Unit 2: Research Design and Research Methods

Introduction and Unit Aims

Having gained insight into student understanding in Unit 1, Unit 2 begins
preparation for undertaking your own small-scale inquiry.
As you progress through this unit, we aim for you to:
• consider principles of educational research;
• consider some research methods relevant to a small-scale inquiry into student
understanding;
• demonstrate critical appreciation of a chosen research approach and how it
will enable you to investigate your chosen aspect of student understanding.
Focus 1: What is research?
Put simply, research is a systematic approach to inquiry. It is one of the ways
open to us to explore our world, the others being experience and reasoning. These
three are not independent of each other, but exist together in a complementary
whole (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2018).
Research is carried out as a means of finding out about our world. As an
educational researcher, which you now are, your role is to find answers to
questions concerning your educational context, teaching and learning. In this
module, we want you to bring together everything you have learned in the previous
two modules, and investigate student understanding.
Think about what you already know about research:
1. What kinds of research have you experienced in your professional context?
2. What research has been influential in your educational establishment?
3. How is your teaching informed by research currently?
Write some brief responses to these questions in your commonplace book.
Characteristics of research
If research is finding out about our world, then how we conceive of our world is an
important starting point. In social science research, there are three terms which
help us think about how we conceive of the world. These are the three 'ologies'
(ology means 'the study of') which are:
• Ontology – the study of reality – what constitutes reality – how can we
understand existence?
• Epistemology – the study of knowledge – what is knowledge and how can we get
it?
• Methodology – the study of methods and design - how the methods chosen can
lead to specific outcomes?
The natural sciences (e.g. physics) and social sciences (e.g. education) are often
compared to help clarify these ideas of ontology, epistemology and methodology.
If you studied a natural science at university, you might be likely to think that
there is an objectively observable reality and that we can discover that reality
through, for example, carrying out controlled experiments. In the social sciences
it is more common to think there are multiple realities and that through systematic
approaches we can discover some of those. For example, if you ask two students
about their experience of a lesson, it is likely they will tell you two very
different versions of events but both can be considered 'the truth'.
Read this chapter which discusses what educational research can learn from research
in the natural sciences, and what research in the natural sciences can help us
learn about the complexities of educational research.
As an alternative you could read McWilliam and Lee (2006) article, especially the
introduction, 'de-sciencing and re-sciencing education' from p.51 and 'imagining
otherwise' from p.55. Remember about strategic reading!
Quantitative or Qualitative?
In this module we ask you to carry out a piece of small scale qualitative research,
but what is qualitative research?
Hammersley (2013, p.15) defines qualitative research as:
a form of social inquiry that tends to adopt a flexible and data-driven research
design, to use relatively unstructured data, to emphasise the essential role of
subjectivity in the research process, to study a small number of naturally
occurring cases in detail, and to use verbal rather than statistical forms of
analysis.
He argues that qualitative research is further characterised by:
• the importance of studying what normally happens in the 'real' world, rather
than what happens under experimental conditions;
• the need to allow people to speak in their own terms in interviews if we are
to be able to understand their distinct perspectives;
• the danger that quantification results in the meaning of central concepts
being lost;
• the concern that the kind of variable analysis employed by quantitative
researchers ignores the complex, contingent and context-sensitive character of
social life, and the extent to which actions and outcomes are produced by people
interpreting situation in diverse ways, and acting on the basis of these
interpretations, rather than passively responding to external causes.
(Hammersley, 2013, p.15)
In contrast, quantitative research can be identified by the characteristics given
below:
• Hypothesis testing
• The use of numerical data
• Procedural objectivity (e.g. counting, ranking and measuring in standardised
ways)
• Generalisation
• Identifying systematic patterns of association (usually through statistical
techniques)
• Controlling variables
Possible Research Methods
Methodology dictates that certain research methods are used for qualitative
research. In the following sections we have identified those that we believe are
most relevant to a small scale study with a focus on 'student understanding':
• Classroom talk
• Interviews
• Observation
• Think aloud method and stimulated recall
• Document analysis
It is possible to use other research methods for your study, but you should talk to
your tutor first before doing any work using an alternative method.
Focus 2: Classroom talk
As we explained in Module 1, Unit 3, Focus 3, on the PGCEi when we talk about
'classrooms' we mean the educational context in which you work. Your 'classroom'
may be a music studio, a gymnasium, a biology lab or an outside space. 'Classroom
talk' describes the verbal interactions between students, and between students and
teachers, in any of these educational contexts. In Module 2, Unit A2, you learned
about the importance of talk (we also use the terms dialogue and oracy) for
learning.
The analysis of classroom talk can be employed as a research method to study ways
in which student understanding is expressed through speech. The aim of this
technique is to make inferences about understanding which are based on the
particular words and phrases chosen by a student to express meaning, or on the ways
in which those meanings interact with the speech of another.
Read this article which demonstrates how classroom talk was used in a music class
to explore the understanding of 6 and 7 year olds about a composing task related to
the Great Fire of London.
Copy the table below into your commonplace book, and as you read, make relevant
notes. When you have finished making notes, check your responses here.

