MPU 1024

Research Methods in Education (Qualitative)

Bambang Sumintono, Ph.D. Room: C13-318 Phone: (07) 55-34283 Mobile: 016-7793619 Email: bambang@utm.my deceng98@yahoo.com

Textbook
Main text: Punch, K. F. 2009. Introduction to Research Methods in Education. Los Angeles: Sage Publications. Other references: Cohen, L., Manion, L and Morrison, K. 2000. Research Methods in Education 5th ed. London: Routledge-Falmer

Course Outline
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Introduction of Qualitative methods Qualitative research design-1 Qualitative research design-2 Collecting Qualitative Data-1 Collecting Qualitative Data-2 Analysis Qualitative Data Mixed methods

Pre-empirical Stage of Research Careful analysis of problem & question clarifies considerations of - empirical - technical - methodological

Empirical Stages of Research Qualitative

Quantitative

Differentiation of both research:

The way of thinking about the social reality being studied, the way of approaching it and conceptualizing it; The design and methods used to represent that way of thinking, and to collect data The data themselves numbers for quantitative research, not-numbers (mostly words) for qualitative research

Qualitative Research Methods:

Where the data are not in the form of numbers (mostly words): interview transcripts, recording and notes, observational records and notes, documents, audiovisual materials, personal experience materials.
Gathering from: watching, asking and examining

Qualitative research: common features (Miles and Huberman, 1994)

Conducted through an intense contact with a field or life situation (normal and everyday life) To gain holistic overview of the context under study (its logic, arrangement; its explicit and implicit rules) Try to capture data on the perceptions of local actors from the inside To isolate certain themes and expression from the materials and interpreted the most compelling ones Relatively little instrumentation is used (the researcher is the main instrument)

Qualitative Research is Naturalistic

Context-dependent Actions are understood within settings Circumstances are important

Qualitative Research has Descriptive Data

Narrative form of reporting is common and quotations are used to illustrate & substantiate Data includes interviews, fieldnotes, photographs, video footage, personal documents, memos, etc.

Qualitative Research is Concerned With Process

Process is just as, or more, important than outcomes or products Attention to how meaning is derived and how labels come to be applied and how assumptions are made

Qualitative Research is Inductive

Theories develop from the bottom up rather than the top down The direction you will travel comes after you have been collecting data & spent time with the participants You are not putting together a puzzle whose picture you already know Use parts of the study to learn what the important questions are

Qualitative Research is Meaningful

Participant perspectives are important Accuracy of interpretations can be checked with the participants Interplay or dialogue between researchers and participants

Example of Qualitative Research:

P.W. Jackson (1968), Life in the classroom

Researcher sitting in the class, watching and takes note about what really happen
Interviews to the teachers and students about what happen

Findings: Teachers work in an isolation, rarely accompany with other adults in the classroom (researcher constructing something below the surface).

Simple model of research-1

Literature review

Research Area Context

Topic

Research Questions

Pre-empirical Stage

Simple model of research-2

Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis

Answer Questions

Empirical Stage