Different kinds of research.
You are probably already aware from the reading you have done for the Chartered Teacher course that research is carried out in many different ways. In this part of the course we start to examine these differences.
Activity 2
Download these papers:
Wiley, J. and Voss, J.F. 1999 Constructing arguments from multiple sources: tasks that promote understanding and not just memory for text. Journal of Educational Psychology 91(2): 301-311
Flem, A., Moen, T. and Gudmundsdottir, S. 2004 Towards inclusive schools: a study of inclusive education in practice. European Journal of Special Needs Education 19(1), 85-98
Examine the 2 papers provided – you don’t need to give them a close reading at this stage, just scan.
What differences strike you between these two papers? Note down anything that strikes you. Here are a few questions you could ask:
What is the overall layout of the papers?
Do the authors name the kind of research they have done?
Do the authors present a hypothesis i.e. do they state the expected outcomes of the research?
What kind of setting has the research been carried out in?
How many participants are involved?
What is the relationship between researchers and participants? (How are they referred to?)
How are the authors positioned within the text?
How are the results presented?
Which seems more ‘scientific’?
Research Methodologies