Teacher talk, one form of classroom talk, has long been an area of interest
particularly in second language learning research. Read this article about teacher
talk in seven schools in Singapore. As you read, continue to make notes in the
table you started in the activity above.
Think about the two articles you have read – one looking at student classroom talk
and the other at teacher classroom talk. Are there any aspects of student classroom
talk and teacher classroom talk which would be interesting to investigate in your
own study? If so, make some notes in your commonplace book.
If you decide to use this technique, recordings will need to be made of relevant
stretches of classroom talk, using either video or voice recorders. Remember you
will need to get ethical approval for this, and then you will need to get informed
consent from your participants. You will need to transcribe the classroom talk to
obtain data that you can use easily. You do not necessarily have to transcribe
everything but significant extracts within the recordings will need to be
transcribed as part of your research evidence. On this course, your focus is more
likely to be on what was said (i.e. just the words themselves), rather than how it
was said, in which case you do not need to follow complicated transcription
conventions for non-verbal signs, hesitations and so on.
Read this chapter (Hopkins, 2008, p.106-108) on audio recording talk in educational
settings (note this book was published in 2008 and still talks about 'audiotaping'
– although the technology is old (you would probably use digital audio voice
recorders or digital video recorders) the points made here are still very
relevant).
Focus 3: Interviews
One obvious way of researching understanding is through interviewing, with students
themselves, their teachers or their teaching assistants.
Interviews are a way of acquiring verbal data about a specific topic, area or
issue. Hitchcock and Hughes (1995, p.153) describe them as 'talk to some purpose'
and the key characteristic of interviews is that they are driven by questions.
There are many different types of interview. The different types relate to:
• what kind of questions are being asked

• who is involved.

When pre-defined questions are used, the list of questions is known as the
'interview schedule'. Writing interview questions is not an easy task and there are
lots of considerations that you should take into account, such as the age
appropriacy of the questions, the language of the questions, ensuring your
questions are straightforward and asking about one topic, and not a complex mixture
of two or three different questions.
Interview Questions
Kvale (2007, pp.60-62) lists nine different types of questions that interviewers
can use when planning their interview schedule. These are:
1. Introductory questions
2. Follow up questions
3. Probing questions
4. Specifying questions
5. Direct questions
6. Indirect questions
7. Structuring questions
8. Silence
9. Interpreting questions
In your commonplace book, make notes about each of these types of question. In what
circumstances would you use each question type?
Look at Box 5.2 'interview questions' in Kvale's (2007) chapter entitled
'conducting an interview'. Check your notes against the explanation given by Kvale.
Add any relevant information to your own notes.
Scan chapter 9 on planning and conducting interviews by Bell (2010). Make some
notes about good practice in interviews. Pay particular attention to the checklist
at the end of the chapter. If you choose to carry out interviews in your research
study, you may wish to come back to this at a later point.
Interviewing children
Interviewing children can present some fundamental challenges to researchers. These
challenges might be related to more practical considerations (how long should the
interview be?) to very deep, moral and ethical considerations (how can we be sure
that the balance of power is not heavily weighted against the child in favour of
the adult researcher?).
Most children in an interview with an unknown adult are likely to feel nervous and
apprehensive, and possibly anxious. Even when the adult is known to them they may
feel they are being put 'on-the-spot' and worried that they will say the wrong
thing. The researcher therefore needs to find ways of ameliorating those feelings
by building up rapport and trust. It is important for the interviewer to listen
carefully to children's responses and, if possible, to build sensitively upon the
subtleties of their contributions.
• Techniques such as ranking exercises and the use of visual prompts can work
well as icebreakers when interviewing children.
• Sentence completion starters such as 'I understand best when . . .' or 'I
have difficulty in understanding when . . .' could constitute a useful starting
point.
• Interviews could be based on role play or the use of puppets projected into
imaginary learning situations.
• Discussions based on their own drawings can also garner interesting evidence
from very young children.
• Group interviews might be more appropriate and successful than individual
interviews.

