WGU C224 - STUDY GUIDE Latest 2022 Graded A

WGU C224 - STUDY GUIDE Latest 2022 Graded A Characteristics of Quantitative Research ✔✔numerical data (quantity); hypothesis & research procedure are stated BEFORE data collection; large sample size; rely on statistic ...

WGU C224 - STUDY GUIDE Latest 2022 Graded A Characteristics of Quantitative Research ✔✔numerical data (quantity); hypothesis & research procedure are stated BEFORE data collection; large sample size; rely on statistical procedure; low interaction with subjects; rely on controlling, measuring, and generalizing; objective by nature Quantitative Methods/Designs ✔✔survey research; correlational research; causal comparative; experimental; single subject experimental Sampling techniques for quantitative research ✔✔simple random; stratified; cluster; systematic; Simple random ✔✔(quant) selection using table of random numbers Stratified ✔✔(quant) selection based on dividing up into subgroups which have roughly equal representation Cluster ✔✔(quant) intact groups are selected as by classroom, efficient but less representative Systematic ✔✔(quant) take a population and select every Kth invidual i.e. sample population = 100 and you select every 5th person on list. Qualitative Research ✔✔*emphasis on words and feelings; *research problems/methods evolve as understanding of topic increases; *smaller sample sizes; *relies on categorizing & organizing data into themes or patterns to describe & synthesize the data; *high level interaction with subjects; *many possible contexts & meanings for different people; *subjective by nature Qualitative Research Methods ✔✔observation/field notes; interviews: face-to-face, phone, focus group; questionnaires; archival documents; journals; audio/videoQualitative Sampling Techniques ✔✔intensity; homogenous; criterion; snowball; random purposive Characteristics of Action Research (comes out of qualitative research) ✔✔*persuasive & authoritative b/c it's done by teachers for teachers; *relevant b/c solves real world problems; *accessible b/c teachers already have built-in audience as test subjects; *encourages school reform by providing an action plan; *practical by nature (see ch20). Selecting topics - Characteristics of good research topics ✔✔*researchable (can be solved by collecting and analyzing data); *interesting enough to hold your attention (love it); *significant (contributes to field of knowledge); *ethical (no harm done); *manageable (keep it in scope) How to write a good research question ✔✔*solvable by collecting data; *cannot be answered with simple yes/no; *what is the effect of x on y (x is indep. Variable, y is dependent variable); *i.e. What is the effect of an after school reading program (x) on students' reading comprehension scores (y)? Purpose & function of literature review ✔✔*see what's already been done; *reveals what needs to be done; *addresses the research questions; *provides rationale for your hypothesis; *avoids mistakes of others; *may suggest ideas not previously considered; *provide new direction to your research Resource Identification Evaluation & Selection ✔✔*primary & secondary sources; WGU library: books, articles, e-reserves, ERIC; *What was problem statement?; *Who was studied?; *Where was source published?; When was source published?; *How was study conducted?; *see ch 3 for more detail 5 types Hypotheses ✔✔1. Deductive, 2. Inductive, 3. Directional, 4. Non-directional, 5. NullHypothesis ✔✔based on sound reasoning consistent with theory or observation; provides reasonable explanation for a predicted outcome; states the expected relationship between variables; is testable within a reasonable time frame Evaluating a research report ✔✔*does it include all appropriate heading according to the research design? (i.e. intro, prob. Stmt., lit review, hypothesis, etc.); *enough detail to allow the reader to completely understand the what, why, when, and how.; *look out for researcher bias; *review comprehensive list in ch. 22 Measurement instruments ✔✔*reliability - degree to which a test consistently measures whatever it is measuring; *validity - degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure; *validity assumes reliability Factors that threaten validity of measurement instruments ✔✔*unclear test directions; *ambiguous test items; *complex vocabulary & sentence structure; *subjective scoring; *items on test not covered in instruction; *inconsistent testing procedures; *cheating (see pg 158) How to determine reliability? ✔✔*stability (test - re-test); *equivalence (2 similar tests); *Internal Consistency (requires only 1 test administration) split half, Kuder Richardson, Chronibachs Alpha) ; see chapter 6 Types of Measurement Instruments (see Ch. 6) ✔✔Achievement tests; aptitude tests; Affective tests; Projective tests Dependent variable ✔✔the effect or outcome Independent variable ✔✔the cause or treatment Measurement Scales ✔✔variables - a placeholder that can assume any one of a range of valuesVariables ✔✔nominal - named categories i.e. male/female; ordinal - ranks form high to low, i.e. class rank; interval - scores on achievement tests i.e. 90% and 100%; ratio - has true zero point i.e. height, weight, time, distance, *(pp145-146) Attitude scales commonly used in education ✔✔*likert - strongly agree to strongly disagree; *semantic differential - select a position on a continuum i.e. Better to worse; *Rating scales - various forms i.e. select the statement that best describes you Data analysis (ch. 18) ✔✔categorical analysis for qualitative data; statistical methods for quantitative data Analyzing Qualitative Data ✔✔-reading/memoing; -classifying; -identifying themes & patterns; - coding Analyzing Quantitative data (commonly used statistical procedures) ✔✔-descriptive statistics = describes a set of data; -inferential = tests of significance between two or more means, allows generalization, significance level p. <.05 or .01 Types of descriptive statistics (measures of) ✔✔frequencies; central tendency; variability; relative position; relationship Types of inferential statistics ✔✔t-tests; ChiSquare; Anova t-tests ✔✔statistical measure: test means of 2 independent samples, significantly different? ChiSquare ✔✔statistical measure: used for nominal scales (male/female), compares proportions actually observed to the proportions expected to see if they are significantly different, ie flipping a coin 50x Anova ✔✔statistical measure: 2 or more means statistically different?Errors ✔✔Null; Type I; Type II Null Hypothesis ✔✔no difference between variables, any difference will be due to chance Type I error ✔✔you determine the null hypothesis is false & it is actually true (0 difference); false positive (think you're pregnant but you're not) Type II error ✔✔You determine the null hypothesis is true and it is false (there IS a difference), false negative (you think you are NOT pregnant, but you are), LESS COMMON (see pg 331) Survey research(quant) ✔✔determines & reports the way things are, collect numerical data to test hypothesis or answer questions about current status of subject of study. I.e. political polls survey preferences, attitudes, practices, concerns or interests of voters. Correlational research ✔✔(quant) collect data to determine whether and to what degree a relation exists between 2 or more quantifiable variables. Requires info about at least 2 variables obtained from single group of participants. Causal comparative research ✔✔(quant) attempts to determine the cause or reason for existing differences in the behavior or status of groups of individuals. Cause = behavior or characteristic believed to influence some other behavior or characteristic Experimental research ✔✔(quant) at least 1 independent variable is manipulated other relevant variables are controlled, and the effect on one or more dependent variables is observed. True experimental Research provides strongest results of any quantitative research Single subject experimental research ✔✔(quant) used to study the behavior change that an individual or group exhibits as a result of some intervention or treatmentInductive reasoning ✔✔developing generalizations based on observation of a limited number of related events or experiences Deductive reasoning ✔✔arriving at specific conclusions based on general principles, observations, or experiences Basic Research ✔✔pure research that aims to confirm an existing theory or to learn more about a concept or phenomenon Applied research ✔✔research undertaken to solve a specific proble