Research Wars

1
Research Wars
2
I am wondering why you are here?
To learn about historical research, oh wise one!
3
Lets start our journey with Historical Research
since I have personally witnessed much history!
4
Historical Research

• Also know as historiography
• Has a hard time finding a home
• Similar to other types of research

5
What is Historical Research?

• Historical research has been defined as the
  systematic and objective location, evaluation and
  synthesis of evidence in order to establish facts
  and draw conclusions about past events.

6
Why Historical Research?

• Historical research answers questions about a
  phenomena in the past in order to get a better
  understanding of present institutions, practices,
  trends, issues

7
Value of Historical Research

• a) It throws light on present and future trends.
• b) It enables understanding of and solutions to
  contemporary problems

8
Value of Historical Research

• c) It allows for the revaluation of data in
  relation to selected hypotheses, theories and
  generalizations that are presently held about the
  past and the present.

9
Historiography

• General Steps Used by Historians
• Define the Problem
• Develop a hypothesis or Question to be Answered
• Search for Sources
• Primary
• Secondary
• Summarize, Evaluate Sources
• External Criticism
• Internal Criticism
• Report Data within an Interpretive Framework

10
Food for Thought

• Historical research is based on a systematic
  process which must be open to scrutiny if the
  findings are to be accepted as accurate and
  authentic.

11
Primary Sources
Primary Sources the basic raw material out of
which history is made

• Items which came into being during the period
  under study
• Intentional documents yearbooks, Memoirs,
  newspapers, census data
• Unpremeditated documents served an immediate
  purpose, not meant to serve as historical
  documents
• Teachers notes, tests,
• Quantitative Records records of the past in
  numeric forms
• Budgets, attendance roles, test scores

12
Primary Sources

• The Spoken Word linguistic records of events
• Stories, ballads, songs, interviews
• Relics Objects that tell about the past
• School buildings, furniture, textbooks
• Archives
• Microfiches, tapes, documents, disks

13
Secondary Sources

• Person giving the account was not present
• Encyclopedias, textbooks
• Newspapers
• Stories passed down through generations

The further the researchers moves from the
original event, the less reliable the information
becomes
14
External Criticism

• Authenticity of Source
• Are the primary documents authentic?

15
Establishing Authenticity

• Does the language and writing style conform to
  the period in question and is it typical of other
  work done by the author?
• Is there evidence that the author exhibits
  ignorance of things or events that man of his
  training and time should have known?
• Did he report about things, events, or places
  that could not have been known during that period?

16
Establishing Authenticity

• Has the original manuscript been altered either
  intentionally or unintentionally by copying?
• Is the document an original draft or a copy? If
  it is a copy, was it reproduced in the exact
  words of the original?
• If manuscript is undated or the author unknown,
  are there any clues internally as to its origin?
• Physical evidence paper, ink, type

17
Authentic or Not?
18
(No Transcript)
19
(No Transcript)
20
(No Transcript)
21
(No Transcript)
22
Internal Criticism

• Accuracy of information within text or source
• After the source is authenticated, it asks if the
  source is accurate,
• was the writer or creator competent, honest, and
  unbiased?
• How long after the event happened until it was
  reported?
• Does the witness agree with other witnesses?

23
Limitation of Historical Research

• Availability of data is always limited by factors
  that are not under the control of the researcher
  this limits the generalizability
• Primarily derived from the observations of others
• Must locate the data
• Less rigorous criteria used to evaluate
  instruments

24
Use historical research for knowledge and
defense!
25
Tools uses in Historical and Qualitative Research
26
Observation and Interviewing
27
Observation

• Certain kinds of research questions can best be
  answered by observing how people act or how
  things look.
• There are four different roles with regard to
  observation
• Participant Observation
• Non-Participant Observation
• Naturalistic Observation
• Simulations

28
Participant vs. Non-Participant Observation

• In participant observation studies, the
  researcher actually participates as an active
  member of the group in the situation or setting
  they are observing.
• In non-participant observation studies, the
  researcher does not participate in an activity or
  situation, but observes from the sidelines.
• The most common forms of non-participant
  observation studies included naturalistic
  observations and simulations.
• A simulation is an artificially created situation
  in which subjects are asked to act out certain
  roles.

29
Observer Effect

• The presence of an observer can have a
  considerable effect on the behavior of those
  being observed, and affect the outcome of the
  study.
• Bernard (2000) suggests to researchers that they
  catch a glimpse of people in their natural
  behavior before they see you coming.
• Unless a researcher is concealed, it is quite
  likely that they will have some form of effect
  upon the individuals being observed.
• It is for that reason that participants should
  not be informed of the studys purpose until
  after data has been collected.