Group interviews
Group interviews may offer a way to lessen the risk that children could feel
intimidated. However, careful chairing is always needed. The danger that the
interviewer's relationship with the children might render data invalid always needs
to be taken into account. An over-directed approach can inhibit the richness of
spontaneous response.
A group interview could allow children to raise their own issues and to offer their
personal insights. If the children know each other well, there will be a different
dynamic within the interview setting than if they are strangers to each other when
they may be less forthcoming. Focussing on themes rather than the standard
'question and answer' format could help to open up discussion and help to build
confidence and trust.
Seating arrangements need to ensure that eye contact can be maintained between the
interviewer and the group as a whole. Technical issues also sometimes require
attention. For example, more than one audio-recorder may be needed to capture some
of the overlapping nuances in the distributed voices of respondents seated in a
circle. It might also help if speakers identify themselves before speaking.

Overcoming difficulties when interviewing children

Read this article by Morrison (2013) about the challenges of interviewing children
'in uncomfortable settings'. The research discussed in the article took place in a
school in China.
In your commonplace book, list the factors that made the interviews in the critical
case study challenging. Then summarise in just one or two sentences the ten factors
that eased the situation.
Think about an educational context which is familiar to you. What would you
anticipate the challenges to be carrying out interviews with your students (they
may not be children)? What would be some of the ameliorating factors that you could
draw on or implement to make the interview process smoother and ease potential
discomfort?
Post a summary of your analysis of potential challenges and ameliorating factors
(with both individual and group interviews) on the module forum and respond to at
least two other posts with some positive feedback or suggestions.
Interviews in published research
Read this article by Kutnick, Blatchford, Clark, Macintyre and Baines (2005) which
demonstrates how interview data was used in a study exploring teachers'
understandings of the relationship between pupil grouping and learning.
Continue to expand the table you started in your commonplace book in Focus 2, and
as you scan the article (remember to read strategically!), make relevant notes.

