Educational research : planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research

The philosophy that guided the development of this text is twofold. First, research involves a process of actívities raliier than the application ofisolated, unrelated concepts and ideas. Educators practice rescarch following a general sequence of procedures-from the initial identification of a research problem to the final report of research. This means that under-standing the sequence ni flow of actívities is central to inquiry. Thus, the text begins with specific chapters devota I to each step in the process of research and the inclusión of concepts and ideas within this process. Second, the educational researcher today needs a large toolbox of approaches to study the complex educación issues in our society. No longer can we, as educators, use oniy ex-periments or surveys tí' address our research problems. Educators in this new century- whether conducting re.sciirch or reading research to self-inform-need to know about both quantitative and qualitaiive approaches to inquiry and to have an in-depth understanding of the múltiple research designs and procedures used in our studies today Throughout the steps in the process of resean l-i, you will be introduced to both quantitative and qualitative approaches to examine each step and leam about their differences and similarities in application. The text will aiso im roduce you to eight distinct quantitative and qualitative research de-signs or procedures thai comprise the repertoire ofthe educational researcher today This text is the first inunduction to educational research to offer a truly balanced, inclusive, and integrated overview of the field as it currently stands. As you will see from the table of contents, the book's coverage is unique in its balanced presentation of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed mellird research. Moreover, it consistently examines foundational issues of research-for example, determining how to approach a project and understanding what constitutes data and how to analyze them-from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. This approach helps students understand fundamental differences and similarities between and among these approaches. Three ideas are central to this text-it: I Provides a balanced : coverage of quantitative and qualitative research I Helps students learn how to begin to do research I Helps students learm how to read and evalúate research studies Lets look at each of these in detail to see how they can help you achieve your course objectives