discipline policies for the
school. Following up on the example just listed
above, the staff decides to collect data by
reviewing the attendance records of chronic
absentees over the past year, to interview a
random sample of attendees and absentees to
determine why they differ, to hold a series of
after-school roundtable sessions between
discipline-prone students and faculty to identify
problems and discuss ways to resolve issues of
contention, and to establish a mentoring system
in which selected students can serve as
counselors to students needing help with their
assigned work.
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Assumptions Underlying Action Research

• A number of assumptions underlie action research
• Participants have the authority to make decisions
• Those involved are seriously committed to
  improving their performance
• Educators and others involved in schools want to
  engage in research systematically
• Those performing the research will make the
  necessary changes and recommendations

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Types of Action Research

• There are two main types of action research
• Practical Action Research
• Addresses a specific problem
• Primary purpose is to improve practice and inform
  larger issues
• A how to approach
• Participatory Action Research
• Philosophically driven
• Empower individuals and groups to improve their
  lives and bring about a social change
• Stakeholders are involved and are active in all
  processes

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Levels of Participation

• Provide information
• Become informed of purpose of the study
• Receive findings
• Assist in data collection
• Review findings

• Participate in interpretation
• Participate in designing the project
• Participate in problem specification
• Initiate study

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Steps in Action Research

• There are four steps or stages in Action
  Research
• Identifying the research question
• Gathering the necessary information
• Analyzing and interpreting the information
• Developing a plan of action

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Advantages of Action Research

• It can be performed by anyone, in any type of
  school or institution
• It can help to improve educational practice
• It can help education and other professionals to
  improve their craft
• It can help them learn to identify problems
  systematically
• It can build up a small community of
  research-oriented individuals at the local level

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Similarities and Differences Between Action
Research Formal Quantitative and Qualitative
Research
Action Research Systematic inquiry. Goal is to
solve problems of local concern. Little formal
training required to conduct such studies. Intent
is to identify and correct problems. Carried out
by teacher or other local education
professional. Uses primarily teacher-developed
instruments. Less rigorous. Usually
value-based. Purposive samples selected. Selective
opinions of researcher often considered as
data. Generalizability is very limited.
Formal Research Systematic inquiry. Goal is to
develop and test theories and to produce
knowledge generalizable to wide
population. Considerable training required to
conduct such studies. Intent is to investigate
larger issues, of local concern. Carried out by
researcher who is not usually involved in local
situation. Uses primarily professionally-developed
instruments. More rigorous. Frequently
value-neutral. Random samples (if possible)
preferred. Selective opinions of researcher never
considered as data. Generalizability often
appropriate.
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Participatory Action Research

• I think if the academic does the research you
  are doing a disservice to the community.
• Do you agree with this statement?
• Why or why not?
• In your opinion, what is the role of academics,
  or outsiders, in PAR?