Focus 4: Observation
Observation in a research study is, quite simply, watching and being aware of what
is happening, but in a planned and rigorous way.
In various activities in your studies of the modules so far (e.g. Module 1, Unit 3,
Focus 5) you have been required to draw on observations of practice in examining
issues of teaching and learning. Such observations can clearly provide data about
the understandings of students.
Read chapter 7 (Hopkins, 2008). This provides some background to ways of
structuring classroom observation. These include:
• Open observation
• Focused observation
• Structured observation
• Systematic observation
Make some notes in your commonplace book about the strengths and weaknesses of each
of these approaches.
Teacher and researcher
It is of course extremely challenging to teach and simultaneously observe what is
happening in your classroom.
Consider then how you would go about recording an observation of the contribution
of a pedagogical approach from M2B. What steps would you need to take in order to
design an observation in your classroom context?
Consider the following aspects:
• Ethical considerations - recording pupils
• Practical considerations – recording technology, location, focus on
teacher/learners/groups of learners…?
Using video for observation
Watch this video (Teachers TV, 2010) in which a primary teacher works on a
practitioner research project for her Masters degree by making videos of her class
in order to research creativity and pupil voice.
Synopsis: Masters research - pupil choice and creativity
At Lindale Primary School in Cumbria, Catherine Bradder has been weaving video
recordings into her lessons so it becomes part of the creative learning process. By
introducing a new approach to her teaching, she has allowed her pupils the freedom
to choose how to organise the classroom and how they want to learn.
Dr Pete Boyd, the course tutor at the University of Cumbria, and Lindale's
headteacher Angie Leonard join Catherine to assess the research so far, and discuss
what impact the new approach has had on pupil attitudes and performance.
To what extent might the use of a video camera by a participant researcher tend to
reduce the chances of students' behaviour changing as a result of being observed
(this is sometimes called the 'Hawthorne effect')?
Observing as an 'insider'
You will be an 'insider' in the organisation/school in which you are undertaking
this inquiry. You may have been working for years, months or only recently with
both colleagues and children/learners. This means you are already familiar to some
extent with processes and policies, and pupils will be comfortable with you, which
might be seen as an advantage. On the other hand you might need to consider
potential disadvantages. For example:
• sensitivities (not to be seen as critical of colleagues or to be making
judgement about pupils for example);
• how your role as insider might affect your data – pupils might seek to please
you as their teacher or save face rather than be honest about their difficulties,
when you are seeking to understand what they find difficult and why.
Choose either this article by Kim (2012) which focuses on research with primary age
children in a Korean church Sunday School in the UK or this article by Milligan
(2016) which focuses on research with young people in secondary schools in Western
Kenya. Both articles give insights into the notion of researching as an 'insider',
although not via observation, mostly using interview as a method (as you considered
in Unit 3, Focus 3).
Consider the pros and cons of being an 'insider' researcher. What steps might you
as an 'insider' need to take in your own study when adopting observation as a
method?
Observation in published research
Read this article by Otsuka and Jay (2017) which demonstrates how video observation
data was used in a study exploring the understanding of block play in pre-
schoolers.
Continue to expand the table you started in your commonplace book in Focus 2, and
as you scan the article (as before, remember to read strategically!), make relevant
notes.
Focus 5: Think aloud method and stimulated recall
Asking a student to 'think aloud' when they are undertaking a task may be a
practical way of gaining insight into their thinking which may otherwise remain
hidden. The 'think aloud' is intended to put thinking into speech. For example, by
asking a student to explain the steps they are taking when undertaking a
mathematical calculation from a problem posed in words, might enable the teacher to
judge the amount of understanding and the methods employed, rather than the
student's ability to gain the 'correct answer' or not.
Robson and McCartan (2016, p.363) consider this method 'can provide rich,
qualitative information about how people conceptualize their actions in specific
situations'. If a teacher-researcher employs 'think aloud' as a method for gaining
such an insight into cognitive processes they will need to consider some of the
potential disadvantages.
Cotton and Gresty (2006) recognise the benefits of very detailed, rich data from
think-aloud but consider disadvantages such as 'the level of guidance given to
participants, observer influence, and the complexity of data analysis' (2006, p.45)
which can be 'difficult and time-consuming' (2006, p.53). Robson and McCartan
(2016, p.364) warn that the think-aloud itself 'should not be so onerous' that it
interferes with or detracts from the task. A further complication and heavy
cognitive load can arise if a student is asked to do a think aloud in their second
language.
Thinking about an area of the curriculum that you teach, in what ways might think
aloud method be useful? What would you need to think about if devising a think
aloud for use with students? Make some notes in your commonplace book.
Stimulated recall
Whereas think aloud takes place in real time (and is often audio recorded or filmed
for later analysis), stimulated recall takes place after an initial task.
Stimulated recall usually relies on the stimulus of video of the task as it was
undertaken, and prompts the participants as they view the sequence to recall
retrospectively what they were thinking at the time. The stimulus may not be video,
however, and could be a piece of written work completed by the student.
Read this section in The Sage dictionary of qualitative management research about
stimulated recall. This is not a text focused on education, but the entry about
stimulated recall is helpful in defining it and providing some analysis of its
strengths and weaknesses.
As you read, list the criticisms in your commonplace book and consider whether you
have a counter argument to those criticisms.
Comparing think aloud method and stimulated recall
Both methods ask learners to talk through steps in their thinking, and their
reasons why they approach a task as they do. Stimulated recall (attributed to
Bloom, 1953) may seem a more attractive option as it avoids interrupting
participants during a task, and they can thus focus on the task in hand rather than
having to think and talk about the processes involved in undertaking it at the same
time. However, Cotton and Gresty (2006, p.50) note that 'prompted recall after the
event is different in quality from concurrent thinkaloud even when the time-lapse
is slight' and may also be a less accurate representation of the thinking at the
time of the task.
Would your focus on student understanding benefit more from think aloud or
stimulated recall and why?
Think aloud method in published research
Read this article by Özcan, Imamoglu and Katmer Bayrakli (2017) which demonstrates
how think aloud method was used in a study exploring the understanding of
mathematics in Turkish middle school students.
Continue to expand the table you started in your commonplace book in Focus 2, and
as you scan the article (as before, remember to read strategically!), make relevant
notes.
Stimulated recall in published research
Continue to compile the table in your commonplace book as you read this article,
demonstrating how video stimulated recall (abbreviated to VSR) was used in a study
exploring American high school chemistry students' goals in relation to their
laboratory coursework.

