| A | B |
|---|
| Significant Difference | change did not occur by chance; the differences between the controlled group and the experimental group is significant |
| Confounding Variable | extraneous variable is interfering with the results of your study; external factors outside of study effects students in study (ex: what if you are teaching current events in SS and the reading teacher is teaching current events too will effect your results). |
| Descriptive Statistics | Statistical information that describes a population (ex: 5th graders IQ, age, etc. “The typical 5th grader is like…”) |
| Empirical Research | means observation; researchers plan in advance who to observe, how to, what characteristics, etc. ; problems could occur in sampling, measurement, and lack of problem of identification. |
| Sampling | how can the study of a ‘sample’ population be generalized to a larger population?; Sampling bias is unrepresentative of populations of interests (ex1: teacher conducted research of only her high level class; these results can’t be generalized to all 5th graders) (ex2: doing survey research but only half of the people return the survey) |
| MEASUREMENT ERRORS | How the measurement of the study is taken; 1) Survey: some students may lie; 2) covert: spying/unethical; 3) Non-Covert Observation: may change behavior because they know you are watching |
| Ethnographic Research | qualitative; a particular group is studied; research comes from anthropology; only observation; don’t get involved; systematic research (ex: all students as the go through school over many years) |
| Internal Experimental Validity | the variable in question did it or didn’t it have the impact that you said it did?; 2…. validity could be corrupted (ex: some how a randomly picked group could be all female) |
| External Experimental Validity | the variable in question did it or didn’t it have the impact that you said it did? outside influences could be occurring without your knowledge (ex: social influences) |
| Experimenter Effect | threat to validity; researcher consciously or sub-consciously favored one group to do well; research secretly ‘routing’ for one group over the other |
| Research Hypothesis | trying to affirm by disproving a research hypothesis (ex: there is a significant difference between x and y) |
| Conclusion Oriented Research | parts of action research; results of a conclusion that leads you to do something as a result of the research (ex: study on new textbook/program = end result is the choice of one of the texts) |
| Correlation Research | Non-Experimental; No manipulation; not cause and effect; the going togetherness of 2 variables (ex: English grades may correlate very well with SS grades) |
| CONTROL GROUP | opposite is the experimental group; in an experiment this is the group that is not being exposed to the treatment; both groups are compared and this group wouldn’t change |
| Experimental Design | when researching a variable it’s the guidelines to follow; choose one that best fits your intended outcome or needs |
| Hawthorne Effect (Halo Effect) | threat to validity; 1920s energy efficiency study in factory that dimmed lights; improvement attributed to people being paid attention to |
| Literature Review | survey literature to see what it says about a particular topic |
| Longitudinal Research | anything over a year; research over a long period of time; not commons because it’s expensive; what will happen to same group of students over a long period of time (ex: children affected by 9/11 over the years) |
| Null Hypothesis | never say “it is proven” rather state “research shows”; can not accept the hypothesis as there isn't a significant difference |
| Replication | a study redone at a different time & place and with a different population |
| Scientific Method | Francis Bacon; Hypothesis, Purpose, Observation, Data, Testing, Conclusion |
| Survey Research | questionnaire research |
| Significant Difference | Change did not occur by chance; the difference between the controlled group and the experimental group is significant |
| Correlation does not mean causation | there may be a third (unknown) factor causing the outcome |
| Stratified Sample | stratified along a variable (various SEG, ethnic, etc.) in order to form a better generalization about the greater population |
| STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING | a subgroup/ commonality variable may affect the results; sampling must reflect the proportions of this variable in the larger population |
| Pilot Study | first study done in something; small and initial study to see if a greater study is worthwhile |
| Population | the group that you are studying; you generalize you results to this group |
| Quasi-Experimentation | this is what teachers and researchers of education do because they can’t control all of the external variables; no manipulation of control |
| Randomization | method of sampling; prohibits any systematic bias in selecting people for the control group |
| VOLUNTEER EFFECT | THE SUBJECT'S SENSITIVITY INCREASES TO THE "CUES" THAT THE EXPERIMENTER UNCONSCIOUSLY PROVIDES AS TO THE HYPOTHESIS BEING TESTED, AS MOTIVATION TO PARTICIPATE AS EVIDENCED BY VOLUNTEERING INCREASES; THESE CUES ARE THE "DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS" OF THE EXPERIMENT, (EX: THAT WHICH THE EXPERIMENTER (NOT NECESSARILY CONSCIOUSLY) DEMANDS OF THE SUBJECT IN TERMS OF THE VARIABLES OF THE EXPERIMENT. "WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF OUR CULTURE THE ROLES OF SUBJECT AND EXPERIMENTER ARE WELL UNDERSTOOD AND CARRY WITH THEM WELL DEFINED MUTUAL ROLE EXPECTATIONS") |
| Comparative Study | Non Experimental Research; 2 or more groups on same variable; simply compare the two groups, no need to examine the cause |
| Causal Comparative Study | Non Experimental Research; 2 or more groups on same variable; simply compare the two groups and then examine the result is occuring |
| Types of Probability Sampling Techniques | Simple Random,Systematic Random, Stratified,Cluster Sampling |
| Non-Probability Sampling Techniques | Convenience Sample, Quota Sampling,Purposeful Sampling |
| Types of Purposeful Sampling | Critical Case, Typical Case, Extreme Case, Maximum Variation, Snowballing Sampling (All non-probability) |
| Evaluation of Sampling Techniques | population defined? sampling procedure described? Subjects of sample described clearly? Was the subject selection free from bias? |
| Qualitative = Credibility | Quantitative = Internal Validity |
| Qualitative = Transferability | Quantitative = External Validity |
| Qualitative = Dependability | Quantitative = Reliability |