30
Importance of a Second Observer
31
Observer Bias

• Refers to the possibility that certain
  characteristics or ideas of observers may bias
  what they see.
• Observer expectations is another related concern
  when they know to observe certain characteristics
  of subjects.
• Comparing notes or impressions among other
  researchers assists in reducing this threat.

32
Coding Observational Data

• A coding scheme is a set of categories an
  observer uses to record a persons or groups
  behavior.
• Coding schemes have been used to measure
  interactions between parents and adolescents in a
  lab setting.
• An observer still must choose what to observe,
  even with a fixed coding scheme.
• These data are coded into categories that emerge
  as the analysis proceeds (i.e., ethnographic
  research).

33
Amidon/Flanders Scheme
34
Interviewing

• Interviewing is an important way for a researcher
  to check the accuracy of the impressions he or
  she gained through observation.
• Fetterman (1989) describes interviewing as the
  most important data-collection technique for
  qualitative research.

35
Types of Interviews

• There are four types of interviews
• Structured
• Verbal questionnaires, formal series of questions
  designed to elicit specific answers on the part
  of respondents
• Most useful for obtaining information to test a
  hypothesis
• Semistructured
• Verbal questionnaires, formal series of questions
  designed to elicit specific answers on the part
  of respondents
• Best conducted near the end of a study
• Informal
• Less formal than the previous methods
• Casual conversations, pursuing the interests of
  both parties
• Considered the most common form of interviewing
• Retrospective
• Can be all of the above
• Tries to get the respondent to recall and
  reconstruct from memory something from the past

36
Types of Interview Questions

• Patton (1990) has identified six types of
  interview questions
• Background/demographic questions
• Knowledge questions
• Experience/behavior questions
• Opinion/values questions
• Feelings questions
• Sensory questions

37
Interviewing Behavior

• Respect the culture of the group being studied
• Respect the individual being interviewed
• Be natural
• Develop an appropriate rapport with the
  participant
• Ask one question at a time

A set of expectations exists for all interviews

• Ask the same question in different ways during
  the interview
• Ask the interviewee to repeat an answer when in
  doubt
• Vary who controls the flow of communication
• Avoid leading questions
• Dont interrupt

38
Interview of Dubious Validity
39
Dont Ask More Than One Question at a Time
40
Validity and Reliability in Qualitative Research

• An important check on the validity and
  reliability of the researchers interpretations
  in qualitative research is to compare one
  informants description of something with another
  informants description of the same thing.
• Triangulation is a check on reliability/validity
  by comparing different information on the same
  topic.
• Efforts should be made to ensure reliability and
  validity by including
• Proper vocabulary
• Recording questions and personal reaction
• Describing content and documenting sources

41
Content Analysis
42
What is Content Analysis?

• Content Analysis is a technique that enables
  researchers to study human behavior in an
  indirect way, through an analysis of our
  communications.
• Types of communications are
• Textbooks
• Essays
• Pictures
• Songs
• A person or groups conscious and unconscious
  beliefs, attitudes, or values are often revealed
  in their communication.

43
Example of Content Analysis
44
Applications of Content Analysis in Educational
Research

• Describe trends in schooling over time
• Understand organizational patterns
• Show how different schools handle the same
  phenomena differently
• Infer attitudes, values, and cultural patterns in
  different countries

• Compare the myths that people hold about schools
• Gain a sense of how teachers feel about their
  work
• Gain some idea of how schools are perceived
• Also, can be used to supplement more direct
  methods of research

45
Categorization in Content Analysis

• All procedures at some point convert the
  descriptive information into categories.
• There are two ways this might be done
• The researcher determines the categories before
  any analysis begins. These categories are based
  on previous knowledge, theory, and experience.
• The researcher becomes very familiar with the
  descriptive information collected and allows the
  categories to emerge as the analysis continues.

46
Sample Tally Sheet
47
Advantages of Content Analysis

• The following are considered advantages of
  Content Analysis
• Unobtrusive
• Useful means of analyzing interview and
  observational data
• Not limited by time and space to the study of
  present events
• Relatively simple and economical with regard to
  both time and resources, compared to other forms
  of research methods

48
Disadvantages of Content Analysis

• The following are considered disadvantages of
  Content Analysis
• Usually limited to recorded information
• Establishing validity
• Question remains as to the true meaning of the
  categories themselves
• Historical research findings might not be
  considered important today
• Temptation to attribute a cause of a phenomenon
  vs. a reflection of it