Focus 6: Document analysis

As an educator you might decide to use a variety of artefacts from teaching and
learning scenarios as you seek to investigate students' understanding. Denscombe
(2014, p.225) notes that documentary research 'is a kind of social enquiry that
uses documents as its source of data'; he qualifies that documents are then a
'source of primary data'. Such documents may take the form of 'written text',
'digital communication' and 'visual sources'. A secondary source would be an
interpretation of a primary source, as in literature when Chaiklin writes about
Vygotsky's original work.
From the extensive list of documents that can be analysed as data, suggested by
Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2007, p.201), those you are most likely to encounter in
a teaching and learning scenario are included here:
• field notes;
• diaries and journals;
• records;
• samples of students' work;
• reports and statistics;
• plans;
• prospectuses and directories;
• photographs and artefacts;
• conversations and speeches;
• policy documents;
• primary and secondary sources.
They provide the caveat that 'no written source is ruled out in documentary
analysis' (2007, p.201).
Ethical considerations
Judith Bell (2005, p.125) defines 'document' as a 'general term for an impression
left on physical object by a human being' and notes that educational research most
often focuses on written documents, but can also include visual documents such as
'photographs, videos, films'. In a school setting a teacher researcher may be
drawing on such materials in order to serve memory of events; where they
potentially include students' names or other identifying details, there are clear
ethical implications where anonymisation is harder to achieve.
What ethical considerations would you have to make for each of the documents listed
on the previous page?
Reliability of document content
Bell (2005) cautions against viewing statistical or quantitative documents as 'more
reliable' than other sources of evidence and reminds the reader of the need to
critically analyse for example what data is represented, how accurately, who
presented it, where, when and why.
This may impact how we view performance/test data in a school setting – for example
how reliable are measurements/grades? What effect if any might teachers have? If a
child is in a top set for maths what does that mean in practice for their learning?
What effect might this have on their other sets across the curriculum? If a child
is secure with certain sounds in phonics how might this be expected to translate
(or not) to other sounds? What assumptions might the teacher make about reading in
general? And how accurate might these expectations be?
Deeper reading
Using such sources as data has advantages of being often readily available,
accessible, relatively long-lasting evidence of an issue that is being researched.
On the other hand, such documents may have disadvantages of being interpreted by
the writer, and rooted in their own context. Denscombe (2014, p.225) also alerts us
to the need for 'deeper reading' of documents rather than taking 'the contents at
face value'. He suggests the researcher needs to consider the following in relation
to documents that are analysed (2014, p.230):
• 'Authenticity' – is it what it says it is?
• 'Representativeness' – how typical is it?
• 'Meaning' – is the meaning clear?
• 'Credibility' – how accurate and bias free is it?
Relevance to your study
In an investigation into student understanding pertinent documents may possibly
take the form of:
• anonymised student work that could be written or a visual or sound recording
(the latter would be more difficult to anonymise of course and may need careful
ethical consideration);
• anonymised lesson plans or learning resources and other artefacts used in the
learning setting;
• anonymised written evaluations following a teaching and learning sequence;
• anonymised performance data.
In an era of swift availability of visual images it is important to make sure
copyright of visuals in any documents you make is respected and thus not infringed,
for example when using a photograph in a Powerpoint slide. An existing image will
have been created by someone, so unless we create our own visuals (rather than copy
them) we need to be clear about copyright and seek permission or credit the
creator.
Document analysis in published research
Read this article by McLellan and Nicholl (2011) which demonstrates how document
analysis was used together with other methods in a study exploring creative
thinking and fixation in students' work for a design and technology class in the
UK.
Continue to expand the table you started in your commonplace book in Focus 2, and
as you scan the article (as before, remember to read strategically!), make relevant
notes.

Conclusion
During this unit you have engaged with educational research in the following ways:
• you have considered the nature of educational research, including qualitative
and quantitative approaches;
• you have developed your understanding of qualitative research methods that
are relevant to a small scale study of student understanding;
• we have encouraged you to be both critical and reflective about these
research methods and how they might apply to your chosen investigation.
Do not forget to check the process work part of your RAPF - you need to indicate
that you have completed the different activities and you need to be thinking about
your research proposal and how it will develop as a result of the learning that you
have done in this unit.
(Remember: do not finish writing this or submit your process work, research and
assignment proposal form until you have completed all three units in this module.)
Any of the ideas which you have written about in this unit may be developed further
to contribute towards your Module 3 inquiry assignment.
Further reading and references

Check, J. and Schutt, R. K. (2012) Research methods in education. Thousand Oaks,

Calif.: Sage Publications. This is a comprehensive research methods source. Of
particular interest may be chapter 12 on teacher research.
Creswell, J. W. and Guetterman, T. C. (2021) Educational research: planning,
conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research. 6th ed. Harlow,
Essex, United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited. This is a comprehensive,
step-by-step text to conducting quantitative, qualitative and combined methods
research. It is more likely to be of relevance if you continue to the full MA in
Education.
Knight, P. (2020) Classroom talk: evidence-based teaching for enquiring teachers.
St. Albans: Critical Publishing. This is an up-to-date and in-depth look at
classroom talk from our colleague and PGCEi tutor, Rupert Knight.
Mason, J. (2002) Researching your own practice: the discipline of noticing.
London: RoutledgeFalmer. This highly readable book stresses the importance of
sensitivity and awareness in those working in 'the caring professions', including
teaching. The idea of 'noticing' is fundamental for teachers and teaching
assistants.
Oancea, A. and Pring, R. (2008) The importance of being thorough: on systematic
accumulations of 'what works' in education research. Journal of Philosophy of
Education 42(s1): pp.15-39. This journal article is a critical appraisal of the
primacy of the 'what works' movement which, although important, has also led to a
narrowing of ideas of worthwhile research in official circles.
Pring, R. (2004) Philosophy of educational research. 2nd ed. London: Continuum.
This is a classic (and very readable) text on educational research as an
aspect of social science. It is very relevant reading for teachers
Stenhouse, L. (1981) What counts as research? British Journal of Educational
Studies 29(2): pp.103-14. Stenhouse particularly emphasised the importance of
the teacher in the process of educational research, leading to the fundamental idea
of 'teacher as researcher'.

References
Bell, J. (2010) Planning and conducting interviews. In: Doing your research
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https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/reader.action?docID=771407&ppg=175
[Accessed 3 March 2020].
Bell, J. (2005) Doing your research project. 4th ed. Maidenhead: Open University
Press.
Bloom, B. S. (1953) Thought processes in lectures and discussions. Journal of
General Education 7: pp.160-169.
Check, J. and Schutt, R. K. (2012) Research methods in education [online]. Thousand
Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications. Available at:
https://nusearch.nottingham.ac.uk/permalink/f/1m5tnd/44NOTUK_ALMA5116154888
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Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2018) Research methods in education. 8th
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Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. (2007) Research methods in education. 6th
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Cotton, D. and Gresty, K. (2006) Reflecting on the think‐aloud method for
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Creswell, J. W. and Guetterman, T. C. (2021) Educational research: planning,
conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research [online]. 6th ed.
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[Accessed 15 February 2021].
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